College Park leads league

Most of opening week and weekend took shelter from a tropical storm bearing down on the diamonds of the Florida Collegiate Summer League, but not before the College Park Freedom leapt out into the league lead.

In the middle of having five of their first six games canceled, the Freedom handed Sanford a loss June 7, by a score of 6-5. But it was a long way back from the 5-0 hole the Freedom found themselves in by the time they took to the plate at the bottom of the fourth. A beaning and three singles put three runners across the plate and the Freedom on the board.

Two innings later, the Freedom had done the improbable, coming back with six unanswered runs and holding off the River Rats for the rest of the game. Pitching three innings of middle relief, A.J. Mackey gave up only a run and two hits, and grabbed his first win of the season.

The Diamond Dawgs took a beating from mother nature, ceding three of their first six games to the clouds and by coincidence only playing Leesburg in their three games so far this season. They’ve split that unintended back-to-back-to-back series, losing the first one 2-1, losing the last one 4-2, and in the middle demolishing the Lightning 6-0.

The Dawgs went big at bat in that June 9 win, with Orlando Rivera, Michael Gouge and Brian Pruett all hammering doubles. Meanwhile Emilio Ogando threw a six-strikeout shutout over six innings, giving up only two hits.

Both the Dawgs and Freedom had a pair of games at press time but, barring bad weather, they’ll hit the diamond this weekend. The Freedom host the Orlando Monarchs at 7 p.m. on June 14 before hitting the road until June 19. The Dawgs host Sanford at 7 p.m. on June 15, then the Monarchs at 7 p.m. on June 18.