Dawgs upend Loggerheads

A walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth sealed a dramatic 8-7 comeback win for the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs, who needed all nine innings to take the lead back from the Winter Haven Loggerheads on June 11.

Alex Cruz’s two-strike, two-RBI single scored just enough runs to put the Dawgs over the top after a long, frustrating game.

The Dawgs (6-2) watched in horror as a throwing error that could have ended the second inning led to an eventual three-run rally for the Loggerheads.

The sting got worse in the fifth, when the Loggerheads scored two more runs to spread the gap. But that’s when the Dawgs slowly got back into the hitting groove, putting together rallies in the fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings to creep up on Winter Haven.

It all ended in cheers when Cruz smacked a single into the outfield to bring Michael Danner and Austin Chubb home.

Chris Waltermire, who came in to close the game in the eighth while the Dawgs were still behind, got the win in two innings of work, giving up two runs on two hits, while striking out two.

Cruz had a big day at the plate, going two for five with two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored. B.J. Zimmerman’s batting average stayed at the top of the league at .536 after he went two for four with an RBI.

While the Dawgs have been strong in their first two weeks of play, the Leesburg Lightning have been even stronger, leading the FCSL with a 7-1 record as of Tuesday.

The Dawgs faced the Lightning at press time, and will return home for a rematch against Winter Haven at 7 p.m. on Thursday.