Squeeze Rally Past River Rats Behind 13-Hit Attack

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — Another home game awaited the Winter Garden Squeeze on Tuesday night, and it turned into a rollercoaster victory.

After falling behind 4-0 early, the Squeeze stormed back to take the lead in the sixth inning and never looked back, defeating the Sanford River Rats 9-5 at Horizon Park.

Sanford wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. The River Rats drew two walks against Winter Garden starter Jacob Thomas (Eckerd), and Drew Pynes (Georgia Southern) delivered a two-run double down the left-field line to make it 2-0. Zach Walker (Florida Southern) followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-0.

Thomas escaped further damage in the opening frame, but Sanford added another run in the second. Jake Schincariol (Florida Southern) doubled down the left-field line before Adonys Velez (Undecided) lined an RBI double to right field, pushing the advantage to 4-0.

Thomas' outing ended after two innings. He allowed four hits and three walks while striking out two.

The Squeeze got on the board in the bottom of the third. Javier Calzadilla (Undecided) lined an RBI single up the middle to cut the deficit to 4-1. Calzadilla finished with two hits and a walk.

Winter Garden continued to chip away in the fourth. Josh Bell (Florida A&M) singled and Leo Suarez (Polk State) drew a walk before Brody Bellomo (Georgia Southwestern) ripped a two-run single to trim the deficit to 4-3.

Sanford starter Brock Brancher (Undecided) worked four innings and struck out six while holding onto the lead.

Meanwhile, two-way player Peyson Garcia (St. Johns River State) stabilized the game for Winter Garden. Garcia tossed three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out five.

The Squeeze finally broke through in the sixth inning.

With two outs, Colson May (Lake Sumter State) doubled down the line to tie the game at 4-4. May led the Squeeze with three hits. Moments later, with the bases loaded, Calzadilla appeared to hit a routine ground ball, but first baseman Sean Stafford (Folsom Lake) had trouble fielding it, and Calzadilla beat his attempt to tag first for an infield single, giving Winter Garden its first lead of the night.

The infield-hit parade continued when Edwin Melendez (Undecided) beat out a grounder to third base, driving in another run and extending the lead to 6-4.

Sanford answered in the seventh when Velez launched a solo home run—his third hit of the night—to pull the River Rats within a run at 6-5.

The Squeeze responded immediately with three insurance runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Bell and Josh Schaller (Undecided) opened the frame with consecutive singles. Bellomo later drew a bases-loaded walk to force home a run, and May beat out an infield single to score Bell and make it 8-5. The final run scored on a double-play groundout by Bell, which brought home Melendez.

That was more than enough support for reliever Caleb Clanton (Santa Fe), who delivered another dominant outing. Clanton tossed four innings, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out three to earn the victory. He lowered his WHIP to 1.27.

The Squeeze will have Wednesday off before opening a three-game series against the Orlando Snappers on Thursday at The First Academy. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Orel Hershiser Field.

Zach Moore (University of Florida)