Suns Explode for 17 Runs, Crush Undefeated River Rats
SANFORD, Fla. - The DeLand Suns put themselves on the map Monday night with a 17-1 drilling of the Sanford River Rats. The 8-0 start for the Rats set the record for most consecutive wins to begin a season in Florida League history, but went out with a bang at Sanford Memorial Stadium. The Suns, who had 19 hits in the game with three home runs, improved to a 5-3 record and have now won five of their last six.
DeLand didn't waste any time delivering the first punch, hitting a home run in just the second at-bat of the game. It was sent off the barrel of former River Rat Jeff Liquori (Florida Southern), who crushed a line drive that cleared the left-field wall. Liquori played with Sanford during 2021 and 2022, and claimed All-Star honors in both seasons as well as a League MVP award. As the night went along, it became clear that he saved his best game of the season for his former team.
With two more runs already home in the second inning, Liquori came back up to the plate and delivered a carbon copy shot for another home run. Two line drive homers to left in two innings off of Sanford starter Brayden Kintner (Daytona State) helped catapult DeLand to a quick 6-0 lead.
In addition to hitting his first two long balls of the season, Liquori would finish with a 4-for-5 day at the plate and five RBI's. With just one extra-base hit in his first six games, the Suns star said after the win "I've been struggling to get the ball in the air. The day off was helpful to get back to my rhythm, and you saw it tonight. I'm happy with it."
After only three innings, DeLand held a commanding 8-0 advantage. Suns coach Matt Swiderski was complimentary of Kintner's ability to throw strikes, but that "We just had a great day at the plate." The Rats starter, who just graduated from Lake Mary High School, took the loss allowing those eight runs on 10 hits through three frames.
While Sanford struggled to get anyone out at the plate, DeLand got their best start of the year on the mound in debutant Sam Cole (St. Leo). Scratched from multiple starts earlier in the year, Cole made it worth the wait as he mowed through six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts.
Cole threw for 17.1 innings with St. Leo University during the spring, but did not make any starts in his 10 appearances. Five of his strikeouts were of the looking variety, and he constantly buckled hitters with a devastating curveball. But Cole also showed great ability to pitch to contact, firing fastballs up in the zone that Rats hitters kept getting under for easy fly-ball outs.
"It speaks to his IQ of the game," Swiderski remarked of Cole after his first start. Sanford averaged more than eight runs per game during their historic beginning to the season, but were flummoxed with everything the 6'5 right-hander hurled at them.
With the game destined for a run-rule after just the first few innings, the Suns refused to take their foot off the gas as they poured on four runs each in the sixth and seventh inning to further the gap. Rohsean Riley (Florida Southern) blasted a cloud-scraper of a home run in the sixth for a grand slam, his first of the season. Before all was said and done, Sanford surrendered to pitching a position player to finish the seven-inning contest.
The Suns will look to stay hot as they'll host the River Rats at Conrad Park 7 p.m. Tuesday. FloSports, the exclusive carrier of Florida League games, has chosen the contest to represent the league in their "Game of the Week" lineup. A win for DeLand would mean a two-game sweep of the series, and would bring them within two games of first place.
Winning Pitcher: Sam Cole (1-0)
Losing Pitcher: Brayden Kintner (1-1)
Time of Game: 2:22
William Haynes (Florida State)
