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Leesburg and Winter Park Split Doubleheader

Friday, July 15, 2011 10:46pm

The doubleheader Friday night was billed as the biggest games of the season and rightly so. Leesburg entered the game just a half game behind the rival Diamond Dawgs for first place in the Florida League. With a split in the two game set, Leesburg remained a half game behind at the end of the night.

After a one hour fifteen minute rain delay that threatened to wash away the second doubleheader between the Lightning and Diamond Dawgs, both teams took the field in the sloppy conditions.

                The low scoring first game was thanks in part to steady pitching by both starters. Friday’s first game pinned two pitchers with 3-1 records against each other.

                Mike Albaladejo drove in the Lightning’s first two runs, both scored by Tom Sicking, on sacrifice flies in the third and fifth innings.

                Hunter Mayfield doubled home another run to give the Lightning a 3-0 lead.

                Leesburg starter Dylan Ortega took the mound in the first game looking to get the Lightning started in the right direction. He did just that over five plus innings of work. Just like Nic Kovacs the night before, Ortega refused to walk a batter pounding the strike zone. He held the Diamond Dawgs scoreless for five innings, but a big double would score two runs and end Ortega’s night with the Lightning holding a slim 3-2 lead.

                Leesburg added one more insurance run in the sixth when Winter Park allowed Sicking to steal second base uncontested and Tillotson drove him in on the next pitch.

                Ortega’s bullpen would pick him up and allow him his fourth win of the season when dominant closer Max Rusch came in for Ortega and effectively got the last four outs of the game in a remarkable 18 pitches. Rusch picked up his fifth save of the season as Leesburg took the game 4-2.

                Game two was all bad blood between these two teams. Winter Park used a late scoring spree to come back and split the doubleheader with a 9-1 win.

                The Diamond Dawgs opened up the scoring in the second game with a first inning run. The score remained 1-0 until the third inning when Ted Blackman ripped a Micah Kellogg pitch over the right field fence. Blackman showed up Kellogg by watching the ball and making sure to take his time getting down the line. Kellogg made sure Winter Park knew Leesburg wasn’t going to take that lightly and threw his next pitch behind the batter. Both managers were ejected in the ensuing melee and both had to be separated from each other in the infield.

                Both teams were rattled by the altercation and the Diamond Dawgs threatened to add to their lead but Kellogg bared down and worked out of the next three innings.

                The Lightning scored their only run in the bottom of the third when Zane Evans plated Tillotson with a single.

                Winter Park opened up the scoring spree in the sixth inning with six runs that put any chance of a comeback by the Lightning down. The runs were charged to Kellogg and Carlton Patton.

                It will be a tight race down the stretch between these two teams and given Friday night’s fireworks, it will also be a heated battle. Winter Park narrowly edged out Leesburg in last year’s Championship and it looks like the two teams could meet at Tropicana Field once again in a few weeks.

                The Lightning take on Sanford at 7:00 at Pat Thomas Stadium Saturday night.

By: Nick Beardi (Medaille College)