Horizon West, Fla. - The Winter Garden Squeeze have officially concluded their 2025 season after a narrow 3-2 loss in the Wild Card game to the DeLand Suns.

 

It was a summer filled with all of the highs and lows that come with the game of baseball, but the guys fought by each other’s side until the very end and would not want it to be any other way.

 

This was the first season in a new home for the Squeeze. After playing home games at West Orange High School in 2024, they changed locations as they moved games and operations to Horizon High School in the Horizon West area.

 

Behind the scenes, the entire team was led by General Manager Adam Bates and Assistant General Manager Brian Koss. Their staff was made up of social media intern Daniella DiSciullo, team operations interns Zach Moore and Mickey Murphy, as well as communications intern Rickie Potts. 

 

A family affair was in order for Brian, as he had some help from two of his children. His eldest daughter, Providence, and son, George, were a big help for the Squeeze. They often facilitated ticket sales at home games and George was the primary bat boy for Winter Garden.

 

On the field, Mike McDaniel was the head man in his fourth season as Squeeze coach and was passionately assisted by Scott Garland and Larry Renovales in the dugout.

 

The season may not have gone exactly as the players and coaches hoped for, but they worked hard every day to get better and try to get wins.

 

In a new area and a new community, it was important for the team to embrace the fresh start and integrate with the friendly faces of Horizon West. The Horizon High School Band helped tremendously and enlisted volunteers to help with concessions at home games.

 

None of this would have been made possible without the generous help of the Squeeze’s many sponsors throughout this season.

 

The Learning Experience in Horizon West, the Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Winter Garden Rotary all made generous contributions to the season and provided invaluable resources to connect with the Horizon West community and support good causes.

 

Specifically for The Learning Experience, they were kind enough to partner with the Squeeze for the 2025 season to give free admission to home games for children ages 12 and under.

 

To cap it all off, the Squeeze needed ways to feed the players after games and found help with that in a big way. The team extends its sincerest appreciation and gratitude to Huey Magoo’s, Jet's Pizza, Rock and Brew’s, Portillo’s, Skyline Chili, CleanEats, and DG Doughnuts for helping provide food to the Winter Garden Squeeze during the 2025 season. In fact, the food sponsors were heavily involved in all things Squeeze related.

 

Skyline Chili set up a vendor at various points during the season, which was a huge hit for the fans as everyone got to enjoy a classic ballpark treat.

 

Huey Magoo’s rode with the team until the very end. Horizon West location General Manager Sam threw out a first pitch at one of the home games, but the fun did not stop there. A little over halfway through the summer, Winter Garden reached an agreement with the renowned establishment and FCSL to play as the Horizon West Magoo’s for all home games. During the 2025 All Star Home Run Derby, Zacharias Walker used his water break and took off his batting practice jersey to reveal the Magoo’s merchandise, which he wore for the rest of his derby run.

 

Local popsicle vendor King of Pops also sold frozen treats on the concourse and kept the fans cool during the warm evenings.

 

Increasing publicity and social media presence was another goal that Winter Garden set out to accomplish. By the end of the 2025 campaign, the team brought up its total to approximately 4,500 followers across all social media accounts. 

 

This would not have been possible without the dedicated media sponsorship this season. Thank you to The Orange Observer and Legends on Deck Podcast for helping spread the word about the Squeeze and their season.

 

It’s no secret that sometimes, you have to walk through valleys to climb back up the hills. That’s how the season started for the Squeeze.

 

An 8-0 run rule on the road to Orlando is how the very first game of 2025 went for Winter Garden. This was followed by three more losses as the team began the year 0-4. This lit a fire underneath the players, who won three of their next four and eventually brought their record around to 7-9. 

 

Despite it being a loss, perhaps the most thrilling and memorable game of the year was on June 12. The Squeeze fell in a heartbreaking extra inning game to the Sanford River Rats that lasted four and a half hours and went twelve frames.

 

Arguably the biggest day of the regular season for Winter Garden came on June 17. The team won a double header against Winter Park by a total score of 20-9. These games saw four total home runs across the day, three from Drew Pynes and another from Zach Walker, as the Squeeze found their stride early in the season.

 

As previously mentioned, throughout the season, the team was always looking for ways to embrace the new community and attract fans of all backgrounds to Squeeze baseball.

 

During the summer, players and staff attended multiple youth baseball camps and events as well as inviting little league players and their families to select games where they could be allowed to attend free of charge.

 

In addition, the Squeeze held several themed nights at Horizon High School, including Little League night, Field of Dreams night, All American Weekend, OCOM and Rotary Night, and Fan Appreciation Night for the final home game of 2025.

 

These provided great ways for the Squeeze to connect with their community and bring in new audiences to experience what baseball in Winter Garden is all about.

 

Also, during home games, the team had plenty of different games and activities for everyone. Cornhole games were set up on the concourse area and the kids could have fun racing the bases and competing in dizzy bat races, among others, in between innings to add to the experience of Squeeze baseball.

 

The biggest event of the season for the Winter Garden Squeeze was held in late June when they hosted their first ever poker tournament at Rock and Brew’s of Kissimmee. The event was attended and competed in by more than 80 people and raised money not only for the team, but the entire Florida Collegiate Summer League. Mason Mojica was the first Squeeze player to be eliminated, while Dominic Donatucci made it to the final four tables and was the last Squeeze standing.

 

The second half of the season was similar to its entirety. In the month of July, the Squeeze went 5-6 as they tried to finish ironing out any kicks they felt they had with the playoffs on the horizon.

 

Although their win-loss record may not have shown it, the squad had many bright spots on the roster as several players showcased their talent over the course of the two months in central Florida.

 

Three arms stood out on the mound this summer for Winter Garden. 

 

In eight appearances (seven starts), Andrew Furey posted a 3.10 ERA as he gave uo 29 hits, ten earned runs, five walks and struck out twenty four batters in twenty nine innings of work on his way to being named the West All Star Starter for 2025. His best performance of the year was against Winter Park when he only allowed two hits, zero runs and had nine strikeouts in six innings on June 16.

 

Furey was not the only starter who pitched solid. He and Isaac Sewell formed a one-two punch that was potent and helped power the Squeeze into the playoffs. Sewell pitched twenty four innings in seven appearances (five starts) and had 18 hits allowed, nine earned runs, twelve walks and thirty three strikeouts on his way to a 3.37 ERA and perfect 3-0 record. Those 33 Ks finished Sewell in second for the league lead by season end.

 

Blayke Rabens was the best reliever for the Squeeze in 2025. He led the team with a 2.50 ERA in 18 innings of work while giving up 19 hits, 5 earned runs, 6 walks and getting out 14 more via strikeout while adding 2 saves to his name.

 

On the batting side of things, several players brought their A-game and made their impact felt at the plate. 

 

The team combined for 13 homers in their 32 regular season games. To add on to that, Zacharias Walker, Sean Stafford, and Drew Pynes all tied for the team lead with 20 hits each and combined for 6 of those four-baggers.

 

More specifically, Pynes and Walker were cornerstones of the squad, as they proved to bring a one-two punch similar to that of the aforementioned Furey and Sewell.

 

Pynes, a catcher from St Petersburg College, was a monster this season for the team. In addition to his 20 hits, he batted .263, scored 11 runs, had 3 doubles, 16 RBIs and walked 13 times in his 2025 summer campaign. His best day of the season was in the previously discussed double header against the Diamond Dawgs, he smashed three fly balls into left on his way to winning a second straight FCSL Player of the Week honors.

 

Walker, out of Hillsborough Community College, was a stud in the outfield for Head Coach Mike McDaniel. He played very consistently, posting a .278 batting average while recording those 20 hits, scoring 14 runs, getting 2 doubles, 10 RBIs and walking 17 times in addition to his two home runs, both against the Diamond Dawgs.

 

Ultimately, Winter Garden won their last two games. finished the 2025 FCSL regular season with a 13-20 record and headed into the Wild Card game against DeLand on July 21 at Melching Field.

 

It was a narrow finish that was decided by just one score in the end. The Squeeze put runs on the board in the second and fifth innings, but it was not enough to take down the Suns. 

 

DeLand got one back in the fifth as well before scoring twice in the eighth inning to take the lead and advance to the semifinals against the Sanford River Rats.

 

The season may not have ended the way everyone had hoped it would, but the guys in the blue and orange fought valiantly, just as they have all summer long until the very end.

 

Winter Garden thanks the Florida Collegiate Summer League for an amazing and fun twelfth season and the Horizon West community for welcoming the team with open arms.

 

The Winter Garden Squeeze look forward to working towards improvement and will be back in May of 2026, with the sights set on raising the championship trophy.

 

Rickie Potts II (Syracuse University)