Leesburg baseball: Lightning toss one-hitter in season-opening win against Rats

SANFORD — The sights, sounds, and smells of Florida Collegiate Summer League were in full swing Thursday for Opening Day at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium.

And the Leesburg Lightning picked up where it left off last season.

The defending league champions, the Lightning took a no-hitter into the ninth inning and finished with a combined one-hitter in a 3-0 win at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium.

The Lightning pitching staff struck out 16 in the rivalry meeting. Leesburg manager Rich Billings recognized the incredible performance from his team, specifically the men on the mound.

“I thought our guys did a really good job of just coming out and playing hard,” Billings said. “Our pitchers did a great job of coming out and throwing strikes.”

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Left-hander Matt Dadlani started on the mound for the Lightning and set the tone early. The junior hurled two scoreless innings, not allowing a hit and striking out three Sanford hitters.

Bryse Ingle was the first of five relief pitchers used by the Lightning. Ingle earned the win with three scoreless innings, walking two and striking out three.

The other four Lightning pitchers combined for four innings, one hit and nine strikeouts; Zach Mizrahi, Tyler Van Dyke, Connor Gleeson, Dylan Broderick.

The scoring started in the third inning for the Lightning. After drawing a walk and stealing second, sophomore outfielder Michael Furry became the first runner in scoring position for either team.

The deciding swing of the game came when sophomore shortstop Carlos Castillo broke the scoreless tie with an RBI-triple to score Furry. Another run would be plated in the third for Leesburg as junior outfielder Austin Brinling slapped a clutch two-out RBI-single to shallow center field to bring in Castillo.

“We didn’t burn it up on the offensive side but we got what we needed. Really pleased for the first time out.” Billings said.

Sanford gave the ball to sophomore right-handed pitcher Chase Costello to start the contest. The majority of the Lightning runs were scored off of Costello as he went five innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits while striking out seven and walking three.

Even with the necessary run support to secure the victory, the Leesburg hitters struck out 11 times. However, the offense put together five walks that resulted in two of the three runs scored for the Bolts.

“Zone discipline from the hitters tonight was pretty good,” Billings said “We have some guys that are seeing live pitching for the first time in a while.”

Three outs from an Opening Day no-hitter on the road, Leesburg allowed the only hit of the ballgame to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Pinch-hitting junior Hylan Hall poked a ball to right field to break up the no hit bid for Sanford.

That was as far as the River Rat offense would go as Broderick closed the shutout, picking up the save with a pair of strikeouts and a lineout.

“They just gotta enjoy it, embrace the fans, have some fun with them and we’ll see where we stand at the end of the game.” Billings said.

Tom Cavanaugh is the communications intern for the Leesburg Lightning.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Baseball: Leesburg Lightning open season with victory on the road