Diamond Dawgs Too Much for Lightning in 8-1 Loss

LEESBURG, Fla. -- The Leesburg Lightning (9-10) returned home to face the league-leading Winter Park Diamond Dawgs (15-2) in the first game of a three-game set.

The Bolts sent lefty Peyton Winebarger (North Carolina A&T) to the mound to start the game. After allowing the first two batters to reach via a walk, Winebarger induced a a groundball for a double play and then got the next batter to groundout to the shortstop to get out of the inning unscathed. 

Parker Pillsbury (Chipola) led things off with a double for the Ligthning and later came home to roost on a sacrifice fly from Cage Cox (Valdosta State). After one, Leesburg led 1-0. 

In the top of the third, the Diamond Dawgs tied the score at 1-1 with a sacrifice fly of their own, when Joe Butts (Catawba) hit a deep fly ball that allowed the runner to easily score from third.

The Lightning ran into some trouble in the top of the fifth inning. A Gerardo Miranda (North Alabama) RBI triple gave the Dawgs the 2-1 lead. Winter Park added two more runs in the frame on a groundout and a fielder’s choice. As the game headed into the home half of the fourth, the Diamond Dawgs held a 4-1 lead. 

Josh Hancock (Florida A&M) relieved Winebarger in the sixth, after Winebarger allowed three earned runs in five innings pitched. “Peyton didn’t do a great job of getting ahead of hitters, but he worked himself out of some jams by making some good pitches and getting some weak contact,” Billings said of Winebarger’s performance.

A wild pitch and an error led to a couple of Winter Park runs that extended the Dawgs’ lead to 6-1. 

Jeremiah Foster (North Carolina A&T) came in for Hancock and worked scoreless seventh and eighth innings, but the Lightning offense were unable to find a spark. 

Insurance runs are always welcomed in baseball, and the Diamond Dawgs provided themselves with two of them in the top of the ninth. The Lightning entered the bottom half of the ninth with an 8-1 deficit. 

The Lightning went queitly in the ninth as they fell to the Diamond Dawgs 8-1. 

Lightning head coach Rich Billings said the game was frustrating to watch. “We can’t hit a ton of fly ball and expect to win,” Billings said. “Too many guys trying to do too much in hitter’s counts. The defense was even worse than the offense. I think the bad defense overshadowed the bad offense. We have to clean those two things up.”

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