Leesburg Sees Both Sides of the Ball Shine in a 5-2 Victory Over Winter Garden

Leesburg, Fla- The Lightning have struggled through the first half of the season to sync up both the bats and the pitching. Coach Billings' squad saw a ton of high scoring games to start the summer followed by offensive struggles to stay in close games. Tonight, both the offense and defense were top notch, leading to the 5-2 win. 
 
Once again, both starting pitchers cruised through the first frame before running into trouble. LHP Dustin Dunlap got a quick 1-2-3 inning, needing just 9 pitches to get out of the 1st. 
 
Just like in both games of the doubleheader the other day, the Lightning struck first with a sacrifice bunt from SS Grant Jordan in the 2nd. The play resulted in a throwing error by the pitcher which saw RF Charlie Keller score giving the team a quick 1-0 lead. 
 
Winter Garden would quickly get that run back in the 3rd after a 2 RBI single gave them the 2-1 lead. 
 
Leesburg would give Winter Garden a taste of its own medicine, answering back in the bottom of the 3rd starting with an RBI single from extra hitter Cole Bullen. CF Julian Irizarry was then able to score after a fielder's choice off the bat of 1B Juan Orozco. A couple batters later; Orozco was able to score from a wild pitch to give the Lightning a 4-2 lead. 
 
After the 3rd, the Lightning bullpen was lights-out, all five relievers threw up zeroes in their outings, giving up a total of 3 hits while striking out 8. Another bright spot from the bullpen was the limited free passes; a total of 2 walks were allowed between the five bullpen arms. 
 
Later in the 7th, Leesburg would add some insurance when Orozco’s sacrifice fly scored another run making it 5-2 going into the final two frames. 
 
RHP TJ Socarras came in for the save in the 9th where he would strikeout the side after giving up a one out walk. Socarras would pick up his second save and give Leesburg its 11th win of the season, moving them back into second place with the Snappers. 
 
Coach Billings noted how well both the offense, and the pitching was in a more balanced game than the team is used to. 
 
“I thought our guys played extremely well across the board,’ said Billings. “Our defense was awesome, and our pitching was outstanding tonight. We had a 9-pitch inning in the first, Carson Henrikson had an 11-pitch inning, and Blake Tipmore had an 11-pitch inning.”
 
After cooling off a bit since receiving the Lightning player of the week, extra hitter Marco Mueses had great things to say after his 3-hit night. 
 
“It's good to be back, I’ve been making some adjustments… and I just locked in, in the lab,” said Mueses. “I think I'm going to get better after every single at bat I take, it's a season so at the end of the day it's not just a race it's a marathon.”
 
The Lightning will enjoy another Sunday off day before trying to win the 4-game series against the Squeeze on Monday June 23. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Pat Thomas Stadium. 

Vic Maslia (Syracuse University)

Return to News