Virginia Beach Press Release

Lightning Baseball of New England’s 14U team finished with a 5-1 record in the Battle at the Beach tournament in Virginia Beach June 27-30th.

The Lightning 14’s, the reigning AAU National Champions, won five consecutive games enroute to a showdown with Beaver Valley Red last years USSA National Champions.

The Lightning opened with a doubleheader win on Friday with a 4-3 win over the Columbus Cobras, the Ohio CABA state champs and followed up with a 11-1 win over the Chicago Top Tier the Illinois CABA state champs. On Saturday the Lightning won two more games beating the Cincinnati Sluggers, the Ohio USSA state champs, 10-8 and the Richmond Tigers, the Virginia AAU state runner-ups, 10-0. After rain wiped out all of the games on Sunday, the Lightning beat the Virginia AAU state champ Diamond Dawgs, 13-5. Lightning Baseball’s only loss came at the hands of the Beaver Valley Reds 1-0 in a game shortened to 4 innings as the Lightning team had to leave to catch planes back to Boston.

Lightning 4 vs. Columbus (OH) Cobras 3

Mike Pelland, Fitchburg, was the winning pitcher going 4 innings allowing only 1 earned run on 2 hits as Lightning Baseball defeated the Columbus Cobras 4-3. Josh Band, Peabody, pitched 3 scoreless innings to earn a save. Sam Clark, Andover, and Graham Henningson, Northboro each had 2 hits and an RBI.

Lightning 10 vs. Richmond Tigers 0

Ryan Thompson, Amherst, NH, pitched a complete game 1-hitter and went 2 for 3 in Lightning’s 11-1 win over the Richmond Tigers. Hunter Gordon, Swampscott, Justin Quinn, Sudbury, and Ron Wallace, Tewksbury, each added 2 hits to lead the Lightning attack.

Lightning 11 vs. Chicago Top Tier 1

Andrew Belmonte, Beverly, pitched a complete game 2 hitter as the Lightning defeated the Chicago Top Tier 11-1. TJ Larivee, Salem, went 2-3 and knocked in 2 runs, Hunter Gordon, Swampscott, went 1-1 with a walk and 2 RBI’s, John Vigliotti, Amesbury, went 2-2 with 2 RBI’s and Ron Wallace, Tewksbury added 2 hits and scored 2 runs.

Lightning 10 vs. Cincinnati Sluggers 8

Josh Band, Peabody, pitched 2 perfect innings in relief striking out 3 of the 6 batters he faced to pick up the win as the Lightning came from behind to beat the Cincinnati Sluggers 10-8. Band also chipped in with a single and an RBI. Other offensive leaders included Ron Wallace, Tewksbury, went 4-5 (single, double, 2 triples), Sam Clark, Andover, 2-4 (single and double), Hunter Gordon, Swampscott (2 singles and an RBI) and TJ Larivee, Salem, (single and 2 RBI’s).

Lightning 13 vs. Virginia Diamond Dawgs 5

Ron Wallace, Tewksbury, was the winning pitcher and Hunter Gordon itched 2 innings of scoreless relief as the Lightning defeated the Diamond Dawgs 13-5.

The offense was led by Justin Quinn, Sudbury, who was 3-3 with 2 RBI’s, Hunter Gordon, Swampscott, 2-3 with 3 RBI’s, TJ Larivee, Salem, a double and 3 RBI’s, John Vigliotti, Amesbury, a double and an RBI and Sam Clark, Andover, a double and 2 RBI’s.

Beaver Valley Reds 1 vs. Lightning 0

This game was delayed a day by rain and four hours because a poor field conditions. As a result it only lasted 4 innings because the Lightning team had to leave for the airport. The game matched up the Lightning, last year’s AAU National Champions and the Beaver Valley Reds, the 2004 USSA National Champs. This was one of the games where the event matched the pre-game hype. It was a classic pitcher’s duel between Hunter Gordon, Swampscott, who allowed only an unearned run on 2 hits and the Ace of the Reds, Ryan Sinclair.