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8u Lightning Battles in DRY HEAT SHOWDOWN

By Chase Lacomb, 05/15/18, 5:00PM PDT

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LVBA Lightning 8u Takes 2nd in Dry Heat Showdown

For the 2018 Dry Heat Showdown tournament, the 8u Lightning opened pool play with two California based teams.  Game 1 against the SoCal Victory, Mason D stifled the opposing bats for 3 innings plus.  He minimized their production and kept the battle close into the 4th.  Multiple innings the Bolts challenged the Victory by creating baserunners.  Throughout the game there were 9 Lightning base runners, unfortunately they left 7 of those runners on base.  Mason D provided the offense for the team with an opposite field 3 run inside the park home run.  Marco C came into the game in relief and helped get out of a tough situation.  In the end, the Lightning fell 7-3 in game 1 of pool play.  Game 2 of pool play was against the Easton Dawgs. After a tough defeat in game 1, the Bolts came out hot and torched the opposing team with 8 runs in the first inning.  They never looked back and won the game 9-8.  Batting through the lineup with all 11 hitters resulting in a quality at bat in the first inning was remarkable.  Cash R ate up innings and was consistent throwing strikes for the Lightning.  He pitched 3 strong innings and Ridge O came in to seal the deal.  Jack D and Alex S had 2 and 3 runs batted in respectfully.  

Day 2 of the Dry Heat Showdown led to another game vs the Vegas Xpress.  The Xpress jumped out early with a few big innings, the Lightning never quit and forced the Xpress to go to their bullpen.  Down 6-1 in the bottom of the 6th, pushing the other team's starting pitcher out of the game, the Lightning bats woke up and player after player continued to find ways on base.  Big hits for Rocco G, Mason D and Alex S in the inning led to the 5 run inning, forcing extra innings.  Jake G was outstanding on the mound.  A quick led to the top of the lineup coming up in the bottom of the 7th.  Jayson M led the inning off with a leadoff single and with smart baserunning was in scoring position only a few pitches later.  Marco C came up to bat and earned the walk off hit, hitting a groundball that was too difficult to get the speedy Jayson M out at the plate.  The 8u Lightning mounted the successful comeback and won the semifinals 7-6.  Onto the championship, the Lightning team had a rematch with the SoCal Victory.  Rocco G started on the mound and challenged the other hitters.  First time through the lineup mixed speeds and kept them off balance.  The more pitches the opposing team saw, the more their bats came to life.  The SoCal Victory put together an impressive offensive performance which was too much for the pitching and defense to handle.  On Mother's Day the 8u Lightning led an exciting semifinal comeback which made all mom's extremely proud.  Next test for the team will be in the upcoming Memorial Day tournament hosted by LVBA.