Suns Lead Early, But Fall Again to Dawgs

WINTER PARK, Fla. - The Winter Park Diamond Dawgs clinched a series win, defeating the DeLand Suns 9-5 Friday night at Alfond Stadium in Winter Park.

The Suns wasted no time getting on the board, scoring in the top of the first inning. Nic Partridge (Florida) led off the game with a double. With one out, Akhil Nimmala (Undecided) singled to left field, scoring Partridge and giving DeLand a 1-0 lead.

The Suns' lead was short-lived as Winter Park took control in the bottom of the first. A leadoff single and a subsequent home run put the Dawgs ahead 2-1. Winter Park added another run in the frame to extend its lead to 3-1.

The Diamond Dawgs added four two-out runs in the second inning, highlighted by a three-run home run.

Winter Park tacked on two more runs in the third to extend its lead to 9-1.

DeLand cut the Winter Park lead to five by scoring three times in the fourth. A leadoff double by Akhil Nimmala and a walk to Torin Foley (Embry-Riddle) put two runners aboard. With one out, Josh Vinciguerra (Undecided) doubled to left field, scoring Nimmala. The next batter, Richie Collazo (Undecided), hit an RBI groundout that scored Foley. With two outs, Blue Hunter (Glendale CC) singled to score Vinciguerra, making the score 9-4.

The Suns scored their final run in the eighth inning. Richie Collazo reached on a hit by pitch and stole second to move into scoring position. He then stole third and came home on a throwing error.

Despite a rocky start from Nic Delucia (Daytona State), the DeLand bullpen turned in one of its strongest outings of the season as Ryan Kelley (Rollins) and Luke Hoffmann (Daytona State) combined for 5.2 innings of scoreless relief.

With the win, Winter Park improved to 11-9-1, while DeLand fell to 8-10.

The Suns and Diamond Dawgs will wrap up their series June 27, with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. at Conrad Park in DeLand.

J.C. Fox (Mississippi Christian University)