June 10, 2024
Leesburg Lightning Riding Three Game Win Streak Off The Bat of Collin Priest
By Kyle Coppola
Leesburg Lightning Riding Three Game Win Streak Off The Bat of Collin Priest
The Leesburg Lightning are off to a roaring start to the 2024 season. Collin Priest has been a spectacle to watch. If you haven’t been to a game yet, make plans to attend to watch this future star of the sport. Priest has hit 3 home runs in 8 games. He has 9 RBIs along with a team-high 6 walks that he has taken this season.
While Priest has been red-hot, including becoming the first freshman in University of Michigan Baseball history to record 11 home runs, the team has some exciting young men who are also having a big summer.
(Tanner Walker from Eustis, Florida has been impressive to watch. Walker currently plays for Florida A&M.)
Jordy Oriach leads the team in hits with 12 so far through 8 games. Meanwhile, James Strom is second on the team in RBIs despite only playing in 5 games this season. Ryan Jenkins and Keeton Burroughs, along with Gabriel Santiago, have done a good job getting hits.
Pitching-wise, Leesburg has been fairly solid. The Lightning have a 6-2 record, keeping them at the top of the standings for now. Tanner Walker has a 1.69 ERA to begin his summer with 4 strikeouts. Ryland Bozenhard has been fun to watch. He leads the Lightning in strikeouts with 11 on the year. Leesburg has one of the strongest pitching staffs in all of FCSL.
(The Lightning enjoy a post game meal after a recent hard fought win.)
The Lightning are looking to extend their win streak to 4 wins tonight against Orlando. This is certainly one of the most exciting groups of talent Leesburg has had. We seem to say that every year, but we truly mean it this year. Local talent, future stars of the sport, you have to get out and see a Lightning game! We hope to see you out there soon.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
