WINTER GARDEN, Fla. - The Sanford River Rats (19-1) increased their win streak to 17 in a 10-5, come from behind win on Tuesday night. 

Sanford struck first. A trio of singles loaded the bases with two outs in the inning, allowing Cameron King (Seminole State) to draw a walk and bring in Trey Babbitt (Lane College) for the first run of the game. 

Though the River Rats were on the board, the Winter Garden Squeeze (7-13) wouldn’t allow the league leaders to extend their streak without an effort. In the bottom of the third, Gabriel Rodriguez (Warner University) worked a leadoff walk, Javier Calzadilla (North Florida) followed and launched a two-run rocket over the right field wall. Three errors by Sanford’s defense scored two more, propelling the Squeeze to a 4-1 lead before the end of the frame. Winter Garden kept the red hot Rats at bay until the top of the fifth, where the back and forth turned into a barn-burner.

Leading off the top of the fifth, Dawson Mock (South Florida) led off with a walk and advanced to third via a wild pitch. Cooper Pittman (South Florida State) reached off a dropped third strike, putting runners on the corners with no outs. Dawson scored Dawson for the first run of the frame, with Harman (South Carolina) notching an RBI single. Xavier Lopez (Portal) kept the line moving with a single of his own, cutting the deficit to one. A wild pitch and a one-out walk by Drake Harman (Georgia Southwestern State) loaded the bases. With a prime opportunity to retake the lead, Babbitt knocked his first extra-base hit of the season to center field, clearing the bases and giving the River Rats a 6-4 lead.

“The Rats don’t accept losing, we just keep finding ways to win.” - Dawson Mock

The Squeeze scored once more in the bottom of the fifth, but were shut down after four combined innings of shutout baseball from Jonny Sosnowski (Lake Sumter) and Kaiden Lopez (Seminole State). 

After a big fifth, the River Rats kept pouring on the runs. Two doubles by Mock and Harman scored three in the sixth. Anthony Saleeba (Seminole State) took advantage of a passed ball in the seventh for his first run of the game. Up 10-5 in the ninth, Sanford tacked on two more for good measure with Saleeba and King scoring again off a Dawson Mock double. With a 12-5 final score, the Rats tighten their hold over the Florida League.

Offensive leaders for the rats include Mock who went 2-5, with two RBIs, two runs scored and three stolen bases. Babbitt followed, going 2-5 on the night with three RBIs and a run scored. Lopez received Pitcher of the Night recognition for pitching a shutout eighth and ninth, striking out four and only allowing two baserunners in his two innings of work.

The River Rats will be back in action on Thursday, June 26, as they host the Leesburg Lighting at 6:30 pm at Sanford Memorial Stadium.

Adrian Delgado (Central Florida)

Cover photo by Taryn Friend