Leesburg baseball: Lightning score early, often against Sanford River Rats in home opener

LEESBURG — It was Opening Night in Leesburg for the Lightning faithful as a near-capacity crowd packed into Pat Thomas Stadium Friday to watch their ball club try and win its first game at home and second of the year.

The Lightning did just that as they scored early and often, taking down the Sanford River Rats in game two of the series, 8-3. It marked only the second time since 2015 that Leesburg has started the year 2-0.

Sophomore right-hander Najer Victor got the start from manager Rich Billings. Victor continued the success on the mound for the Lightning as he allowed just two hits and struck out a pair in three innings.

“It felt electric to me. The atmosphere here was crazy,” said Victor, a Clermont native. “It felt amazing going out there and competing in front of the home crowd. They are very supportive.”

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Solid pitching sets the tempo for Leesburg

The early success can be credited to the chemistry within the Lighting locker room.

“I feel like everyone is bonding so quickly.” Victor said. “We’ve known each other for three days now and it feels like we’ve known each other for a year, it feels amazing.”

Allowing just three runs in the past two games, Billings had high praise for his pitchers and Victor specifically.

“The pitching staff was awesome tonight,” Billings said. “Najer (Victor) got us off on the right foot. He was really really good and set the tempo for the rest of the guys.”

The win was awarded to sophomore right-hander Layton Perry. Allowing the only earned run of the night. Perry went two innings, striking out two and walking one.

Similar to Opening Day in Sanford, the Lightning sent out six pitchers to face the River Rats lineup. The final four hurlers combined for four innings, one hit, one run, and six strikeouts; Brandon Haston, Ivan VanBeverhoudt Jr., Bryson Galloway, and Casey Daiss.

'Have some fun' playing in front of home crowd

As the stadium began to fill up, Billings met with the team and gave them a quick message on how to play ball in front of the Leesburg crowd.

“Whatever it is that you bring to the table as a player, showcase that today,” Billings said. “Have some fun, enjoy it.”

From the very first inning, Lightning fans had something to cheer about as a throwing error on a pick off to first base by the Rats scored sophomore outfielder Michael Furry from third base.

The Bolts would tack on another run in the inning as senior standout second baseman Noah Best drove in a run on a ground ball to second base that scored junior outfielder Austin Brinling.

The offensive onslaught would not stop there as a pair were plated in the bottom of the third as Furry and Brinling would both come around to score for their second time in the ballgame. Another pickoff miscue from Sanford, this time at second base, advanced Furry to third who then scored on yet another wild throw from the Rats.

Junior gold-glove first baseman Gabe Esquivel chipped in with a two-out line drive to center field that scored Brinling and put Leesburg ahead 4-0 after three innings.

Sanford was able to grab one run in the fifth and sixth innings to pull within two and make it a competitive ballgame. However, the Lightning offense had other plans.

A four-run sixth inning would start with a bases loaded balk from River Rat pitcher Aaron Wainright to score sophomore shortstop Carlos Castillo.

One final throwing error for Sanford would come from Wainright attempting to stop freshman outfielder Brandon Triplett from scoring on a slow roller back to the mound. The wild throw would bring two runs in for the Lightning as sophomore infielder Quinn Petty was hot on Triplett’s toes crossing the plate.

Still in the sixth, Brinling added to his stellar performance with an RBI-groundout to shortstop that scored sophomore catcher Travis Stapleton. After six innings, the Lighting held an 8-2 lead over the Rats and that was all they would need to secure the victory.

Adjustments were made on the offensive side for the Lightning and it was prevalent in the boxscore. 11 strikeouts in game one were reduced down to seven in game two of the opening series and Leesburg was able to put together eight runs en route to the victory.

“I was really pleased with the cut down on strikeouts.” Billings said. “Our guys battled and put the ball in play with runners in scoring position and we were able to score some runs on a couple hustle plays.”

With the win, the Lightning improved to 2-0, while Sanford fell to 0-2.

Tom Cavanaugh is the Leesburg Lightning communications intern.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Baseball: Leesburg Lightning scores big win in home opener