Lakeland Flying Tigers Win 2025 Florida State League Championship
Florida Pro Baseball follows Florida State League (FSL) teams, including the Lakeland Flying Tigers. They are affiliated with the Detroit Tigers.
On September 16, 2025, the Flying Tigers won the Florida State League championship. They defeated the Daytona Tortugas 9–2 at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. Notably, this is Lakeland’s first FSL title since 2012. They are only the third team in league history to win both halves of the regular season and the championship (joining 1995 Daytona and 2024 Palm Beach).
The 2025 FSL regular season ran from April 6 through September 10. During that time, Lakeland finished with 75 wins and a 44–21 home record, showing dominance at Publix Field.
In the championship game, Stephen Hrustich gave the Flying Tigers the lead in the 4th inning with an RBI single. Then, Lakeland broke the game open in the 5th inning. Specifically, Nick Dumesnil and Jesus Pinto scored on a two-out error, pushing the lead to 5–2. Meanwhile, Gabriel Reyes started and allowed two runs in 4.1 innings. The bullpen, including Pedro Garcia and Logan Berrier, shut out Daytona the rest of the way. As a result, the final score was 9–2.
The Flying Tigers swept the 2025 FSL playoffs. Overall, their season was remarkable, cementing their place as one of the league’s standout teams.
Florida State League Playoffs