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Lightning Hold On to Beat Loggerhheads

Saturday, July 9, 2011 10:07pm

The Lightning would hold on for a victory Saturday night 5-3 at Winter Haven.

The last time the two teams met, it took extra innings for the Lightning to finish a comeback and grab a big win from the Loggerheads via a season high 17 hits.

                Entering the game, the Lightning had three homeruns as a team. Saturday night they added two more with blasts off the bats of Jacob Tillotson and Mike Miller, his second of the season.

                It was the first appearance against the Lightning for Winter Haven starter Peter Miller. With the exception of one bad inning, the Florida State product pitched pretty well, shutting down Leesburg in order in the first second fourth and fifth innings.

                The bad inning would prove to be enough for the Lightning. In the third inning, Christian Coburn led off with a shot down the left field line that he turned into a trademark double running hard and beating the throw from the left fielder.  Coburn would later score on a wild pitch. Two batters later, with Tom Sicking on first, Tillotson teed off on a Miller pitch sending it well over the right field wall for a two run shot. The big inning put Leesburg up 3-0.

                “I got a good pitch and got underneath it a bit,” said Tillotson of his first round-tripper of the season. “I still go up at the plate every time looking for good pitches.”

                After the homerun, Coach Therneau spoke with both  Tillotson and Sicking who, it would turn out when asked of the incident, missed a sign on the pitch before Tillotson went deep. “I didn’t like that they missed a sign, said Therneau. “I like the homerun after that, but I didn’t think that was an excuse for missing it.” This is a testament to the discipline the entire team has and how pivotal Therneau is in enforcing that aspect.

                Lightning starter Micah Kellogg ran into trouble his last two starts but was able to work himself out of jams all night and get the win, his third of the season, matching Max Rusch for the team lead. It seemed that with runners on, Kellogg would somehow find a way to get outs and keep the Loggerheads from crossing the plate. He allowed one run in the sixth inning and was pulled for Ethan Bader, who continued his reputation as a strikeout machine adding another four to his season resume.

                “(Kellogg) wasn’t particularly on tonight, but made pitches when he needed to,” said Coach Therneau. “At the end of the day that’s all that matters.”

                The second homerun came in the sixth inning when Mike Miller would help put an end to Peter Miller’s day with a solo bomb to left field. Miller’s homer along with another insurance run in the ninth would certainly come into play in the final innings of the contest.

                In the eighth inning, a parade of Leesburg relievers took the mound in order to get the Lightning out of the late jam. Winter Haven would load the bases on singles and walks and would score two runs and put runners on second and third before Max Rusch closed the door and sent the Loggerheads back to the dugout still losing.

                The ball was once again given to closer Max Rusch with a two run lead and, as has been the case all season, Rusch would win the battle setting down the Loggerheads in order.

                The Lightning square off against Sanford at Pat Thomas Stadium in the final game before the All Star Break Sunday at 5:00.

By: Nick Beardi (Medaille College)