Chaotic Tenth Inning Sees Orlando Walk Off Winter Park

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Orlando Snappers walked off the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs on Thursday night, 6-5. The Snappers relied on clutch pitching performances and stole the show with a comeback win in the 10th inning.

Ryland Happel pitched his case for why he should have been voted an all-star on Thursday. Happel was listed as an alternate, but he came out with a vengeance against Winter Park. He completed his longest outing of the season, working six innings of two-run baseball and setting up the team for the win.

Abdriel Figueroa followed, and his Snappers debut was fantastic. He pitched 3 1/3 innings, striking out five Diamond Dawgs. Figueroa looks to play a crucial role for the team down the stretch and even into the playoffs.

Orlando's offense bookended the game with three runs in the first and last innings, respectively. In the first, Elvin Figueroa landed the first punch, breaking out of a mini-slump with a two-run double to set the table. Figueroa's offensive story didn't end there.

After Orlando's 3-0 lead dissipated, the teams went to extra innings tied at three apiece. Winter Park pushed two runs across in the top half of the 10th, so the Snappers needed two to tie and three to win in the bottom half.

The bases were loaded in front of all-star Logan Chalk. He worked a walk, bringing Orlando within one. Then Luke Mottola stepped in.

He lined a base hit into left-center field. Gavin Gonzalez scored easily from third, but big man Elvin Figueroa got the stop sign at third. He didn't care. Figueroa powered right through the sign, thundered across the plate and gave the Snappers the win.

The 6-5 victory was the Snappers' first extra-inning game of the season and brought them back to .500 at 11-11-1.

"I like the pressure, I like getting amped up," Mottola said postgame.

The UCF Knight seems to live for the big moments, especially against Winter Park. He hit his only home run of the season in Monday's one-run victory over the Diamond Dawgs and followed it up with a walk-off two-run single Thursday.

Winter Park dropped to 12-13-1 with the loss and saw Orlando jump back into second place in the standings.

The Snappers will look to keep the momentum going Friday in a doubleheader against the Winter Garden Squeeze. First pitch for Game 1 is set for 4 p.m. at The First Academy.

Theo Shernoff (Michigan)