Read this article at the FCSL website.
LEESBURG, Fla. (June 21, 2011) – The Sanford River Rats held off an eighth-inning rally and broke a three-game losing skid with a 4-3 victory over the Leesburg Lightning at Pat Thomas Stadium Tuesday night.
“We try to teach that belief of ‘expect to win’ when we come onto the field,” River Rats Head Coach Stephen Piercefield said. “We don’t hope. We don’t pray. We don’t wish. We expect to win, and today we were able to execute against a very good team. Any time you can go on the road against the number one team in the standings and get a win, it’s very satisfying and a great way to start the week.”
Both starting pitchers put up five shutout innings, but Sanford struck first in the sixth. TJ Gavlik (North Florida) led off with a double, his second base hit of the night and just the third overall for the Rats.
“Austin Liput (USC-Upstate) came right behind him and moved Gavlik to third [on a 4-3 groundout] followed by Ian MacGeorge (Embry-Riddle) hitting a sacrifice fly to centerfield, just how you’d draw it up,” Piercefield said. “Anytime you’re able to score first, and on the road, and when both pitchers are doing well, it makes it a lot easier than when you’re playing from behind.”
Sanford (5-8-1) added some insurance runs in the seventh, largely due to two defensive errors. Dan Haverstick (Rhode Island) reached first on a pitcher’s error. Blake Boyd (Nova Southeastern) reached base on a single, and Alex Mendez (South Florida) hit a ground-rule double to score Haverstick. A shortstop’s error then allowed Boyd and Mendez to score, and Gavlik to reach first.
“That allowed our bullpen to do their thing,” Piercefield said.
Leesburg’s (9-4) Nic Kovacs (Lake Sumter CC) pitched 6 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking none, but took the loss after giving up four runs.
Sanford starter Taylor Smith (Rollins) allowed just one hit over seven shutout innings of work, and struck out eight. Smith retired 11 consecutive batters between the third and sixth innings.
“We had a great pitching performance tonight from Smith,” Piercefield said. “He was able to keep their guys off balance. When you get a starting pitcher that’s able to do that, you’re going to be in a lot of games.”
Smith’s seven innings marked his deepest work of the season thus far.
“The thing with Smith has been pitch counts,” Piercefield said. “Tonight, he was able to attack hitters, so he was able to stay in the game and compete.”
Pat Fortunato (Rhode Island), pitching in relief for Sanford, did allow Patrick Hicks (Dallas Baptist), Thomas Sicking (Texas Pan-American), and Christian Coburn (College of Central FL) to score in the bottom of the eighth, but Adam Maxon (Jacksonville) came in for Sanford in the ninth and shut the door on Leesburg, striking out two and inducing a grounder to first to end the game.
Sanford continues their road game slate against the DeLand Suns (7-6) at The Villages. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. JR Edwards is the probable starter for Sanford.
No comments:
Post a Comment