Lightning Win in 14-7 Slugfest with Squeeze
By, Zack Smolen
Sanford, FL – Friday afternoon’s contest at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium picked up where Thursday night’s left off, with the Leesburg Lightning (16-5) leading the Winter Garden Squeeze (12-9-1) by a score of 5-2, and ended with a ton more runs on the board, and the Lightning picking up a 14-7 victory. The bats for both teams were on fire and made for a wildly entertaining matchup between two of the top-three teams in the league.
Alejandro Figueredo (Seminole St.) led the charge for Leesburg with perhaps his best game of the summer, going three for five with six RBI, including a double and a monstrous three-run home run to keep the game out of reach for Winter Garden. Figgy was a triple short of the cycle, but blasted his way onto the leader boards with his 20th RBI of the season, tying him for first in the league with Kirby McMullen of the Orlando Scorpions (13-5-1). “It felt awesome,” Figueredo said when asked about his performance and that of his team, “we just wanted to get a win and we got it.”
Robbie Scott (UNF) and Gabriel Rincones (St. Petersburg) also appeared in starring roles, with each collecting a trio of hits and an RBI, with the latter knocking in two runs. Every batter the Lightning sent to the plate scored at least one run, as the team amassed 17 hits for the seventh time in franchise history. The Lightning also scored in double-digits for the fifth time this season.
Leesburg’s bats weren’t the only ones who came to play, as the Squeeze had their own impressive day at the plate to stay competitive in the contest. Their most notable batter was Bobby Head (Austin Peay St.) who launched a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 5-4 ballgame. Unfortunately for Winter Garden, that’s as close as they’d get to the Lightning for the rest of the game.
The Squeeze will play their next game on Monday in round one of the FCSL Playoffs against an opponent that is to be determined. Winter Garden is likely to have a home game in the first round as they sit a game and a half up on the Leesburg Storm (10-10-2) and Seminole County Snappers (10-10-2) for the third seed.
Leesburg will face off in what is sure to be a classic game with the Sanford River Rats later Friday night at 7pm under the lights of Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium.