Winter Park – The 2025 Florida Collegiate Summer League has concluded for the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs, who finished the season 7-28, and were the lone Florida league team to not advance to the playoffs. The Diamond Dawgs dropped their last contest to the Winter Garden Squeeze 5-2, who will go on to face DeLand on Monday in a one-game Wild Card.

Although the season was filled with some ups and downs, and well, a lot more losses than wins, there wasn’t a better group of guys to be able to cover. All the Diamond Dawg players showed up to the park each and every day with energy and charisma, which is not easy to do amid so many losses. 

Also, a big thank you to head coach Jim Newlin, who is handicapped a little bit as a Florida League coach due to NCAA rules, and he being on the Rollins coaching staff. Winter Park dealt with so much roster turnover throughout the season, from having our All-Star players get shut down to guys getting injured to having to trade for pitchers mid-season because of a lack of arms. This led to the Diamond Dawgs not having any NAIA or Junior College players, who happened to be some of the best players in the league, located on other teams. For Winter Park, they were restricted to a lot of local D2 players and mid-major D1 guys.  

However, some players were a mainstay in terms of showing up to the ballpark, and I commend each and every one of them for that. Some of the names that come to mind: Luis Rivero and Roberto Odor (Saint Leo), Knute Rockey (Embry-Riddle), Reilly Kuhar (Florida Tech), catcher Joel Collado (Rhode Island), and Alejandro Simo (Barry). Infielders Eric Entrekin (Embry-Riddle), Alex Espaillat (Alabama State), Canyon Marcewitz (Florida Southern), Lee Santiago (Barry). And Kai Lwin (FAU) and Michael Santiago. Despite so much uncertainty regarding if they would be in the lineup on a daily basis, these guys showed up regardless and again, brought a lot of energy and charisma. 

The Diamond Dawgs started the season 0-8, and had multiple losing streaks stretching 8+ games, but still had chances down the stretch of the season to put together some wins and make for a meaningful last series against Winter Garden. For Winter Park though, they did not pick up the wins that they desperately needed to gain ground in the race. That included losing six of seven to the DeLand Suns. The pitching staff walked far too many batters throughout the season, and the Diamond Dawgs were prone to giving up big innings by their opponent. For the offensive side, it was too many strikeouts and the inability to come through with runners in scoring position. But that’s baseball. You have to capitalize on the opportunities you’re given, and do the fundamental things correctly, like throwing strikes and putting the ball in play. 

But again, it was a great summer season, I had a blast being able to call the games and talk a little bit about these guys' stories, and I hope they bring something they learned this season to their Universities, and it leads to success on the baseball diamond. 

You obviously wish there was more success on the field, but baseball is so much deeper than that, and it became apparent that the connections made will last a lifetime, and that’s what makes summer ball so special. Because it’s never about the wins and losses on the field, rather it’s about getting better and honing the craft of baseball, and meeting people you will remember for the rest of your life. 

A huge thanks also to league president Stefano Foggi for assigning me to this team, as if I could, I would do it all over again without hesitation.

TJ French (University of Georgia)