Box Score

LEESBURG, Fla-- The Seminole County Scorpions offense couldn’t find a rhythm in the 6-1 loss to the Leesburg Lightning at Pat Thomas Stadium Thursday night. A pair of two-run home runs early in the ballgame was the deciding factor for the Lightning in this one.

Seminole County jumped to a quick lead in the top of the first inning. With two out and the bases empty, Parker Smith (Rollins) hit his fourth home run of the season. This one was a solo shot over the centerfield wall to give the Scorpions a 1-0 advantage. At the bottom of the inning, the Lightning tied it at one apiece on an RBI single from Nick Lewis (Valdosta State). 

At the bottom of the second inning, Leesburg’s offense came up large with a two-out rally. Scorpions starting pitcher Cooper Mountcastle (St.Leo) retired the first two batters reasonably quickly, but struggled to get the last out. Robbie Scott (North Florida) started the rally off with a single, and Parker Pillsbury (Chipola) followed with a two-run home run over the right-field wall to give them a 3-1 lead. 

The long ball came up huge for the Lightning once again in the bottom of the third inning. `After Jarrett Backus (King College) worked a walk with one out, Tanner Clark (North Florida) came up and hit Leesburg’s second home run of the ballgame to extend it to 5-1. Leesburg added its sixth and final run of the contest on a Cage Cox (Valdosta State) double to right-center-field to make it an uphill battle for Seminole County. 

At the top of the seventh, the Scorpions finally put some runners on base to place pressure on the Lightning. With one out, Smith was hit by a pitch, Mike Christopoulos (Valdosta State) singled, and Kyle Richardson (Jacksonville) worked a walk to load the bases. However, Lightning relief pitcher Amir Ashgar (Undecided) got Hayden Cross (Appalachian State) to pop out in the infield, and Fausto Lopez to fly out to end the threat. 

In the middle of the eighth, the rain started to fall at the ballpark, and the game was called. The Scorpions now have lost their third game in a row, which moved the record to 8-28-1 for the summer. Friday night, Seminole County is back at Sanford Memorial Stadium for the final home game of the regular season against Leesburg. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. 

Matt McClue (Penn State)