Lightning Dominate Snappers For Fifth Straight Win

LEESBURG, Fla.- The Leesburg Lightning (20-9) used eight unanswered runs to defeat the Orlando Snappers (12-16) 10-2 at home on Saturday night, extending their winning streak to five games. 

After both offenses came out firing in the first inning, with Orlando scoring one run in the frame and Leesburg scoring two runs on singles by Logan Chapman (Georgia Tech) and Brooks Bryan (Troy), both starting pitchers would start to settle down. 

The Snappers would put one more run on Danny Rodriguez (Undecided) in the third inning to tie the game up at 2-2, before Rodriguez would hand the ball over to Dustin Dunlap (Mars Hill). 

Dunlap entered with runners on the basepaths in the fourth inning and tightroped his way out, before pitching another two inning of shutout, one-hit baseball. Dunlap is a Leesburg native and the crowd cheered a little bit louder for him when he was pitching so well compared to the other Lightning players. He is having a standout season out of the bullpen so far, posting a 2.84 ERA, with 14 strikeouts in 12.2 innings pitched. 

“Playing in front of these people that I grew up around is just amazing,” Dunlap said. “It’s truly great to have those people behind you and supporting you, it brings your energy to another level.”

The Lightning offense backed up Dunlap’s phenomenal performance out of the bullpen with an offensive explosion in the fifth and sixth innings. Leesburg kicked off their string of eight unanswered runs with a towering two-run homerun by Drew Stubbs (Webber International) in the fifth inning to give the Lightning a 4-2 lead. 

Austin Brinling (South Carolina) then took matters into his own hands, starting with an RBI single that scored Bryan. He then showcased his elite speed by stealing second and third base on consecutive pitches, before taking off for home a few pitches later and completely turning the game on its head by swiping home plate and shifting any momentum that was still with Orlando over to the Leesburg dugout and extending the lead to 6-2. 

“Drew’s (Stubbs) homerun and Austin’s (Brinling) stolen bases were really the turning point for us tonight in terms of momentum,” Leesburg Lightning Head Coach Rich Billings said. “We were great from the top to the bottom of the lineup, and you know you’re playing really well when the bottom of your lineup is producing the way they did tonight.”

The Lightning tacked on three more runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by RBI singles from Hector Mangual (Undecided) and Gabriel Santiago (Coker) to extend the Leesburg lead to 9-2. 

Tyler LeJeune (Northwest Florida State) knocked in the winning run in the seventh inning, which finalized a 10-2 run-rule home victory for the Lightning, their fifth straight win currently. 

The Lightning will be back in action on Sunday at home for game two of their three-game set with the Orlando Snappers. First pitch is set for 5 PM on Sunday at Pat Thomas Stadium in Leesburg, Florida. 

(Carter Mansfield, Austin Peay State University)

Carter Mansfield - 07/16/23 2:48am

Return to News