Box Score>

by: Laura Kubitz

Lindsey Caughel (Stetson) worked six innings, allowed one earned run, and struck out five.  Robert Lake (Winthrop) relieved Caughel in the seventh to make his second outing of the season. Lake got the win pitching three innings, striking out four, and allowing no runs.

"Good pitching usually helps clean up that defense, because when you are throwing strikes, the infield is usually ready to make those plays for you," said Lightning manager Frank Viola.  "That is why we were successful tonight."

Michael Dufek (Michigan) went 2 for 4 with a home run and a base hit.

That home run was just out of reach for right fielder Kevin Mierzwinski (Stetson) and tied up the game in the fifth 1-1.

The Winter Park Diamond Dawgs put up the first run of the game in the third when Carlos Labrador (Lake Sumter) scored on Robert Crews' (Stetson) base hit.

In the sixth, with runners on second and third, the Lightning threatened to take the lead.   Anthony Figliolia (UCF) made a diving catch in center field to save the inning and keep the score tied.

For the Diamond Dawgs, Corey Bevis (Embry Riddle) worked 8 1/3 innings and struck out three.

"He [Bevis] was around the strike zone," said Viola.  "I remember him from high school; he used to bring it 90 plus miles and hour.  Then he hurt his arm and has come back, and he is a pitcher now.  He doesn't throw it hard but he spots the balls real well and mixes up the pitches.  He was very effective tonight."

In the ninth, Ryan Fern (USC Upstate) relieved Bevis, and an error on the second baseman Crews brought Trace Venegas (Santa Fe CC) home to put the Lightning up, 2-1.

"The thing that helped us out tonight was Winter Park's defense fell apart in the ninth and gave us a chance to score a couple of runs," said Viola.  "It was just a total overall good game.  Usually you win ball games when the one team makes three errors and you don't make any."

The Lightning continued the late-inning rally when Dufek hit on a fielder's choice and got to second on an error.  He advanced to home when Nick Aranas (USC-Aiken) was picked off going to second.

The Diamond Dawgs attempted a rally with a base hit and a walk to put the tying runner on base, but the Lightning silenced the Dawgs with two strikeouts and a fly ball to left field.

The Leesburg Lightning will take on the Clermont Mavericks on Thursday at 7 p.m. at East Ridge High School.

Box Score>

by: Laura Kubitz

LEESBURG- The Leesburg Lightning beat the DeLand Suns for the first time on Sunday, 5-3. After a difficult loss on Saturday, the Lightning came back ready to break their two-game losing streak and to finally claim a victory at home against the Florida Collegiate Summer League's number one team.

"We decided to play," Lightning manager Frank Viola said. "And that is plain and simple."

Viola expressed th need for a five to six inning starting pitcher and that is exactly what he got. Alan Oaks (Michigan) started for the Lightning working five innings, striking out four and allowing just one run. Eric Doty (Polk CC) (3-3) got the win pitching two innings and striking out one.
"When you get pitching and you get defense things start to happen," Viola said. "Alan (Oaks) came out and threw an excellent five innings, we made the plays and we got a couple of two out timely hits."

Not only was the pitching on target, but the Lightning also lived up to their status of leading the FCSL in hitting.

Nick Aranas (USC-Aiken) went three for four with a double and two base hits. Mark Stewart (SCAD) hit his first homerun of the season, which is also the Lightning's third home run of the season.

That homerun came in the eighth inning to seal the win for the Lightning.

"When you get an insurance run like that and you got a closer coming in like Mike (Dufek), it always helps to see that second run," Viola said.

Michael Dufek (Michigan) got his fourth save of the season and struck out to shut down the Suns in the ninth, who are notorious in claiming wins with late inning rallies.

The Lightning took an early lead in the third with a single by Travis Howard to score Alex Hudak (Stetson) . Another single by Evan Taylor (Lenoir-Rhyne) brought home Nick DelGuidice (Florida Atlantic) leaving the Lightning ahead, 2-0.

The Suns responded in the fifth with a single by Jabari Blash (Miami Dade) to score Brandt Hendricks (Alabama).

Taylor singled to bring Trae Gore (Florida Southern) home in the fifth, but a two-run homerun by Emmanuel Castro (Bethune-Cookman) tied up the game in the sixth, 3-3.

Castro's luck ran out in the seventh when the Lightning picked up an insurance run on an error by the third basemen.

Stewart's homerun in the eighth sealed the deal for the Lightning.

"Overall it was an excelled ball game on all of us," Viola said.

Sunday's game was the last for Howard with the Lightning. Howard was third on the team in hitting with a .296. He started in 14 games, scored four runs, had 15 RBIs and hammered five doubles.

The Lightning will face the Sanford River Rats on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Historical Sanford Memorial Stadium.

by: Laura Kubitz

The DeLand Suns swept the Leesburg Lightning, 6-0, on Saturday to break their two-game losing streak and to become 4-0 against the Lightning.

Jimmy Nelson (Alabama) pitched seven and one-third innings, striking out 11 and allowing just two hits.

"Nelson is a big machine, and it took some time for him to get loose," said Suns manager Davey Johnson.

But once Nelson got into rhythm, he shut the Lightning down.

In the third, fourth and fifth, Nelson struck out nine out of the 10 batters he faced.

The Lightning went through five pitchers against the Suns and are still looking to find a solid rotation.

"We need a five-six inning starting pitcher, but when they only go three innings, it puts the defense asleep," said Lightning manager Frank Viola. "I think this was just an overall blah game."

The DeLand Suns threatened to take an early lead in the second with the bases loaded, but were stopped when left fielder Danny Baatz (UNC-Asheville) caught a fly ball at the wall to get the Lightning out of the jam.  Baatz was greeted with high fives by teammates and a standing ovation from the fans for making the key defensive catch.

The Suns took the lead in the third inning with Jabari Blash (Miami Dade) scoring on Eric Katzman's (Michigan) first wild pitch of the season.  Emmanuel Castro (Bethune-Cookman) continued the rally with a double to score Derek Luciano (UCF).

In the fifth, Jonathan Griffin (Manatee CC) scored on base hit by Castro, who later scored on an error by catcher Mike Albaladejo (Florida Atlantic) to give the Suns two insurance runs.

The Suns finished the job in the eighth.

William Gordon (Univ. of Pennsylvania) smacked a double to left field and Taylor Wrenn (Manatee CC) followed suit with a double to right field, to bring Gordon home.  Blash then tripled scoring Wrenn, to give the Suns a, 6-0, lead.

"With no pitching, no defense and no hitting, we're not going to win a lot of ball games," Viola said.

The Lightning will face the Suns again tomorrow at 5 p.m. and will look to improve on yesterday's game.

by: Laura Kubitz

LEESBURG -- Ed Gilmer lets his work speaks for itself.

And it has a lot to say.

The 48-year-old Leesburg native makes a living as a maintenance worker for the city. But for a few hours at the end of each day, his true passion comes alive.

Gilmer is an artist.

His most recent work was an airbrushed composite of three pictures of Frank Viola, the manager for the Leesburg Lightning. Gilmer's work was presented to Viola on Thursday at the Leesburg Area Chamber of Commerce June Contact Breakfast.

"Ed did a fantastic job," said Viola. "I had no idea I was getting something like that and I would like to thank the Chamber of Commerce for showing the love and a very nice time today (Thursday)."

Gilmer is known around town for his art work. When Bruce Ericson, general manager for the Leesburg Lightning, approached him about completing this portrait of Viola as a token of appreciation, Gilmer was happy to oblige.

"It feels good when someone takes an interest in me and encourages me to do something to better myself," Gilmer said. "Bruce is really invested in what I do."

It took Gilmer three and a half to four weeks to complete the portrait. Since he only has four hours at the end of each long day, he is limited with the amount of time he can spend on his painting.

Although each portrait Gilmer does is different, he likes to use the same format on each piece.

Gilmer combines a headshot, a still portrait and an action shot with his portraits.

"I want to capture the essence of a person, and different poses when you put them together show who they really are," Gilmer said.

Gilmer does not normally put the names of his subjects on the portraits he does. He believes that he should be able to get enough detail of the person's face in the pictures that people will be able to tell who the subject is.

But for this project, Gilmer had a different idea.

Gilmer included Viola's name on the back of his jersey so that anybody could identify who the subject of the portrait was.

Gilmer's passion for art began in high school and he picked it back up when he came home from the University of Arkansas to care for his mother. After experimenting with the paintbrush, he switched to airbrush. Gilmer has been airbrushing for about five years and has taught himself everything he knows.

Gilmer is a very-detail oriented painter. He starts out with a vision of his work in his head and can go through three or four sketches of a piece before tackling his next painting. He listens to jazz as he works and likes to enhance his projects with special effects such as shading and lines to make the portraits and pictures seem more lifelike.

In addition to maintenance work, Gilmer has turned his talent into a business, E.G. Enterprise, Inc. Gilmer works with a variety of mediums and can draw anything from sports art to family portraits.

When Gilmer sets out to complete a portrait, the smiles on his subject's faces are enough thanks for him. He likes to stay in the background and doesn't paint as a way to be outspoken.

"We have a bunch of pictures around the house of me and baseball and it will go great with the collection," Viola said. "I am very honored. It was very cool and very appreciative on my behalf. He did a great job on it."