Dawgs Roll into FCSL Semifinals

WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Winter Park Diamond Dawgs advanced to the Florida Collegiate Summer League semifinals in dominant fashion Monday night, cruising to a 13-0 shutout of the DeLand Suns in the play-in game at Alfond Stadium.

Winter Park scored early and never looked back, plating 13 runs on eight hits while its pitching staff combined to allow just three hits in the victory.

The Diamond Dawgs broke the game open with a four-run second inning. Osmin Melendez drove in the game's first run with an RBI single before Mason Mojica followed with a two-run single. Canyon Marcewicz added an RBI groundout later in the inning to give Winter Park a 4-0 lead.

The offense stayed hot in the third. Jacob Pearl drove in a run with an RBI single before the Diamond Dawgs capitalized on a pair of wild pitches to score two more runs. Jake Biaggi capped the inning with an RBI single, extending the advantage to 10-0.

Pearl delivered the biggest swing of the night in the fourth, crushing a grand slam to right field to put the game out of reach. The blast capped a five-RBI performance for Pearl, while Mojica finished with two RBIs. Marcewicz, Garrett Frost, Biaggi and Melendez each drove in a run in the victory.

With the win, Winter Park advances to face the Leesburg Lightning in a best-of-three semifinal series. Game 1 is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Pat Thomas Stadium in Leesburg.

Justin Baltes (University of Central Florida)