Cardiac Bolts Comeback To Take Game One

LEESBURG, Fla.- The Leesburg Lightning put together their second consecutive ninth inning comeback win in dramatic fashion at home on Saturday night, taking a 5-4 win in game one of the Florida League Championship Series over the Winter Garden Squeeze. 

Lightning pitching ace Layton Perry (Jacksonville) got the start on the mound, in what proved to be a pitching duel from the start. Winter Garden would strike first in the second and fourth innings, with one run in each frame, to take a 2-0 lead. 

Leesburg would finally get on the board in the bottom half of the fourth inning, as a sacrifice fly from Drew Stubbs (Webber International) scored Brooks Bryan (Troy) to cut the lead to 2-1. 

The Squeeze scored runs in the fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead to 4-1, before another RBI from Stubbs, this time a single in the bottom of the sixth inning, cut the Winter Garden lead to 4-2.

From that point on, both bullpens were lights out until the ninth inning. That’s when chaos ensued in Leesburg.

Two consecutive four-pitch walks to open the ninth inning put runners on first and second base for the Lightning to start. Austin Brinling (South Carolina) laid down a bunt with the intent of it being a sacrifice play, but the speedy Lightning leadoff hitter was able to take advantage of Winter Garden miscommunication and beat out the throw for a bunt single. 

With the bases loaded, Gabriel Santiago (Coker) stepped in and chopped a ground ball to second that was thrown away by the second baseman, scoring Johnnie Lopez (Seminole State) and Riley Fitzgerald (Flagler) to tie the game at 4-4. 

On the very first pitch of the next at-bat, a wild pitch caused Squeeze catcher Michael Young (Pensacola State) to try and throw out Brinling at third, but the throw was wild. As the ball rolled into the outfield Brinling sprinted home, completing the comeback and giving the Lightning a 5-4 win, moving them one win away from a Florida League Championship. 

“Our guys know that it just takes one baserunner to get going and that’s all it took in the ninth inning there,” Leesburg Lightning Head Coach Rich Billings said. “I think our home crowd gives us such an advantage over the other teams in the league, because our guys can sense the energy and feed off of it, especially in big situations.”

Austin Brinling is in his second season with the Lightning and after falling in the championship series last season, he turned down multiple other summer opportunities to come back and try to win a championship in Leesburg. Tonight, he scored the winning run to move the Lightning one win away from that goal. 

“I had other opportunities this summer, but I told Coach (Billings) straight up when he texted me about coming back that I wanted to win a championship,” said Brinling. “Last year was a great time, but it sucked losing and that’s all I rememeber, but we’re here now and we have a chance to do something special.”

Brinling has been a catalyst at the plate, on the basepaths, and defensively in center field for the Lightning all season long. He is not only one of the most talented players in the lineup, but is also one of the true leaders for this Lightning team.

“He (Brinling) is such a special kid and such a special human being,” Billings said. “He shows up every day ready to play and compete, which is such a special thing to get out of a summer ball player.”

The Lightning will have the chance to clinch their fourth Florida League Championship with a win in game two on Sunday afternoon. The first pitch of the second game of the series is set for 1 PM on Sunday at Olympia High School, the home of the Winter Garden Squeeze.

(Carter Mansfield, Austin Peay State University)

Carter Mansfield - 07/30/23 2:07am

Return to News