Orlando Outraced by Winter Garden in 11-6 Loss

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. - The Orlando Snappers fell to the Winter Garden Squeeze 11-6 Thursday night in a barnburner. Horizon High School turned into the site of a home run derby as the game gradually slipped out of Orlando's control.

Horizon High School saw just three home runs during the entire 2025 season. Between 6 and 9 p.m. Thursday, there were five.

For the Squeeze, David Freitas launched two rockets to left field, with his first two hits of the season both leaving the yard.

On the other side, Elvin Figueroa left the yard to straightaway center field for his first home run of the summer, giving the Snappers a 4-3 lead in the top of the third inning. Not long after, Gavin Gonzalez launched a solo shot to right field in what appeared to be his most impressive swing of the season.

Then he topped it.

Gonzalez repeated the feat in his next at-bat, this time sending a ball even farther to right-center field. The disappointing aspect for Orlando was the lack of runners on base, as the Snappers' three home runs produced just four RBIs.

The second storyline of Thursday's matchup was the debut of several new arrivals in the Orlando dugout. Three newcomers joined the roster, all from major Division I programs.

Two UCF Knights started in the outfield, with Luke Mottola collecting two hits and James Hankerson adding a double. They quickly showed just how dangerous the Snappers' lineup can be. The third newcomer was Aiden Stillman, the hard-throwing left-hander from Vanderbilt. He struck out three batters in his first 1 2/3 innings as a Snapper.

Ultimately, it wasn't enough, as the Squeeze had just enough juice to pulp the Snappers. The series continues Friday night at Horizon Park as Orlando looks to even the series.

Theo Shernoff (Michigan)