SANFORD — Well that was unexpected.
After the Sanford River Rats posted the best Regular Season in league history to earn the No. 1 seed handily and then had little trouble in sweeping past the DeLand Suns in the Semifinals, while the No. 2 seeded Orlando Snappers, which Sanford went 5-0 against, had to fight hard to get past 2-time defending champion and No. 3 seeded Leesburg Lightning, including a rain out, in three games, it looked like the Rats would close out the best FCSL season ever.
But the Snappers would have none of that, coasting past the Sanford nine in straight games, 8-3 in Sanford on Saturday and a championship-clinching 11-6 triumph on Orel Hershiser Field at The First Academy-Orlando last Saturday.
The title was the first ever for an Orlando-based team and the second for the Snappers, who won the trophy in 2017 when the club was based in Zephyrhills.
Austin Pierzynski, hitting out of the No. 8 spot in the lineup, was named the Most Valuable Player for the Championship Series, going 3-for-6 (.500) with a double, a run scored and five RBI.
The Snappers were managed by Terry Abbott, with David Burr and Dallas Beaver serving as assistant coaches.
Making up the roster were:
Nathan Aprile (Hillsborough CC), Billy Batson (Rollins), Christian Borbely (Daytona State), Grant Brooks (Jacksonville), Garrett Corbett (Jacksonville), Brett Dennis (Rollins), Jackson Edelman (Rollins), Tyler Garcia (Lake Sumter CC), Ryland Happel (Lake Sumter CC), James Kelly (undecided), Julien Maire (Daytona State), Cristian Montes (Florida Tech), Kyle Powers (Jacksonville), Braden Rapp (West Florida), Coby Vallee (Catonsville CC), Dominick Venta (Catonsville CC), Joey Wittig (Louisiana Tech), Jax Carter (Rollins), Hayden Gustavson (Louisiana Tech), Nikola Mezzanotte (Oberlin College), Austin Pierzynski (Alabama Birmingham), William Walburn (West Alabama), Grant Comeaux (Northwestern St), Mathew Farner (North Florida), Hutson Guinn (Eastern Florida State), Julian Mercado (Stetson), Mario Trivella (FIU), Blake Fields (Houston), Daniel Irizarry (Undecided) and Rashad Robinson (West Alabama).
The Sanford River Rats went an amazing 26-3 and won the Regular Season title by a whopping 8-1/2 games and never lost two games in a row until the finals. The Club also obliterated the consecutive games won when it won 17 in a row to erase the former record of 15.
The River Rats were managed by Jesse Litsch with Nick Goody serving as assistant coach.
Making the roster were:
Brady Appel (Tallahassee CC), Ryland Bozenhard (South Alabama), Trey Clinton (Georgia Southwestern St), Nicholas Davidson (Florida Southern), Gehrig Graham (South Florida), Niko Halkis (Tallahassee CC), Jared Kraus (State Col of Florida Manatee-Sarasota), Kaiden Lopez (Seminole State), Connor McAfee (Seminole State), Zaylen Perry (West Georgia), Jacob Riegel (Undecided), Brady Schwartzberg (Undecided), Jonny Sosnowski (Lake Sumter CC), Daniel Spicher (Tallahassee CC), Jeremiah Stewart (North Florida), Austin Waring (FAU), Trey Wheeler (Undecided), Brady Wright (Santa Fe), Trey Babbitt (Lane College), Anthony Saleeba (Gulf Coast CC), Braden Calise (UCF), Dawson Harman (South Carolina), Jake Mueller (North Carolina Greensboro), Stewart Puckett (South Alabama), Caleb Rhodes (Olive-Harvey Col), Anthony Ruocco (North Carolina Greensboro), Drake Harman (Georgia Southwestern St), Cameron King (Seminole State), Xavier Lopez (Rollins), Dawson Mock (Undecided), Cooper Pitman (South Florida), Manny Santana (Undecided).
Here are the results:
PLAYOFFS
Play-In Game:
Monday, July 21
No. 4 Suns 3, No. 5 Squeeze 2, Squeeze eliminated.
Semifinals
Best-of-3
Tuesday, July 22
No. 1 River Rats 8, No. 4 Suns 0; No. 2 Snappers 2, No. 3 Lightning 1.
Wednesday, July 23
No. 1 River Rats 10, No. 4 Suns 3, Suns eliminated; No. 2 Snappers vs. No. 3 seed Lightning, Buddy Lowe Field at Pat Thomas Stadium, rain.
Thursday, July 24
If Necessary
No. 3 seed Lightning 4, No. 2 Snappers 2.
Friday, July 25
No. 2 Snappers 8, No. 3 Lightning 5, Lightning eliminated.
Championship Series
Best-of-3
Saturday, July 26
No. 2 Snappers 8, No. 1 River Rats 3.
Sunday, July 27
No. 2 Snappers 11, No. 1 River Rats 6, Snappers win series 2-0.
Go to _ www.floridaleague.com _ for more information.
