Leesburg Storm Playoff Preview
By, Zack Smolen
It’s been a wild ride for the Leesburg Storm in their inaugural season, and after a summer of ups and downs, they seem to be putting it altogether at the right time, finishing up the regular season in fourth place, good enough to host a playoff game in round one. This young team has some exciting ballplayers, and an offense that can explode at a moment’s notice with their speed and power to the gaps. Rich Billings has coached this team up into finding their true potential, and while they did finish at .500 this season, no one should be sleeping on the Storm who are a dark horse candidate to – like their in-city rival Lightning did – win the whole thing in year one.
Players to Watch
You can’t talk about the Leesburg Storm without mentioning Jeff Mejia’s (Maine) name. Jeff won the FCSL batting title with a ridiculous .451 mark, a whole 54 points higher than the next man up. He also put together an equally amazing .554 OBP that came as a result of him reaching base safely in all 20 games that he played. He is the catalyst at the top of the Storm order and will ensure that they start things off on the right foot. Alex Freeland (UCF) is another guy who was quietly one of the best players in the entire league. He was top-five in average (.397), RBI (17), triples (2), and walks (18) all while playing top-notch defense at shortstop.
Emerging as a key piece has been Spencer Rich (Daytona St.), who has an 11-game on base streak headed into Monday. Additionally, there are few pitchers in this league with better stuff than Carson Pillsbury (Santa Fe), who will be a tough guy for the Snappers to string hits together against on Monday in round one.
Why the Storm Can Win It All
Much like the Lightning (and honestly any squad piloted by Rich Billings), this is a team with a strong desire to improve and compete every game and those intangibles show themselves through their play. The Storm simply find a way to keep themselves in it every time out, and consistently do all the little things to put pressure on their opponents. Whether it’s stealing a base in a close game or making an outstanding play in the field to put the brakes on a rally, this team knows how to bend momentum to their favor which is one of the biggest things out there in playoff baseball.
While the Storm have certainly had their moments when they didn’t look their best, there are few teams as good as them when hitting on all cylinders. This is a group that beat the River Rats two times out of three, and even picked up a win against the Lightning in a one-run ballgame, which is their bread-and-butter type of scenario. Statement wins like those prove that this isn’t a team to overlook.
One thing that will really play into the Storm’s advantage is the fact that they will be home for the quarterfinal game. “We’ve been limited in the amount of fans we were allowed to have in the ballpark, but they’ve still made a huge difference,” said Billings.
In a win or go home contest, every edge helps, and with the Snappers also at .500, that may end up tipping the scales. It’s also worth noting that if the Storm win, they will play their semifinal game at their home park as they have the Lightning on their side of the bracket. With a path like that, all this team needs is a shot, and they can be a dangerous unit to play against in a three game series and even end up taking home the biggest prize in the league.