Winter Park, Fla. - The Winter Garden Squeeze ended their 2025 regular season on a winning note as they took down the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 5-2 on the road on Saturday.

It was a much needed win as Winter Garden picked up its second straight and gained momentum heading into the postseason.

This was the most closely contested of the three season-closing matchups between the league’s Winters after the first two ended in run rule wins.

The game began with a pitching duel, as neither side managed to get any runs on the board through the first three innings.

Squeeze starter Liam Furey (West Florida) was solid for the visitors, only giving up two hits and striking out two Diamond Dawgs in three innings of work.

In the top half of the fourth, Isaac Incinelli (St Johns River State) got the scoring started when he came home on a wild pitch to put the Squeeze up 1-0.

Sean Stafford (Folsom Lake) added another run to the lead in the very next inning when he hit an RBI single into center field and brought in Braeden Weckman (Snead State 2025).

Then in the top of the sixth, Dominic Donatucci (State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota) joined the party with an RBI single of his own as the Squeeze scored two in the inning to go up 4-0.

It was a great all-around performance for Donatucci, who had a very active day on defense and went 1-3 at the plate with one hit, an RBI and a walk on the way to the win.

“It’s coming down to the wire here and we have the playoffs next week,” Donatucci said after the game about the importance of going into the postseason on the right note. “We just have to stay locked in, stay disciplined at the plate and do what we’re supposed to do.”

Winter Park made things interesting after scoring a run in each of the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, to cut the lead in half.

Adonys Velez (Florida International) brought in the first run of the game for the Diamond Dawgs and Ben Barrow (James Madison) took advantage of a wild pitch to make it a 4-2 ballgame heading into the eighth.

Winter Garden had other ideas as they put the finishing touches on their last win of the regular season in the top of the eighth inning. Nico Banez (Dartmouth) forced a fielder’s choice that allowed Anthony Picciano (West Texas A&M) to round the bases and extend the lead to 5-2.

The Squeeze will kick off the 2025 FCSL Playoffs in the Wild Card game against the fourth-seeded DeLand Suns at Melching Field on July 21 at 7:00 p.m.

Rickie Potts II (Syracuse University)