News

THE VILLAGES, Fla.- After Monday’s suspended game against the Sanford River Rats, the DeLand Suns were back in action on Tuesday against the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs. The Suns offense looked better, but pitching and defense struggled as the Suns fell 21-4. 

Mark Wilbur (Slippery Rock) got the start on the mound for DeLand. Winter Park took no time to settle in as the first two Diamond Dawgs hitters, Michael Ballard and Blake DeLamielleure, got on base. After a strikeout by Wilbur, Angelo Piloto drove in Ballard on a single, and then Edgar Alavrez blasted a 3-run home run to make it 4-0.

The Suns offense came right back in the bottom of the first when Evan St. Claire drove a home run of his own to right field. After a Sean Sparling (Daytona State) double, Thomas Berry (LSU Shreveport) hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 4-2. 

St. Claire was excited by the offense’s early success. 

“It felt good to get on the board early, which was a good sign (going forward).” St. Claire said. 

Wilbur gave up just one run in the second, but the third is where the trouble came along. Two doubles and a walk ended Wilbur’s outing, and Cade Udell (Villanova) came on to pitch for DeLand. As the third came to an end, the Suns were trailing 10-2. 

The Diamond Dawgs continued to pour on runs as the game went along. The Suns scored again in the fourth inning, when Evan Griffis (Stetson) hit a towering home run to left field to make it 14-3. 

Thomas Berry added a dinger of his own in the seventh but it wasn’t enough as the Diamond Dawgs took the win, 21-4. 

Although it isn’t DeLand, St. Claire has enjoyed the experience of playing at The Villages.

“We are thankful that we got to play here.” St. Claire said.

The Suns have one more game in The Villages against the Leesburg Lightning, the only team they haven’t seen this year, on Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. 

Dylan Pescatore (Arizona State)