Sanford Punches Ticket to Championship Series

SANFORD, Fla. – The Sanford River Rats are headed to the Florida Collegiate Summer League Championship Series for the second consecutive season after edging the Winter Garden Squeeze 3-2 in 10 innings Wednesday night to complete a two-game sweep of the semifinal series.

After a dominant Game 1 victory, Sanford was pushed to the limit in the series finale as Winter Garden grabbed an early lead.

The Squeeze struck first in the second inning when Leonardo Suarez drove in Edwin Melendez with an RBI single before advancing to second on a throwing error. Peyson Garcia followed with an RBI single to give Winter Garden a 2-0 advantage.

The River Rats answered in the third. Michael Dobkowski and Caleb Scott reached base to set the table before Jordan Marlo lined an RBI double to center field, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Moments later, Adonys Velez lifted a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Scott to score the tying run.

From there, both pitching staffs took control. Sanford starter Liam Furey turned in another stellar outing, pitching seven innings while striking out five and allowing two unearned runs.

The River Rats loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth but were unable to capitalize, sending the game to extra innings.

Sanford wasted little time ending it in the 10th. With Ethan Beal on second base, Marlo delivered his second RBI double of the night into the left-center field gap, scoring the winning run and sending the River Rats back to the championship series.

Marlo finished with two RBI doubles, driving in two of Sanford's three runs in the victory.

With the win, Sanford advances to the FCSL Championship Series, where the River Rats will face the top-seeded Leesburg Lightning in a matchup for the Whiting Cup.

Alejandro Landers (Elon University)