Squeeze clinch playoff berth, ready for play-in game

WINTER GARDEN The Winter Garden Squeeze may have waited until the second-to-last day of the regular season to do so, but the third-year franchise in the Florida Collegiate Summer League clinched a playoff spot with a 7-4 victory over Winter Park July 30, nonetheless.

"We did it in our style, there's no question," manager Jay Welsh said. "We had to win one game out of four, basically, to clinch it — and, of course, we won the last out of the four."

Indeed, the Squeeze (19-23) entered a four-game series against the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs — the team directly behind Winter Garden in the race for the fifth and final FCSL Playoff spot — need to win just once to mathematically eliminate the Dawgs (17-25). After losing both games of double-header July 28 (6-5 and 5-3), the Squeeze fell again July 29 (10-4). 

Luckily, Winter Garden — and especially Cody Burgess — came ready to play for the series finale Saturday.

Burgess, a West Orange alumnus who will play collegiately for Florida Southern next spring, went 3-for-4 at the plate — driving in three runs by way of a triple and a home run. Burgess also got the save on the mound for Winter Garden, closing out the final 2 1/3 innings to seal the deal.

Now, the No. 5-seeded Squeeze are preparing for a play-in game against No. 4-seeded Leesburg at 6 p.m. Aug. 2 on the road.

The winner of the play-in game will take on No.1-seeded Sanford (27-16) in a best-of-three series to determine one of two spots in the FCSL Championship Game Aug. 7 at Tropicana Field in St. Pete. The other spot will be awarded to the winner of a best-of-three between No. 2 Altamonte and No. 3 DeLand.

Entering the franchise's second playoff appearance — and his first as a manager — Welsh said Sunday that he feels good about his team's prospects.

"Everything we've done all year has been about putting ourselves in a position to win and get to the playoffs — and we did so," Welsh said. "We have our best arms available going into one extra game and we couldn't really ask for a better spot. ... We have the role of the underdog coming in and I think that's a role that they relish."

Contact Steven Ryzewski at [email protected].