Winter Garden Hands Lightning 13-5 Loss at Pat Thomas

LEESBURG, Fla. — The Leesburg Lightning could not overcome an early deficit Friday night, falling 13-5 to the Winter Garden Squeeze at Pat Thomas Stadium.

Winter Garden struck quickly in the opening inning, scoring three runs on RBI hits from Osjun Rivas and Joshua Schaller to take a 3-0 lead. The Lightning answered with a run in the bottom half when Dylan Green drove in Andon Gray with a groundout, trimming the deficit to 3-1.

The Squeeze broke the game open in the fourth inning, scoring six runs to extend their lead. Cael Reish launched a solo home run before Winter Garden capitalized on walks and wild pitches to build a 9-1 advantage.

Leesburg mounted its best rally in the fifth. Jack Waddingham opened the inning with a double before Preston Murphy, Cory Banasiak and Gabe Campos all reached base. Campos drew an RBI walk, Gray added a run-scoring groundout, and KT Thompson delivered a two-run double to cut the deficit to 9-5.

That would be as close as the Lightning would get. Winter Garden added two runs in the seventh and two more in the ninth to pull away and secure the victory.

Thompson paced the Leesburg offense, going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Banasiak collected two hits, while Waddingham doubled and scored a run. Campos drove in a run and reached base three times, and Gray finished with two RBIs.

Winter Garden's offense was led by Fabian Antonsanti, who went 4-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Reish added a home run and scored three times as the Squeeze finished with 13 hits and drew 11 walks.

On the mound, Ethan Priest took the loss after allowing seven runs over 3 1/3 innings. Austin MacCardle provided valuable relief, striking out three over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. JD Aragort struck out two in relief, while Cody Clymer worked the final 2 1/3 innings.

Leesburg finished with six hits and seven walks but was unable to overcome Winter Garden's early offensive surge. The loss dropped the Lightning to 12-4 on the season.

The teams conclude their three-game series Saturday at Horizon High School. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Adam Rothschild (Susquehanna University)