Leesburg, Fla.- The crooked inning late in games had punished an otherwise spectacular Leesburg Lightning (4-2) pitching staff in the last few games, including in Thursday night’s loss to the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs (3-4). Though no such thing would happen tonight, it didn’t always look that way.

Colton Bruns (St. Leo) got off to a rough start in his first start of the season, allowing a leadoff double to Michael Ballard (Eckerd) and a two-run blast into left to Grant Berman (NYU) two batters later. Regardless of getting tagged early, Bruns remained confident in his abilities.

“I knew I was going to beat the hitters, and I had my team’s back.”

Bruns calmed down after the first, going another four innings. He finished with five hits and allowed two earned runs over five innings. 

 The Lightning had his back in the meantime, tying it up immediately after they fell into a two-run hole. Naphis Llanos (Francis Marion) opened up the game with a walk before a throwing error got him...

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Orlando, Fla.- The Leesburg Lightning could not hold onto a slim lead going into Thursday night’s later innings, falling 7-5 to the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs at Bishop Moore High School.

The Lightning struggled to produce offense to start the night, with their first six batters striking out against the Diamond Dawgs’ starting pitcher, Dariel Fregio (Saint Leo). After Leesburg’s starter Blayne Huter (South Florida State) exited following just an inning of work, Matt Coles (Carson-Newman) threw an errant pitch that plated Peyton Carr (High Point). Coles pitched well, tossing four strong innings of three hit baseball, while punching out a pair. He allowed one other run to score in the fifth. 

Like they did against the Squeeze on Wednesday night, the Leesburg bats were dormant for the early goings. Against the Squeeze, the Lightning went 0-9 the first time through and 4-8 the second time around. They were just 1-10 the first go around, but would find success the second time through.

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Leesburg, Fla.- Just as they were on Tuesday night against the River Rats, the Leesburg Lightning bats were silenced early by dominant pitching on Wednesday. History repeated itself at Pat Thomas Stadium on Wednesday, with the Lightning eventually piecing things together against the Winter Garden Squeeze. The way they did it, however, was very different.

The Lightning improved to 3-1 on the season and moved into a tie for first thanks to an offensive outburst in the middle innings, while the Squeeze fell into a tie for last with the Seminole County Snappers at 1-3. 

The Lightning and Squeeze were the lone Florida Collegiate Summer League action on Wednesday night after what was supposed to be the season opener for both squads and the home opener for the Lightning was rained out on Saturday. The Squeeze struck first, with Bryce Jackson (Frostburg State) knocking in the game’s first run in the top of the 1st off of Leesburg’s starter Myles Caba (South Florida State). 

Gavin Galy...

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Leesburg, Fla.- When the Leesburg Lightning and the Sanford River Rats meet on the baseball diamond, they rarely fail to entertain. Tonight’s long-awaited home opener was no exception.

The Lightning (2-1) pulled off a 3-2 win over the River Rats (3-2) thanks to an improbable 9th inning comeback and a sacrifice fly in the 11th by Cam Hill (Georgia College & State). The win gave the Lightning a split in their two game series.

As they did in Tuesday’s win, the River Rats got on the board first on a successful double steal that plated Josh Pearson (LSU). Evan Waterbor (FAU), who was a medical redshirt this past season, served as the opener. Even though he was pulled after the first inning, Coach Billings was happy to see him back out there.

“It was so good to see Evan back out there. That was so good for his confidence.”

The Lightning had a chance in the bottom of the 1st to tie it up, but Chase Malloy (Jacksonville) was thrown out by Jeff Liquori (Florida Southern) trying to tag...

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SANFORD, FLA.- The Lightning suffered their first loss of the 2021 season on Monday night, dropping an 8-6 contest to the Sanford River Rats in a rematch of last year’s championship round.

The Lightning found themselves trailing early after a single by Jaiden Warde (Flager) brought home Jeff Liquori (Florida Southern) in the 2nd. From there, Dominick Madonna (UNF), who made his Lightning debut after pitching for the Storm in 2020, settled down for a quality outing. Madonna went four scoreless innings, fanning five and allowing just three hits. The lone run he allowed was unearned due to an error committed by JD Stubbs (Georgia-Gwinnett) at first base.

Through three innings, Sanford’s starter Ronaldo Heredia-Bustos (Northwestern Ohio) was lights out, striking out four of the first five batters he faced and seven in the first three frames.

The Lightning broke through in the fourth with a lead off single by Luke Harper (North Alabama) and a two-run moonshot by Jordan Griffin...

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