Winter Park Diamond Dawgs slowly rising in FCSL standings

The Sanford River Rats are running away with the league lead in the week following the Florida Collegiate Summer League All-Star Game. And the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs are still in trouble, despite having one of their best weeks so far this season.

But that doesn’t mean some of the Dawgs’ stars couldn’t provide some fireworks in the All-Star Game last weekend.

Trevor Tinder struck out the side in his one inning of work during the All-Star Game, but the FCSL’s South team, featuring players from the Altamonte Springs Boom, the Winter Garden Squeeze and Winter Park Diamond Dawgs, couldn’t produce enough runs to beat the North.

Little did fans know that the game had already seen the winning run cross the plate with only one runner out in the bottom of the first inning. The rally by the North team would put three runners across the plate before it fizzled on a grounder to short.

The South team didn’t start chipping away at the eventual 5-0 lead until the top of the ninth inning.

That odd combination of small ball and luck started with two outs, saw the Winter Garden Squeeze’s Kyle Corbin make it to first base after a ball connected with his body, then Corbin stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before a 1-2 pitch became a run-scoring single by Winter Park’s Tyler Homer. Another single put two runners on, but a Tyler Halstead grounder to third ended the game.

For the Dawgs (11-15), a few moments in the All-Star highlight reel haven’t helped them in the chase for the league lead. A day after Winter Park’s Hunter McMahon won a rain-shortened two-hit, 2-0 victory, the Dawgs were in the doghouse again last week, still struggling to put together more than a win at a time.

But Tuesday they leapt out of that doghouse and started climbing the league ladder, with a dominating 7-2 win over the now last place Leesburg Lightning (12-17) thanks to Justin Kortessis’ complete game win. That win came despite giving up 10 hits in the game, though only surrendering two runs.

Brooks Morgan blasted his third home run of the year in the game, collecting two RBI in the process. Sam Martin smashed his sixth double of the season and connected on an RBI single.

Thanks to a Leesburg Lightning team in freefall, the Dawgs are now half a rung above last place. Unfortunately for the Dawgs, the last two days have seen every team within striking distance win at least a game.

With the River Rats (19-9), despite a stumble against the losing-record Squeeze, remaining in total command of the league lead and a still tight race in the middle of the ladder, the Dawgs are a theoretical three wins away from being in second place. To do it, the Dawgs would be counting on some losses by DeLand (14-14), Altamonte (13-13) and Winter Garden (13-14), plus a three-game winning streak of their own, a feat which they’ve only accomplished once this season.

Incidentally the most willing victim of that previous streak, the Suns, will travel to play the Dawgs on at 7 p.m. Friday and Tuesday. The Dawgs be in Sanford at 7 p.m. Thursday night trying to upset the Rats.