WINTER PARK, Fla.- New opponent, same result. It doesn’t seem to matter which team takes the field against the Diamond Dawgs, as Winter Park continues to roll over Florida League competition. The Leesburg Lightning become the latest victim for the Dawgs, as Winter Park won 6-2 on Thursday night.

This Winter Park team continues to score early and put opponents away. More of the same occurred on Thursday as a wild pitch and an RBI single from Jack Matero (Manhattanville).

Typically, what happens next is Winter Park adds more runs as the game goes on. This also was the case for the Dawgs as Coleson Hebble (Swarthmore) scored on an error to give the Dawgs a 3-0 lead.

With starter Ryan Stuempfig (Winter Park) dealing, the righty tossed five innings and allowed two runs with five strikeouts, the Winter Park offense went back to work in the fourth inning. Adarius Myers (La Tech) continued his recent hot streak with an RBI single, scoring Wes Tatum (La Tech) to make it 4-0.

As Leesburg rallied for two runs in the, left-handed reliever Will Brandsema (Thiel) came on in the sixth inning and tossed 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Entering the seventh, Winter Park added two insurance runs as Luis Cabrera (Southeastern) had a pinch-hit RBI single and then later scored on an error to give the Dawgs a 6-2 lead.

The Dawgs handed the keys to the dynamic late-inning combo of Jordan Delucia (Bethune Cookman) and Brian Carruyo (St. Louis CC). The duo threw 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief to clinch the Dawgs 25th victory of the season.

Winter Park continues to show why they are the top team in the Florida League, the combination of hitting, pitching and defense have been elite all season long and the Dawgs look to continue that season.

The Dawgs travel to Leesburg for game two on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 7:00 PM.

Box Score

Bryce Koon