Florida league standings flip in one week

It’s been a wild rollercoaster of a week for the Florida Collegiate Summer League, with nearly the entire league standings swinging upside down in just five games.

And the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs have earned the brunt of the benefit from that massive upheaval, with an 8-6 record and a solid spot in second place. They’re just behind the Orlando Monarchs (7-5) who lead the league for the first time in the team’s history.

Meanwhile the Leesburg Lightning are wondering what happened. As of June 18 the Lightning were firmly in command of the league, having led things nearly from the outset of the season. Just a week later, they were on one of the biggest losing streaks the team’s ever seen.

The Lightning (7-7) were on the field Tuesday night at press time at Alfond Field against Winter Park, the Dawgs having steadily risen in the standings after a rocky start. But, the last-place College Park Freedom stunned them 8-7 on Monday night after having led the game until the eighth inning.

Winter Park’s Mike Melendez took the bad luck loss after striking out two of three and watching in horror as two infielder errors cost his team two runs, including the winner. But the Dawgs gave fans some fireworks, with Brendon Sanger and Michael Danner both going yard.

The Dawgs will play a pair at press time, but return to the field to host Leesburg at 7 p.m. on June 27. They’ll be back again at 1 p.m. June 30 to host DeLand.

The Freedom will be on the road until June 30, when they return to their home at Bishop Moore High School for a 5 p.m. showdown against Leesburg. At 4 p.m. on July 2 they play the first of a doubleheader against Orlando, with the second game coming at 7 p.m.