Boxscore

SANFORD, Fla – On a beautiful night in downtown Sanford, the Sanford River Rats’ bats exploded for a dominant 11-1, seven-inning win over the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs at Memorial Stadium.

The win halted a three-game losing skid and moved the Rats to 6-7 on the year.

“The guys knew what my expectations were going into this stretch, and they executed,” head coach Scott Makarewicz said. “I thought they were hungry and aggressive and that’s what I wanted.”

Three pitchers combined for a gem on the mound, throwing a combined one-hitter. Mason Howat (Undecided) earned the win, his first of the season. He tossed five one-hit innings, gave up just one run and struck out three batters.

Jeremy Orbik (Stetson) toed the rubber for the first time this summer and pitched one perfect inning. Matt Logullo (FIU) finished the game on the bump and threw a hitless seventh inning.

It was an even offensive attack, and eight of the nine batters recorded a hit. The Rats launched three home runs, including back-to-back long balls during the six-run fifth inning. Jarrod Cande (Santa Fe), Parker Quinn (Hofstra), Dathan Prewett (Undecided) and Andrew Labosky (Nova Southeastern) each recorded multi-hit games. Labosky led the way with a 4-for-4 day, two doubles, and three RBIs.

“Honestly, I was just trying to see strikes,” Labosky said. “Again, the ball was a watermelon today, it was kind of crazy.”

Winter Park took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, but that would be the only offense the Diamond Dawgs had the rest of the game.

The Rats got the run back in the second. Cande singled and later came around to score on a single from Quinn.

Then, the Rats added another trio of runs in the third. After doubles from Prewett and Labosky plated one run, Miles Simington (Heartland) crushed a two-run home run deep to right field. It was the second homer of the season for Simington and carried an estimated 389 feet at 102 mph off the bat, according to BaseballCloud. Sanford led 4-1 after three innings.

To add insurance runs, the Rats tacked on six more in the fifth inning. Every batter in the lineup had an at-bat and all six who reached safely came around to score. Prewett legged out a single to start off the inning. Two batters later, Labosky cranked a two-RBI double to boost the Rats’ lead to 6-1. Then, Bubba Sangster (St. Johns River) doubled to bring home Labosky.

Two batters later, Cande smacked his first home run of the season, a solo shot over the left-field wall. Quinn, the very next batter, also smoked a home run to left field, going back-to-back for the Rats and boosting the lead to 10-1.

After Logullo set down the Diamond Dawgs in the top-half of the seventh, the Rats needed just one run to enact the run-rule and end the game. Simington drew a leadoff walk to start the home half of the seventh. Three batters later, Jonnie Benniefield (Undecided) looped a single into right-center field to bring home Simington, the game-winning run. The run sealed the Rats’ victory and notched the first 11-run outing of the season.

The two teams face off again at Sanford Memorial Stadium on Tuesday. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m.

Myan Patel (Georgia)