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By: Laura Kubitz

LEESBURG-The Leesburg Lightning took down the Clermont Mavericks on Wednesday, 13-6, to claim their fourth win in a row.

Kyle Wahl (1-1) (Southern) got the win pitching five innings and striking out seven. Alan Oaks (Univ. of Michigan) went three-for-five with two doubles and one RBI.

One of those RBIs came in the sixth inning when the Lightning took over the scoreboard, when the Lightning recorded eight runs to give themselves an
11-2 advantage.

Travis Howard's (USC-Aiken) walk turned into an RBI after Oak's double.

"Lead-off walks usually cause a lot of big innings," said Lightning manager Frank Viola.

Alex Hudek (Stetson) delivered a triple to score Trae Gore (Florida Southern) and Oaks. The rally continued with a sacrifice fly by Mark Stewart (SCAD) scoring Mike Albaladejo (Florida Atlantic). Trace Venegas (Santa Fe) doubled and plated on Michael Dufek's triple. Howard came up to the plate for the second time in the sixth to single and scored on an error.

With the Lightning up by nine, Viola replaced reliever Eric Doty (Polk CC) with Brett Blaise (Pearl River CC) in the eighth inning. Blaise gave up four runs in a Mavericks rally, leaving the score 11-6.

"I thought it was great timing to get Brett some time on the mound," Viola said. "I put him in the heat a little bit. I think it might have been better on the road cause you have a lot of family and friends here. He got his feet wet and I think you are going to see a much better Brett Blaise."

The Lightning answered back in the eighth inning. Stewart's sacrifice fly to right field scored Gore and Oaks to put up two insurance runs.

The Lightning entered the game as the top-hitting team in the Florida Collegiate Summer League and maintained their torrid hitting with each
player recording at least one hit.

"We are getting better and better with the bat," Viola said. "This is the best hitting team I have seen in a long time. Tony is doing a great job
with them."

The Lightning will take on the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs at 7 p.m. today at Alfond Stadium/Harper-Sheperd Field at Rollins College.

Despite an exciting start to Tuesday's game against the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs, the game was canceled due to stormy weather.

The Lightning started out the game strong with an RBI-double by Michael Dufek and a two-run homerun by Player of the Week Travis Howard in the first inning.

The Winter Park Diamond Dawgs answered back in the first inning with a homerun by Bradley Hutton, but their efforts would be short lived.

The game was called in the third inning.

The Lightning will host the Clermont Mavericks on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

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Laura Kubitz (Florida)

For the second time this weekend the Leesburg Lightning defeated the Clermont Mavericks, 9-3.

The Lightning's Travis Howard (USC-Aiken) went three for five with four RBI's and the Maverick's Evan Stermer (Palm Beach CC) pitched four and two-third innings allowing just one earned run.

The Lightning began the game on the right track.  In the first inning, Nick DelGuidice (Florida Atlantic) scored in the first after Howard's base hit.

But it wasn't until the eighth inning that the action picked up.

"From the sixth inning on it was back and forth," said Lightning manager FrankViola.   "They had timely hitting and we had timely hitting. There was a lot of extra base hits we haven't seen in a while."

In the top of the sixth, two back-to-back RBI doubles by Howard and Evan Taylor (Lenoir Rhyne) put the Lightning ahead by two.

But the Mavericks answered back.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Robbie Flynn (Seminole CC) walked and advanced to second on a base hit by Derek Abis (Jacksonville Univ.).  Chase Okey (Lake Sumter CC) hit a powerful double scoring Abis and Flynn, tieing the game.

"But in the eighth inning the flood gates opened up," said Viola.  "It just wouldn't stop."

Two balk calls, one with the bases loaded, and another with runner's on first and third, on Mavericks's Ryan Bouton, (Wake Forest) contributed to a late-game Leesburg rally.

"You don't normally see a balked call in that situation," Viola said.  "Normally I stick up for pitchers, but it was pretty blatant.  He didn't stop.  They had to make that call.  The last thing you want to do is just hand them a run.  That helped us a lot."

Travis Howard's double-RBI base hit and Danny Baatz's RBI-single contributed to the six runs counted in the eighth inning.

After three straight losses in the first three games, the Lightning are on a three-game winning streak.  Having a team with great chemistry is starting to be one of the Lightning's advantages.

"They are starting to get to know each other," said Viola. "This is a good group of kids.  It's gonna be an interesting and exciting six weeks.  I think they generally like each other.  If they like each other they are going to start showing it on the field."

After taking Monday off, the Lightning will look to win their fourth straight game when they host the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs on Tuesday at 7 p.m.  The Lightning will then host their Lake County rival, the Clermont Mavericks on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

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by: Laura Kubitz (Florida)

The Leesburg Lightning struck down their Lake County rival, the Clermont Mavericks, 7-2, to win their second game in a row.

Mike Albaladejo (Florida Atlantic) went two for five with three RBIs and Alex Hudek (Stetson) went two for four with a run scored and an RBI.

That RBI came when Danny Baatz (UNC-Asheville) got on first after a fielding error by short stop Joseph Burkhalter (Florida Atlantic), advanced to second on a walk and picked up momentum for Lightning stealing third.  Baatz scored on Hudek's suicide squeeze.

The Lightning's momentum continued in the sixth inning scoring two more runs, putting them ahead, 5-2.

The Lightning are starting to put up runs on the board and not just from hitting the ball, but from improving on the execution of the game.

"Even when you aren't swinging the bats, they can do other parts of the game to help the team out, said Lightning manager Frank Viola."  "We got a couple timely hits and that's why we won the ball game."

The Mavericks scored their only two runs of the game in the second inning.

The Lightning looked to step up their game and answer Clermont's two runs in the third inning.  Nick DelGuidice's (Florida Atlantic) lead off single complimented Travis Howard's RBI-single to record the Lightning's first run of the game.

In the fourth inning, the Lightning struck again.

Stewart walked, stole second and plated after Albaladejo's single, to tie up the game.

The Lightning recorded two insurance runs in the eighth inning.  John Michael Blake (Lake Sumter CC) advanced on a walk followed by Mark Stewart's (SCAD) powerful double put Blake in scoring position.  Albaladejo's single plated Blake and Stewart, sealing the deal for the Lightning.

The Lightning will add three new players to the roster next week.  Left Trae Gore (Florida Southern)will start off the lineup on Wednesday and the Lightning will welcome  Eric Katzman  to the pitching staff.  Despite the new additons, everyone in the bullpen will continue to get a chance to contribute to each game.

"If your not starting, that doesn't mean your not going to be used," Viola said.  "Everyone is gonna have a chance to pitch, everyone is gonna have a chance to help. Whoever happens to start, starts.

The Lightning will look to win their third game in a row when they take on the Mavericks on Sunday at 5 p.m.  After taking Monday off, the Lightning will return to Pat Thomas Stadium-Buddy Lowe Field on Tuesday to face the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs at 7 p.m.

"We are feeling pretty good about ourselves right now," Viola said.