Squeeze Fall to River Rats in Sanford

SANFORD, Fla. — The Winter Garden Squeeze (11-11) saw their three-game winning streak come to an end Monday night, falling 7-1 to the Sanford River Rats (7-15) at Sanford Memorial Stadium.

Left-hander Brady Montrowl (UCF) made his fourth start of the summer for Winter Garden and carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning before Drew Pynes (Georgia Southern) broke it up with a leadoff single. Montrowl responded by recording his fifth strikeout of the night before exiting. He finished with 3 1/3 innings pitched, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out five.

Kaden Howell (Santa Fe) entered in relief but ran into immediate trouble. He allowed a single to John Dobkowski (Enterprise State), putting runners on the corners, before hitting Zach Walker (Florida Southern) with a pitch to load the bases.

Adonys Velez (Undecided) delivered a two-run single to left field to give Sanford a 2-0 lead. Howell quickly settled in, however, striking out the next two batters to limit the damage.

On the other side, Chase Marsh (Undecided) turned in his best start of the summer for the River Rats. The right-hander tossed five scoreless innings, allowing six hits while striking out six.

The Squeeze finally broke through after Marsh exited the game. Fabian Romero (Lake Sumter State) entered in relief and immediately encountered trouble after Alex Galan (Lake Sumter State) reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw by the catcher.

Galan scored on a fielder's choice by Cael Reish (Flagler), cutting the deficit to 2-1.

Howell completed two innings of relief, allowing two runs while striking out four.

Winter Garden threatened again in the seventh. Osjun Rivas (Undecided) lined a two-out double down the right-field line before Edwin Melendez (Undecided) drew a walk. The Squeeze successfully executed a double steal to move both runners into scoring position, but Romero induced an inning-ending popout by Elixson to preserve Sanford's lead.

Romero earned the victory with two innings of relief, allowing two hits while striking out one.

An inning later, the Squeeze loaded the bases with one out, but River Rats reliever Jack Hershey (Folsom) induced a 1-6-3 inning-ending double play to end the threat.

Sanford put the game away in the bottom of the eighth. With two runners aboard, Walker launched a three-run homer to extend the River Rats' lead to 5-1. The River Rats added two more runs on an RBI single by Caleb Scott (Undecided) and an RBI double by Tyler Meyer (Rollins), stretching the advantage to 7-1.

Tyler Garcia (Lake Sumter State) closed out the game for Sanford by striking out the side in the ninth.

The Squeeze return to action Tuesday against the Leesburg Lightning (16-6). First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Pat Thomas Stadium.

Zach Moore (University of Florida)