Leesburg Walks-Off the Suns 6-5 to Make it Four Straight Wins

Leesburg, Fla- The first inning struggles continued for Leesburg tonight with DeLand putting up a crooked number in the 1st. In the next 8 frames, the pitching staff allowed just two more runs to score which gave the bats a chance to come back and win it. 
 
Starting LHP Gunnar Plante immediately got himself into trouble in the 1st, giving up a leadoff walk followed by hitting back-to-back batters before an infield single made it 1-0. With the bases loaded, Plante would walk in a second run before striking out the next two batters. Just as the lefty looked like he was starting to navigate his way through the tough inning, he walked in another run which gave the Suns a 3-0 lead. RHP TJ Socarras came on to relieve the struggling Plante and got a strikeout to end the 1st. 
 
After going down quietly in the bottom of the inning, Leesburg would pick up a run in the 2nd after RF Charlie Keller scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1. 
 
Socarras would go on to throw three more shutout innings while giving up just two hits before his night came to an end. 
 
1B James Strom singled to lead off the 4th and would quickly come around to score after a throwing error by the second baseman made it 3-2. 
 
Later in the 6th, RHP Cade Mattison found himself in a jam after a single and a walk led to an RBI single that extended the Suns lead to 4-2. LHP Ethan Barrett would relieve Mattison and got a lineout double play to end the inning thanks to CF Julian Irizarry. 
 
With the bats still quiet, the Lightning had to lean on their bullpen to keep the team in the game. In total, all five relievers gave up just 2 runs despite allowing 12 hits and 4 free passes. 
 
LHP Nicholas Delnegro gave up half of those 12 hits but allowed just one run in the 8th inning after an RBI single extended the DeLand lead to 5-2. With the bases still loaded with one out, RHP Blake Tipmore came on to get the Lightning out of a jam facing the Suns leadoff batter. The righty then got the ground ball he needed which the infield turned for a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. 
 
Leesburg had just 6 outs to work with going into the bottom of the 8th, but that proved to be no problem for the high-powered offense. A single sandwiched in between two walks loaded the bases for Strom who provided an RBI groundout to cut the lead to 5-3. 3B Juan Orozco then singled to bring home another run before Keller beat out a potential double play which saw the tying run score. 
 
With the game knotted at 5-5, Tipmore would return to the mound and retire the first two batters no problem before the Suns gave him some trouble. A two out single led to a stolen base which saw the ball pop out of the glove of 2B Cole Bullen trying to apply the tag. The ball would ricochet into the outfield allowing the go-ahead runner to reach third before a two out walk made it runners at the corners with two outs. Tipmore would induce a pop fly on the infield that would strand both runners and keep the game tied heading into the bottom of the 9th. 
 
SS Ryan Jenkins led off the 9th with a five pitch walk and then reached third after back-to-back wild pitches during the at bat of LF Riley Fitzgerald who eventually walked. With runners at the corners and nobody out for C Nicholas Wrubluski, the Suns opted to add a 5th infielder to stop any ground ball from reaching the outfield. A lengthy at bat would lead to a full count pitch which Wrubliski pulled down the third base line for a walk off single to win it for the Lightning. 
 
Coach Billings touched on how his offense grinded through the last two innings while the pitching staff gave them an opportunity to mount a comeback. 
 
“Our hitters really battled in the last two innings, it was nice to see them wake up,” said Billings. “Blake Tipmore did an outstanding job on the back end of that game, to come in with the bases loaded and one out and get a double play was exactly what we needed, he deserved that win for sure.”
 
After the game, Wrubluski touched on what he was thinking at the plate, especially with five infielders in front of him trying to stop the ball from getting to the outfield. 
 
“I didn’t even see him until it was a 2-2 count and then I noticed there was a 5th infielder,” said the catcher. “So, I was like I really got to put one in a good spot here, but he hung a curveball… and I just got a hold of it and put it down the line.” 
 
The Lightning enjoy another Wednesday off before their biggest test yet against the 19-1 River Rats on Thursday June 26. First pitch is set for 6:30 at Sanford Memorial Stadium.  
 
Vic Maslia (Syracuse University)

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