Leesburg Lightning
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Lightning Fall in Championship Game
Cody Berrian (West Florida)
St. Petersburg, Fla. – The Lightning faced off against the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs for the 2013 Florida Collegiate Summer League championship at Tropicana Field. The Diamond Dawgs were victorious in a tight pitchers’ duel. Scoring a run in the sixth and two more in the eighth, Winter Park won by a final score of 3-0.
The championship game MVP was Mike Melendez (Nova Southeastern) who drove in all three runs for the Dawgs. The Winter Park pitching staff was also outstanding, holding the Lightning scoreless for the entire game.
The Lightning scattered seven hits, all singles, on the night and missed some early scoring opportunities. The bases were left loaded in the second and more men were left on in multiple innings. The Winter Park pitchers, six in total, shut down the lightning throughout the entire game.
Dylan Hathcock (UNC Greensboro) started the game and pitched well, giving up just one run in five innings. Unfortunately, he came away with the loss. Kuehl McEachern (Lake Sumter) came out of the bullpen and pitched three solid innings as well.
The Lightning had their season end just one win away from their third Florida Leauge championship.
Lightning beat Rats, Head to FCSL Final
Cody Berrian (West Florida)
Sanford, Fla. – After the Lightning took game 1 of the FCSL playoffs against the Sanford River Rats, they were in position to win the series on Thursday night in Sanford. The Lightning won a back and forth game by rallying for three runs in the top of the ninth to win 6-4. The Lightning will be headed to Tropicana Field to play for the FCSL championship.
In what was a seesaw game for most of the night, the Lightning went into the top of the ninth facing a 4-3 deficit. The Lightning had been shut down since the sixth inning by the Rats’ pitching staff until Tyler Neslony (Texas Tech) led off the ninth.
He sent a single through the right side of the infield for a base hit to start the inning. Tyler Kellmann (Barry) followed by lining a ball down the third base line that was mishandled by the third baseman to allow Kellmann to reached.
After a walk by Grant Wruble (Georgia Tech) to load the bases, Jarrod Rickman (Furman) pushed across the tying run on a ball that skipped off the mound and was bobbled by the shortstop. With the bases still loaded,
Lightning Fall in Rainy Season Finale
Cody Berrian (West Florida)
COLLEGE PARK, Fla. – The Lightning and the Freedom were scheduled to square off in a double-header on Sunday afternoon. Just one game was played after game 2 was cancelled due to rain. This was the final regular season date for the Florida League. The Freedom would rally in their final inning to beat the Lightning in the season’s final game.
The Lightning got off to a slow start in game 1. Both teams were held off the scoreboard for the first five innings. In the top of the sixth, Joe Post (Flagler) reached on an error to start the inning. He would later score after the Lightning racked up four straight hits. Frankie Sagarese (Flagler) drove in Post with a base hit. After Brett Jones (Tampa) scored on a throwing error from the catcher, Tyler Neslony would single home a run to give the Lightning a 3-0 lead heading into the final frame.
It would not be enough to win though. In a miraculous seventh inning, the Freedom racked up five hits and four runs to win the game and beat the Lightning by a 4-3 score. The winning runs came across to score on a 2-run single by Cody Borup (Tallahassee CC). It was an exciting walk-off win…
