Read this article at the FCSL website.
LEESBURG, Fla. (June 26, 2011) – The Sanford River Rats ended their week with a 7-3 loss to the Leesburg Lightning at Pat Thomas Stadium Sunday night.
“Playing on the road against a quality team is always difficult,” River Rats Head Coach Stephen Piercefield said. “We came out and didn’t play a clean game defensively.”
Four Rats errors could have been the difference. The Lightning scored three runs on two errors and advanced to scoring position on two more.
“Our bullpen did a great job throwing quality pitches for ground balls,” Piercefield said. “We just didn’t field them cleanly often enough.”
Brandon Cowan (Lincoln Memorial) started on the mound for Sanford and through 2 2/3 innings, struck out three. Taylor Smith (Rollins), pitching in relief, continued his domination of Leesburg. In 1 1/3 innings, he struck out three in a row (including one to shut down a bases-loaded jam he inherited), walked none, and gave up zero hits.
Offensively, the Rats (6-9-1) finished the night with nine hits, but the Lightning (11-5) seemed to always be ready with a quick defensive reaction to limit Sanford’s scoring.
“We didn’t get many guys in scoring position, and when we did we couldn’t push them across,” Piercefield said. “The guys getting thrown out moving to bases, that’s on me - that’s River Rat baseball. We never assume a play is over, stay aggressive, and make them make a play. Tonight, they did.”
Christian Coburn (College of Central Florida) and Mike Albaladejo (Florida Atlantic) scored in the first on a single from Mike Miller (Dallas Baptist) for Leesburg.
Alex Mendez (South Florida) scored the first run for the Rats in the top of the fourth on a double from Pat Fortunato (Rhode Island) to make it 2-1.
Tyler Kellmann (Lake Sumter CC) scored on a third baseman error in the sixth that also advanced Chase Durham (Howard College). Durham then scored on a Coburn sacrifice fly. Thomas Sicking (Texas Pan-American) scored on a Jacob Tillotson (Florida) single to push the score to 5-1.
The Lightning continued their rout one inning later as Troy Drummond (Delaware State), pinch running for Miller, and Kellmann scored on a catcher’s error.
Dan Haverstick (Rhode Island) and Johnny Mazur (Florida Tech) scored the game’s final two runs on a Leesburg shortstop error.
“We still finished the week with a winning record, and we’re looking forward to next week,” Piercefield said.
Sanford’s next game is against the first-place Winter Park Diamond Dawgs (11-3) at Alfond Stadium Tuesday night. First pitch is slated for 7pm.
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