The LVBA Lightning Red vs. Navy series, made up of a combination of players from the 11u and 12u Lightning teams, kicked off last weekend with the Red team jumping out to a quick 2-1 series lead, as the 11u and 12u combined teams continue in their prep towards Cooperstown, NY, and the XDS World Series in San Diego. 

The teams will continue the series on July 19, with the amount of 3 inning games to be determined. In order to stress the importance of jumping out to a quick lead and being able to hold that lead, the staff chose to play short, 3 inning games, forcing the players to always be in a stressed situation in the game, much like the pressures of playing in the major national tournaments that these two teams are preparing to attend.

In game 1 of the day, the Red team fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning, but that did not last long, as they put up an eight spot in the bottom of the first to gain a lead they would not give up, cruising to a 14-4 win. Game 2 proved to be a bit more dramatic, with the Navy team bouncing back to take a 6-3 lead into the third inning, before the Red team rallies to tie the game at 6 heading into extras. The Red team scored 2 in the top of the 4th, and then used a clutch double play in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-0 series lead. Game 3, however, was where the Navy team found their stride it seemed. The Red scored 2 runs in the bottom of the first, but the Navy players rebounded to score 4 in the top of the second. The scoring was done for the game, as then the Navy team played some great defense to come away with the 4-2 win, cutting the series gap in half, 2-1.

The series has a short break now as the 12u Lightning Cooperstown Team heads to Park City, Utah to compete in the RMSB Tournament of Champions. Good Luck boys and bring back that hardware!