2026 Florida League Playoffs Begin Monday
SANFORD, Fla. - The Florida League Playoffs are set to begin Monday night. For just the second time in Florida League history, the playoffs begin without the defending champions, as the Orlando Snappers will not have a chance to defend their title.
Here's an inside look at the race for the Whiting Cup.
Florida League Wild Card Game
#5 DeLand at #4 Winter Park
Monday, 6:00 p.m.
Alfond Stadium
The Winter Park Diamond Dawgs qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2023, while the DeLand Suns are in the postseason for the third year in a row. DeLand is in the Wild Card Game for the second straight year, and will look for a repeat of last year's Wild Card win over Winter Garden. Winter Park's last trip to the playoffs in 2023 featured a Wild Card win, a walk-off victory over Orlando.
DeLand and Winter Park's last meetings in the playoffs were in the 2018 and 2019 Florida League Championship Series, with the Suns winning in 2018 and the Dawgs answering in 2019.
Florida League Semifinals
#2 Winter Garden vs. #3 Sanford
Game 1- Tuesday at Winter Garden, 6:00 p.m.
Game 2- Wednesday at Sanford, 6:30 p.m.
Game 3- Thursday at Winter Garden (if necessary), 6:00 p.m.
Winter Garden is in search of their second trip to the Florida League Championship Series, as the Squeeze came up one game short of the title in 2023. Sanford has unfinished business from a year ago, when the River Rats had the best regular season record in league history only to flame out in a 2-0 Florida League Championship Series sweep.
Sanford and Winter Garden last met in the playoffs in 2023, when the third-seeded Squeeze swept the second-seeded Rats in the FCSL Semifinals, sending Winter Garden to the Florida League Championship Series for the first time.
#1 Leesburg vs. Wild Card Winner
Game 1 - Tuesday at Leesburg, 7:00 p.m.
Game 2- Wednesday at Wild Card Winner, Time TBA
Game 3- Thursday at Leesburg (if necessary), 7:00 p.m.
The Leesburg Lightning are the playoffs' top seed for the third time in the last four years. The top seed in the playoffs has gotten to the Florida League Championship Series in each of the last four years, with Winter Park's upset of Sanford in 2021 the last major upset.
Should the Lightning match up with DeLand, it would be a rematch of the 2024 Florida League Championship Series, a 2-0 sweep for Leesburg. The Lightning last faced Winter Park in 2023, when Leesburg swept the Diamond Dawgs in the FCSL Semifinals.
Florida League Championship Series
Game 1- Saturday at highest remaining seed, Time TBA
Game 2- Sunday at lowest remaining seed, Time TBA
Game 3- Monday at highest remaining seed (if necessary), Time TBA
The 2020s have belonged to the Leesburg Lightning, who have been in the championship series five times since 2020. Sanford (2020) and Winter Park (2022) also have titles this decade, with DeLand (2018) searching their first crown in almost a decade. The lone Florida League team without a franchise is Winter Garden, coming the closest in 2023. Who will claim the crown this year?