Winter Park streaks

The Winter Park Diamond Dawgs are in a solid second place in the Florida Collegiate Summer League after picking up their third straight win Monday.

The Dawgs (3-1) started the season with a 10-5 blowout loss to the Sanford River Rats. But the Dawgs recovered to show they can pull off tight wins with three straight slugfests that they won by two runs or less.

That includes a 13-12 nail biter against the reigning FCSL champion Leesburg Lightning Saturday night, when the Dawgs trailed for most of the game before unleashing a 9-run rally in the seventh inning. They nearly lost it all when the Lightning struck back in the ninth, but their rally came just short of a tie.

In the first four games, a few Winter Park players have emerged as powerful weapons at the plate. Tim Dye is batting .438 to start the season, including 3 RBIs so far. Sam Kimmel is batting .400 on top of his one save collected from the pitcher's mound this season.

In three appearances, Chandler Jagodzinski has emerged as the Dawgs dominant closer, picking up two saves and holding opponents to a .077 batting average. With seven innings pitched, Jake Boyd has struck out five batters and held them to a .167 average.

At 7 p.m. Thursday the Dawgs will host the Lightning again in a rematch of their slugfest. This time they'll be at Alfond Stadium in Winter Park.