Deland, Fla. - The Winter Garden Squeeze lost both games of what eventually turned into a doubleheader to the Deland Suns 10-2 and 6-4 on Wednesday.

The first of the two game set was a makeup from July 11, which was suspended due to rain and faced multiple delays before finally being able to resume on July 16 at Melching Field

Game 1:

It had been a while since this type of game happened for the Squeeze, but they never found any rhythm and struggled with pitching and fielding errors as the Suns poured on the majority of their offense early.

In fact, when all was said and done, the Squeeze ended up committing eight errors in the contest.

The scoring onslaught began in the top of the first inning when Aris Rivera (Florida International) hit an RBI single and scored himself. Then, Holden Brauner scored on an error to give Deland a 3-0 lead.

One of Deland’s biggest innings of the summer came in the second when they tacked on another six runs to their lead. Kevin Brunet (Polk State) scored on an error to kick things off. William Rollings (Undecided) forced a fielder’s choice that allowed Michael O’Brien to cross home plate and put Meridian Leffew (UCF) at third. Leffew and Rollings then both joined in on the fun and scored on a two RBI base hit from Rivera. Lastly, Brauner brought in Rivera and Nathan Ricko (Stetson) did the same for Brauner to cap off the massive inning and give the Suns a 9-0 after just two innings.

This set the tone for rest of the game, as the Squeeze never got within less than eight runs of their opposition. The early struggles did not help Winter Garden’s starter either, as only three of the nine runs that Andrew Furey (Florida Southern) allowed were earned.

The Squeeze scored runs in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively, when the game resumed, but it was too late and the deficit was too much to overcome. This included a solo home run into left from Michael Thomas (Edward Waters) for his second of the season.

A league-wide eight run rule was enforced after the seventh frame as a result of the Suns being ahead 10-2. The second game would be played about a half hour later.

Game 2:

The second matchup of the doubleheader was far more closely contested. However, Deland scored runs in bunches early once again.

Eli Tidwell (Undecided) hit a two RBI double into outfield grass and then scored himself on a sacrifice fly to replicate the three run first inning the Suns had in the first game.

Things cooled off, as neither team scored again until the bottom of the fourth with the pitching and defenses tightening up.

The Suns threw a combined no hitter through the first five innings, led by starter Ethan Diaz, who pitched the first three frames.

In the home half of the fourth, Ricko brought home Brauner to score on an RBI single and Rollings did the same for Connor O’Sullivan (Undecided) with a double. Before that, O’Sullivan forced a fielder’s choice that helped the Suns put together their second three-run inning of the game and make it a 6-0 ballgame after the fourth.

Winter Garden made things interesting when they cut the deficit to just two runs in the top half of the sixth inning. Dominic Donatucci (State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota) hit an RBI single to allow Nico Banez (Dartmouth) to cross home plate to give a small spark to the visitors. Thomas and Zacharias Walker (Hillsborough CC) both had RBI hits of their own as they put pressure on Deland by making it 6-4 heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Unfortunately for the Squeeze, that would be the final score of the game since it was shortened to seven innings due to the doubleheader.

The losses place Winter Garden 1.5 games behind Deland heading into the final stretch of the season before the playoffs next week.

The Squeeze begin their final series of 2025 on July 17 against the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs at home at Horizon High School at 6:30 p.m.

Rickie Potts II (Syracuse University)