Lightning Storm Back to Defeat Squeeze

LEESBURG, Fla. – After falling behind by five runs in the opening inning, the Leesburg Lightning responded with steady offense and dominant relief pitching to erase the deficit and defeat the Winter Garden Squeeze 9-5 on Wednesday night at Pat Thomas Stadium.

Winter Garden scored all five of its runs in the first inning, taking advantage of four walks, two wild pitches and a balk. Ben Clenney settled in to finish the second inning before the Lightning bullpen took over. Miguel Figueroa worked three scoreless innings, Logan Baisley added two scoreless frames, and Cody Clymer struck out four over the final two innings to earn the victory as Leesburg held the Squeeze scoreless over the final eight innings.

The Lightning immediately began chipping away in the bottom of the first. KT Thompson delivered an RBI single, and another run scored on a throwing error to cut the deficit to 5-2. Marcello Cortale drove home Preston Murphy with a groundout in the second before Thompson brought home Dylan Green on a fielder's choice in the third.

Leesburg completed the comeback in the fourth when Cortale scored on a wild pitch, tying the game at 5-5.

The game remained even until the eighth inning, when the Lightning capitalized on Winter Garden's defensive struggles. Andon Gray scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error before Thompson drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the lead. Murphy was then hit by a pitch to force home another run, and Turner Gross scored on a wild pitch to cap a four-run inning and give Leesburg a 9-5 advantage.

Despite recording only nine hits, the Lightning drew nine walks and took advantage of four Winter Garden errors.

Thompson finished with three RBIs, while Murphy and Cortale each drove in one run. Gross collected two hits, and Green and Charlie Keller each scored twice. The bullpen combined for seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out six to secure Leesburg's 17th win of the season.

The Lightning return to action Thursday in DeLand against the DeLand Suns. They will resume their suspended game from June 13 at 4:30 p.m. before playing a regularly scheduled game at 7 p.m. at Conrad Park.

Adam Rothschild (Susquehanna University)