Lightning Break Through in the 10th, Defeat the River Rats 9-4

SANFORD, Fla. - After a close nine innings of baseball on Thursday night, the Leesburg Lightning (6-11) pushed through with five runs in the 10th, defeating the first place Sanford River Rats (11-5) by a final score of 9-4.

In the 10th, with the game tied 4-4, Jason Baita (Daytona State) came through for the Lightning. A sacrifice fly to right field allowed the go-ahead run to score, as the hit parade was just beginning. Three more hits in the inning extended Leesburg’s lead to 9-4 and they held on for their third extra innings victory of the season.

“This win goes to show you that we’re never out of it,” Head Coach Rich Billings said. “First place teams make mistakes as well, and we made sure to take advantage of them tonight.”

Cody Beckman (NC State), who was last week’s Florida League Pitcher of the Week, got the start for the River Rats. He previously faced off against the Lightning on June 15 at Pat Thomas Stadium, stifling them in five innings of work, allowing just one hit and striking out six.

The Lightning were shut down early by Beckman as he sent six Leesburg hitters down swinging through the first three innings.

Call Graham (Florida Southern) came into Thursday night’s start for the Lightning with an 0-2 record and a 4.50 ERA in 10 innings pitched. Despite his win-loss record, Graham had been one of the more consistent starting arms for Leesburg.

Things didn’t start well for Graham, though, as he hit the first batter he faced and followed that up with a free pass to Carlos Cortes (South Carolina) to put himself in early danger. Brant Blaylock (Mississippi State) came to bat next and roped a double into the right-center gap, past right fielder Tanner Long (Thomas Univ.), giving Sanford the early 2-0 lead.

In the fourth, then trailing 3-0, the Lightning opened up their side of the scoreboard as Austin Simmons (Thomas Univ.) doubled to lead off the inning. After a walk to Long, Harrison Scanlon (Western Kentucky) came to bat with two outs and delivered, singling to right field to score Simmons.

The River Rats started off their half of the fourth with three consecutive hits, as that was it for Graham. He ended up allowing four runs on six hits in three innings of work. He settled for the no-decision.

“Call wasn’t as sharp as he would’ve liked tonight, but we were flawless on defense and that ultimately kept us in the game,” Billings said.

With the bases loaded and no outs in the inning, Kade Hunkapiller (State College of FL) relieved Graham and came through in a huge spot for Leesburg. He retired the first two batters he faced, escaping the Sanford threat with a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Trailing 4-1 in the bottom half of the inning, Igor Baez (Flagler College) cut the Sanford lead in half as he took the first pitch he saw from Beckman and drilled it over the left field wall. Clay Simmons (Columbia State) later hit a ball into shallow right field, but the Sanford second basemen misplayed it, allowing Baita to score to make it 4-3.

With Michael Gizzi (State College of FL) on the hill in relief for Beckman, Walker Burgess (Florida Southern) opened up the sixth with a solo shot of his own, tying the game 4-4.

“We did a much better job in the second half of the game of putting ourselves in hitters counts,” Billings said. “We made them throw the ball over the plate and it certainly helped with our confidence as the game progressed.”

Drew Peden (2-0) closed the door on the River Rats in the 9th and 10th, picking up the win for the Lightning. He threw two innings of one-hit ball, and struck out two. Mitch McCarthy (Florida Southern) took the loss for the River Rats.

The Lightning bullpen proved their worth once again, throwing seven scoreless innings.

Austin Simmons carried the torch for Leesburg, finishing 4-for-6 at the plate with an RBI.

With Thursday night’s win, the Lightning have now outscored their opponents 9-1 in extra innings.

“Extra innings have been a huge spark for us,” Billings said. “You don’t want the win to slip away in the late innings and we made sure not to do that again tonight.”

The Lightning and River Rats conclude their home-and-home series on Friday night as the first pitch from Pat Thomas Stadium is slated for 6 p.m.

Eddie Poe, York College of Pennsylvania

Eddie Poe - 06/24/16 1:29am

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