By Kyle Coppola
Leesburg Lighting Win FCSL Championship For Second Straight Year
Congratulations to the Leesburg Lightning on winning their second straight FCSL Championship! 🏆🔥👏 They clinched the title with a thrilling 3-2 victory over the DeLand Suns, showcasing their resilience and team spirit.
Led by the exceptional Coach Rich Billings, the Lightning demonstrated their prowess throughout the game. Logan Chapman, who was named the FCSL World Series MVP, delivered a stellar performance that played a crucial role in securing the win. 🎉👏🔥🔥
Game Highlights
The game started with a bang as Gabriel Santiago ignited the offense by getting on base in the first inning. Logan Chapman then stepped up with a clutch double to left field, bringing home Santiago and advancing Riley Fitzgerald to third. Jordy Oriach followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Fitzgerald, and Michael Furry’s sacrifice fly brought Chapman across the plate. This explosive start gave the Lightning a 3-2 lead heading into the ninth inning.
On the mound, Jace Trautner pitched an impressive game, going 5.2 innings and surrendering only two runs. Nick Vieira came in for relief and was unstoppable, pitching three flawless innings with seven strikeouts, effectively shutting down the Suns’ offense.
(Logan Chapman was named MVP of the 2024 FCSL World Series.)
A Team Effort
The Leesburg Lightning’s victory was a true team effort, with each player contributing to the win. From the powerful offense in the first inning to the dominant pitching that closed out the game, the Lightning proved they are a force to be reckoned with. The win marked the second straight year that coach Rich Billings and his amazing staff, coached their players to a FCSL World Series Championship victory.
The game was put on hold for a few hours after heavy rains soaked the field. We were not sure if this game was going to happen, but ultimately the weather cleared and the field dried enough to be playable. This was a huge effort by this team who were nearly kocked out of the playoffs last Thursday night by Sanford but did just enough to hang around and earn a spot in the championship series.
Congratulations to all the players who will now focus on headed back to school and preparing for the 2025 college baseball season.
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.
