2024 Managers Announced
Date: Jan 31, 2024
Leesburg, FL – Offense, defense, pitching, you name it, the Leesburg Lightning (12-1) had it all tonight. Starter Hunter Caudelle (Georgia Gwinnett) pitched five solid innings, striking out six batters and giving up the only two runs of the game scored by the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs (7-8) in Leesburg's 9-2 win.
The Lightning played near flawless baseball, scoring nine runs while only allowing two and finishing with no errors on the night.
“The guys played really, really well tonight. If you ask Hunter he would probably tell you he walked too many guys, but defense was sharp, we got some timely hits and we didn’t strike out a ton,” Lightning head coach Rich Billings said of his team’s efforts after the game. “We ran the bases aggressively, it cost us a couple of pick-offs but that’s the risk you take. Overall our guys played well tonight, they played hard.”
Caudelle got into a jam early in the game, walking three batters in a row in the top of the first inning with just one out. The 6’7 righty pounded the strike zone, looking unfazed, and eventually got Winter Park right fielder Christian Snow (Mobile) to ground into a double play to end the threat with no runs crossing the plate.
Leesburg’s first run came in the bottom of the second after Tanner May (North Florida) lined a single past Diamond Dawgs pitcher AJ Chacon (Rollins College) into center field and a Tucker Rayburn (Florida A&M) sac fly to right field three batters later was just far enough to score May.
The Lightning broke the game open two innings later after May drove in Javeon Cody (Alvin CC) with a single to center field. A pitching change turned sour for the Diamond Dawgs after new pitcher Turner Scruggs (Winthrop) gave up a monster three-run home run to Wes Weeks (North Florida), putting Leesburg up 5-0. The home run couldn’t have come at a better time for Weeks, who had been in a slump the last few games after starting the season red hot. The big fly was Weeks’ second of the season, and Leesburg’s fourth.
Coach Billings was happy for Weeks after the home run and he said that it was huge for his confidence.
“That was awesome, he really needed that for his own confidence,” Billings said of the three-run blast. “It was nice to see him get himself going and get a couple of RBIs, hit the ball hard tonight and have some good at-bats. He’s certainly a guy that we need in the lineup every night.”
Winter Park was finally able to crack Caudelle in the top half of the fifth. Jacob Teter (Florida Southern) beat out a groundball to third base while Robert Scott (Lake Sumter State) scored on the same play. Brian Ellis (Florida Gulf Coast) came home later in the inning on a wild pitch from Caudelle to bring the Dawgs within three runs.
Leesburg countered with two of their own in the bottom of the fifth inning. League batting average leader Javeon Cody drove in Luke Brown (Western Kentucky) from third with a single to center field after Brown started off the inning with a double to left field. Cody scored later in the inning after he stole third, then advanced to home on an errant throw by Winter Park catcher Cale Jones (Sante Fe CC) to put the home team up 7-2.
The Lighting added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh to put the game away. Jose Crisostomo (Miami Dade) walked and eventually scored on a Jake Matulia (Flagler) sacrifice fly, and Javeon Cody scored on a wild play after he was caught in a pickle but Dawgs pitcher Henry Cartrett (South Carolina Aiken) threw the ball past the third baseman Abraham Sequera (North Florida), allowing Cody to not only escape the pickle, but also score as well Leesburg’s ninth run of the game.
The Leesburg bullpen made it three games in a row without allowing a run, as Kevin Barham (Georgia Highlands), Louis Davenport (Pensacola State) and Pedro Reyes-Ruiz (Miami Dade) combined to close out the game with four innings of one-hit baseball.
“That’s huge for all of us, not just our starters but for our hitters as well,” Billings said about his bullpen’s recent dominance. “Usually when a team gets into the bullpen, the demeanor of the offense and the defense can waiver a little bit but I think it’s the opposite for us. When we go to the bullpen out guys are excited and they feel confident in whoever we bring in and that’s a really nice luxury to have.”
Leesburg will meet Winter Park for a doubleheader on Saturday, starting at 4:30 p.m. in Winter Park.
Matt Holzapfel (Elon University)