Lightning Clinch 3-Seed in Playoffs After a 7-3 loss to the Snappers

Leesburg, Fla- With the playoffs right around the corner, the Snappers and Lightning will play in Orlando for game one and potentially game three of the first round. After last night's loss, Leesburg finished 1-5 against the Snappers in the regular season and now needs two wins to knock them out of the playoffs.

Starting RHP Bryan Burtoft threw a scoreless 1st, needing just 8 pitches to induce three fly ball outs, despite hitting the leadoff batter.

In the bottom of the inning, RF Charlie Keller drove in the first run with a single that gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead. 1B James Strom then brought home another with a sacrifice fly that extended the lead to 2-0.

LHP Gunnar Plante came on in the 2nd and struggled to get the first out, walking back-to-back batters while hitting a third which loaded the bases with nobody out. RHP James Hill was put in to navigate through a big jam and got a first pitch ground ball that was turned for a double play started by 3B Ryan Jenkins. The double play did plate a Snappers run, but the Lightning saved another with an unbelievable snag from Jenkins on a line drive down towards third base from the next batter.

After cutting the lead in half in the 2nd, Orlando would add on in the 3rd after an RBI double tied it at 2-2. An error by C Cole Bullen trying to catch an infield pop-up allowed another run to score, giving the Snappers a 3-2 lead.

The Lightning struggled after the first inning to get leadoff batters aboard and would fail to move a runner to third until the 8th.

With Leesburg’s bats going silent, the Snappers added some insurance in the 6th with an RBI single which made it 4-2.

Orlando put up a crooked number in the 8th with RHP Jose Paniagua struggling to retire batters. The righty allowed 4 hits, including an RBI double followed by back-to-back RBI singles which made it 7-2 with just six outs left for the Lightning.

Leesburg loaded the bases in the 8th with nobody out before Jenkins lined out to the shortstop who doubled up the runner at first. The offense was unable to scratch across a run after the double play which kept the lead at 5 heading into the 9th.

The Lightning got two straight walks to leadoff the 9th before back-to-back batters struck out which brought the team down to their last out. Command issues continued for the Snappers pitcher as he walked in a run to make it 7-3 with just one out left to get. Another arm came on for Orlando and quickly got a strikeout to end it, giving them their 5th win against Leesburg.

After the game, Coach Billings highlighted the importance of being able to string together hits with runners in scoring position. The veteran head coach also stressed how crucial it is for the offense to not have to rely on walks and mistakes from their opponents to score runs.

The Lightning will enjoy two days off before they play in Orlando for game one of the best-of-three playoff series. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at The First Academy.

Vic Maslia (Syracuse University)

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