The Sanford River Rats and Leesburg Lightning both completed two game sweeps of their respective Best-of-3 Semifinals over the Winter Garden Squeeze and Winter Park Diamond Dawgs, respectively, Wednesday night and will meet in the 2026 Florida League Best-of-3 Championship Series for the Whiting Cup starting Saturday night in Leeaburg.
Both Sanford and Leesburg have won five Florida League titles over the years. At the end of the upcoming weekend, one team will join the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs at the top of the FCSL with six championships. The two previous Championship meetings between the two have gone the way of the River Rats, with Sanford sweeping in 2020 and winning at Tropicana Field in 2015.
Here is a recap of the Semifinals Series’:
Sanford Hitters Ambush Winter Garden in Game 1 Rout
The Sanford River Rats opened the Florida Collegiate Summer League semifinals in dominant fashion Tuesday night, defeating the Winter Garden Squeeze 14-1 in Game 1 of the best-of-three series at Horizon High School.
Sanford's offense erupted early, scoring at least three runs in each of the first four innings to take control from the outset.
Brian Kendall turned in another dominant performance for Sanford, allowing just one unearned run over six innings while striking out six to earn the victory.
Sanford Punches Ticket to Championship Series
The Sanford River Rats are headed to the Florida Collegiate Summer League Championship Series for the second consecutive season after edging the Winter Garden Squeeze, 3-2, in a 10 inning walkoff Wednesday night at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium to complete a two-game sweep of the semifinal series.
The Squeeze struck first in the second inning when Leonardo Suarez drove in Edwin Melendez with an RBI single before advancing to second on a throwing error. Peyson Garcia followed with an RBI single to give Winter Garden a 2-0 advantage.
The River Rats answered in the third. Michael Dobkowski and Caleb Scott reached base to set the table for Jordan Marlo, who lined an RBI double to center field, cutting the deficit to 2-1. Moments later, Adonys Velez lifted a sacrifice fly to center, allowing Scott to score the tying run.
From there, both pitching staffs took control. Sanford starter Liam Furey turned in another stellar outing, pitching seven innings while striking out five and allowing two unearned runs.
The River Rats loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth but were unable to capitalize, sending the game to extra innings.
Sanford wasted little time ending it in the 10th. Ethan Beal was hit by a pitch and advance to second base on a walk to Scott and Marlo delivered his second RBI double of the night into the left-center field gap, scoring the winning run and sending the River Rats back to the championship series.
Lightning Walk Off Dawgs to Take 1-0 Series Lead
The Leesburg Lightning moved within one win of the Florida Collegiate Summer League Championship Series, rallying for a 6-5 walk-off victory over the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs in 11 innings Tuesday night at Pat Thomas Stadium to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three semifinal series.
In the bottom of the 11th, Dylan Green advanced to third on a fielder's choice before racing home with the winning run when an errant throw pulled the first baseman off the bag, sealing a 6-5 walk-off victory for Leesburg.
Lightning Punch Ticket to Championship Series
The Leesburg Lightning punched their ticket to the Florida Collegiate Summer League Championship Series with a 13-2 victory over the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs on Wednesday night at Rollins College/Alfond Stadium at Harper Shepherd Field, completing a two-game sweep in the semifinal series.
Leesburg jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and steadily added to its advantage, scoring in the first, fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings while finishing with 13 runs on 13 hits.
Marcello Cortale paced the Lightning offense, going 4-for-4 with a home run, a double, four RBI and two runs scored. Andon Gray also drove in four runs while collecting two hits, Dylan Green finished 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI, and Daniel Despaine scored three runs, added two hits and drove in another.
The Lightning broke the game open with a five-run ninth inning. Green started the rally with an RBI double before Despaine followed with an RBI single. Cortale added a two-run double, and Gray capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly to make it 13-2.
Bryce Gluckman turned in a dominant performance on the mound, tossing seven scoreless innings while allowing four hits and striking out seven. Miguel Figueroa and Cole Jones each worked a scoreless inning in relief to close out the victory.
Here are the Semifinals results and Championship Series Schedule:
PLAYOFFS
Play-In Game:
Monday, July 20
* (4) Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 13, (5) DeLand Suns 0, 7-innings.
Semifinals
Best-of-3
Tuesday, July 21
* (1) Leesburg Lightning 6, (4) Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 5, 11-innings.
* (3) Sanford River Rats 4, (2) Winter Garden Squeeze 1, 7-innings.
Wednesday, July 22
* (1) Leesburg Lightning 13, (4) Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 2.
* (3) Sanford River Rats 3, (2) Winter Garden Squeeze 2, 10-innings.
Thursday, July 23
If Necessary
No games scheduled.
Friday, July 24
No games scheduled.
Championship Series
Best-of-3
Saturday, July 25
Game 1 _ (3) Sanford River Rats vs. (1) Leesburg Lightning on Buddy Lowe Field at Pat Thomas Stadium, 7 p.m.
Sunday, July 26
Game 2 _ (1) Leesburg Lightning vs. (3) Sanford River Rats at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium, 6 p.m.
Monday, July 27
Game 3 _ If necessary: (3) Sanford River Rats vs. (1) Leesburg Lightning on Buddy Lowe Field at Pat Thomas Stadium, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, July 28
Make-Up Day.
Wednesday, July 29
Make-Up Day.
