Keller Powers Lightning to Victory Over River Rats

SANFORD, Fla. – The Leesburg Lightning erased an early three-run deficit with a five-run sixth inning and went on to defeat the Sanford River Rats 9-6 on Saturday night at Sanford Memorial Stadium.

Leesburg struck first in the opening inning when Charlie Keller reached on a fielding error that allowed Andon Gray to score, but Sanford quickly responded. Jake Schincariol launched a three-run home run later in the first inning to put the River Rats ahead 3-1, and Sanford extended its lead to 4-1 in the third when Drew Pynes scored on a passed ball.

The Lightning offense broke through in the sixth inning. KT Thompson opened the rally with an RBI double before Cory Banasiak lined a two-run single to tie the game at 4-4. Moments later, Marcello Cortale delivered the biggest hit of the inning, ripping a two-run double to left field that scored Ledger Pleasant and Banasiak, giving Leesburg a 6-4 advantage.

Leesburg added more breathing room in the seventh when Keller crushed a two-run homer to right field, his third home run in the last three games, extending the lead to 8-4.

Sanford answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, but the Lightning got one of those runs back in the eighth when Gray singled home Pleasant to make it 9-6.

The offense collected 11 hits and drew nine walks. Keller finished with three RBIs, while Banasiak drove in two and Cortale added a pair of RBIs with his sixth-inning double. Gray reached base three times, scored once and drove in a run, while Pleasant scored twice and recorded two hits.

After Austin MacCardle allowed four runs over 2.2 innings, the Leesburg bullpen turned the game around. JD Aragort tossed two scoreless innings with three strikeouts before Ethon Tesmer earned his first victory of the season. Tesmer allowed two runs, only one of them earned, across 1.2 innings. Bryce Gluckman struck out two during 1.2 scoreless innings of relief, and Cody Clymer closed out the ninth with two strikeouts to earn his first save of the season.

The victory improved the Lightning to 16-6 and secured their second sweep of Sanford this season. With the season series against the River Rats now complete, the Lightning will have two days off before returning to action at Pat Thomas Stadium on Tuesday, June 30, at 7 p.m. against the Winter Garden Squeeze.

Adam Rothschild (Susquehanna University)