St. Petersburg, Fla. – It took an extra inning of play, and plenty of drama, but in the end the Sanford River Rats were crowned Florida League champions at Tropicana Field on Sunday evening. They defeated the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs by a score of 6-5 in ten innings.
The Diamond Dawgs jumped on the board early against Rats starter Colton Provey (Tennessee Tech). Jordan Bowersox (Penn State) was hit with the first pitch of the game, and promptly stole second. After an error put Dany Rodriguez (Reinhardt) on board, it was up to Matt Mackey (Northwest Florida State) to get things going. Mackey drilled an 0-2 pitch off the wall in left center, just inches short of a homerun, driving in both runners to make it 2-0. Jacob Webb (Dallas Baptist) then entered the game for Sanford, and was able to end the inning.
Dathan Prewett attempted to get the Rats back in it with a one-out triple to deep left center in the bottom of the first, but Winter Park starter Riley Troutt (West Virginia) was able to strand him with a groundout and a strikeout.
The Dawgs padded their lead in the second. Truman Brown (Austin Peay) chopped a grounder down the third base line to reach on an infield single. Bowersox, the leadoff hitter, then brought him in with an absolute monster shot to leftfield for a two-run homer, making the score 4-0. It was the first dinger of the year for Bowersox, and only his sixth extra-base hit of the summer.
With a four run lead and all the momentum, Troutt continued to shut down the potent Sanford offense. He allowed one baserunner in the second, one in the third, retired the side in order in the fourth, and then put one on in the fifth. However, when he came back out for the sixth inning, Troutt ran into some trouble.
Omar Villaman (Florida Southern) singled to center, and then moved all the way to third base on a wild pitch that ricocheted off a piece of metal behind homeplate and bounced all the way past the Dawgs dugout on the first base side. With one out, John Jones (South Carolina) came through for the Rats with a single to left that scored Villaman to make it 4-1. Nick Dearing (Embry Riddle) was brought in from the bullpen to help Winter Park escape the jam, which he did with a fielder’s choice grounder and strikeout.
Sanford showed their full offensive repertoire in the seventh inning. A pair of walks to Sergio Lopez (St. Thomas) and Rodney Tennie (Georgia Gwinnett) put two men on with no outs. Grant Baker (New Orleans) entered the game, and got a quick out on a sac bunt from Elih Marrero (St. Thomas). Richie Rivera (Tampa) kept things going with an RBI single to right field that scored Lopez. Rivera, who led the league in steals, then swiped second during another at bat from Villaman. With two men in scoring position, the Florida League’s all-time leader in batting average came through with a base hit to right that scored both runners to tie it up. A failed pickoff attempt allowed Villaman to reach third base with two outs. It was then Cody Oerther’s (High Point) turn to deliver, this time with an infield single between third and short that plated Villaman, and gave the Rats a 5-4 lead.
The Dawgs were able to bite back in the top of the eighth. Cristian Rivera (Webber International) led off with a double, his fourth time reaching base in the game. A wild pitch put Rivera on third before he was brought in by a single up the middle from Christian Maglich (Florida Southern) to tie the game. Luis Olivier (Embry Riddle) followed with a single of his own, putting two men on with only one out. CJ Carter (Troy) was able to escape further damage, coaxing a strikeout and flyout to the next two hitters.
In the bottom of the eighth, Sanford once again used their speed to threaten. Tennie reached on a bunt single, and promptly stole second base. After a strikeout, Richie Rivera then matched Tennie with a bunt single of his own, followed by a steal. With two men on in scoring position, Zach Drury (UNF) was able to buckle down and strikeout the dangerous Villaman to keep the score knotted at five apiece.
Both teams left two men on in the ninth inning, leading to extras. In the top half, Winter Park put two runners on base thanks to a pair of walks. Ronny Orta (Nova Southeastern) was brought in from the bullpen, and was able to force a groundout to end the threat.
Tennie led off the bottom half of the tenth with a walk, and moved to second on another sacrifice bunt from Marrero. Rivera followed with a single and a steal again, putting two men in scoring position. The Dawgs intentionally walked Villaman to load the bases and create a force out at any base. That would not happen as Prewett was hit with a 1-2 fastball, forcing in Tennie for the winning run.
Omar Villaman was named the MVP for the game. He reached base four times via three singles and a walk. He drove in two runs and also scored twice. Over the course of three playoff games, Villaman collected five hits, scored twice and drove in six runs.
Other standouts for Sanford included: Rodney Tennie, who got one base five times (one hit, two walks, two hit by pitch), scored twice and added two steals; Richie Rivera, who had three hits, a run, an RBI and three stolen bases; and CJ Carter, who tossed 4.1 innings out of the bullpen, allowing one run on six hits with four strikeouts.
Troutt was very strong for the Diamond Dawgs with a final line of 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB and 6 K. Similar to Tennie, Cristian Rivera also reached base five times in the game with a double and four walks. Jordan Bowersox scored twice and drove in a pair as well.
The win gave the River Rats an overall season record of 33-12, breaking the mark for wins in a season previously held by the 2010 Winter Park Diamond Dawgs (31). It is the third championship for Head Coach Kevin Davidson who also won in 2013 and 2014 as the head coach of Winter Park.
