Lightning Prove No Match for Squeeze

LEESBURG, Fla. - The Leesburg Lightning (12-19) have fallen behind early and often during the 2016 Florida League season and Tuesday night was none different. The Lightning allowed a five spot in the third inning and the Winter Garden Squeeze (16-14) never looked back, cruising to a 14-2 victory at Pat Thomas Stadium - Buddy Lowe Field.

The last time Chris Lake (Flagler) took the mound, he allowed five runs in 1.2 innings in his rockiest outing since his second start on June 8. Lake (2-3) was in search of a much different result on Tuesday night but the Squeeze had other intentions.

Winter Garden harassed Lake in the third inning, accounting for five runs. He allowed a leadoff walk and back-to-back singles before making way for the Leesburg bullpen. With the Squeeze already ahead 3-0, MacLain Larson (Flagler) gave up a double to Karl Ellison (Lynn), scoring Pablo Cabrera (Florida Southern) and Tyler Halstead (Winthrop) to make it 5-0.

The run scored by Halstead was just the third earned run allowed by Larson.

With only one hit to show for through five innings, Leesburg made matters even worse by allowing the Squeeze to score an additional four runs to take a commanding 9-0 lead. Matthew Sullivan (West Florida) and Nick Niarchos (High Point) led off the inning with back-to-back hits before Kyle Corbin (Bethune-Cookman) earned a walk to load the bases. Cabrera followed with a single, scoring Sullivan to make it 6-0.

One batter later, Halstead took Leesburg pitcher David Baxter (Florence-Darlington Tech) for a ride, crushing a three-run homer over the fence in right-center to give the Squeeze a 9-0 lead.

Jarred Neal (South Florida CC) was masterful for Winter Garden, quietly allowing just two runs in seven innings. He allowed six hits while striking out two en route to the win.

Sullivan painted an even uglier picture for the Lightning in the seventh, smashing a grand slam over the fence in left field to make it 13-0. He finished the game 2-for-2 with 4 RBI.

With the loss, the Lightning have now lost seven of their last 11 games and are 1.5 games behind the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs for the final playoff spot.

Leesburg and Winter Garden return to action on Wednesday with two games. The two teams will resume their suspended game from July 15 prior to their regularly scheduled game. First pitch from West Orange High School is set for 5 p.m.


Eddie Poe, York College of Pennsylvania

Eddie Poe - 07/19/16 10:57pm

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