sfoggi posted on July 17, 2011 20:28
SANFORD, Fla. (July 17, 2011) - The Leesburg Lightning have been on fire since the all-star break. They’ve found a new energy since having three days off earlier this week, and the vitality has shown through their play. Of the five games they’ve played since the break, they’ve won four, shutting out Orlando, splitting a doubleheader with Winter Park and sweeping the Sanford River Rats in a home and home series.
The latest of those wins was Sunday afternoon at Sanford Memorial Stadium, 8-6. The River Rats chipped away at the Lightning lead all game, but in the end, the deficit was too much to overcome and the Lightning got the victory.
The offense came early and often between the two teams Sunday night.
The Florida League leader in hits, Jacob Tillotson (Santa Fe), added three more to his season resume and singled home Christian Coburn (College of Central Florida) after he hit a leadoff double to start the game.
The River Rats came right back, though, and scored two runs in the bottom half of the first to take a 2-1 lead.
But the Leesburg bats would take over in the third inning. A costly error would put speedy Troy Drummond (Delaware State) on base and the Lightning quickly loaded the bases courtesy of walks and hits off the bats of Coburn, Tillotson and Chase Durham (Howard College). Tillotson’s single through the right side drove in another two runs giving him three for the game. Durham’s RBI made it a 5-2 game.
Sanford starter Bennie Sanchez (SCAD) ran into some hard luck, as three of the six runs he allowed were unearned. In the fourth inning, the Lightning once again loaded the bases, but ran into some hard luck of their own and could only add one more run to their lead.
The Lightning added insurance runs in the seventh and ninth innings, which helped preserve the lead as the River Rats added three runs of their own in the fifth and seventh. They threatened in the ninth as well when 2011 All-Star Game MVP Alex Mendez (South Florida) ripped a double and later scored. But two outs later, the Lightning emerged with their 20th win of the season.
Starter Patrick Hicks (Dallas Baptist), starting for the first time all season, lasted six innings and kept his team in the ball game for the duration of his time on the mound. Zane Evans (Georgia Tech) and Mike Clutterbuck (Macomb CC) closed out the game.
The Lightning head into the final two weeks with a slim one game lead over Winter Park for first place in the Florida League. Leesburg takes on Orlando at Pat Thomas Stadium Tuesday (July 19) night at 7:00.
Nick Beardi (Medaille College)