Announcement
The Falcons moved one step closer to the Final Four with a 3-0 win over the Douglas Eagles in the Regional Semi-Final last night.
The scoring started when leadoff hitter Oscar Rodriguez reached 1st base on a HBP in the bottom of the 1st inning. With one out, Andres Visbal was awarded 1st base due to a catcher interference call. Ryan Dodge came up with 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd. Dodge deposited a fastball into deep left centerfield for a double scoring Rodriguez from 2nd. Visbal was thrown out on the play attempting to score from 1st base to keep the score at 1-0 after the 1st inning. The score stayed 1-0 into the bottom of the 6th inning due to some great pitching and great defensive plays by the Douglas Eagle defense. Andres Visbal led off the bottom of the 6th inning with another catcher interference call and was awarded 1st base. Visbal was put in motion and Ryan Dodge delivered once again with his 2nd double of the evening when he drilled the pitch into the left centerfield gap. Visbal was able to score easily this time to give Dodge his 2nd RBI on the night and make the score 2-0. Alex Sarmiento came in to pinch run for Dodge and Luis Barranco was called on to pinch hit for Kharlin Sued. With no outs and Sarmiento on 2nd, Barranco's job was to bunt him over to 3rd base. Barranco did just that when on a 3-1 pitch he laid down a perfect bunt and moved Sarmiento to 3rd. Daniel Oliveri came up with an RBI when he was able to drive a fly ball deep enough to centerfield for Sarmiento to tag up and make the score 3-0.
Fortuno (9-0) was on the mound and was not going to be denied last night. He pitched one of his best games he had pitched all year and it was when it really mattered the most. With the offense giving Fortuno 1 run to play with in the 1st inning, he knew he had to bear down and keep the damage to a minimum. He pitched out of jams twice during the game. In the top of the 2nd inning and runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out, Fortuno got a strikeout and then a weak ground ball to second base to squash the threat.
The score stayed 1-0 when in the top of the 5th inning the Eagles got the lead off hitter on. They attempted to steal 2nd base and catcher, Miguel Presno, came up big by throwing the runner out for the first out of the inning. That proved to be very important, because the Eagles threatened again after getting back to back 2 out singles. With 2 outs, Fortuno again came through striking out one of the Eagles best hitters for the third out to end the threat. After a quick top of the 6th, Fortuno was able to relax a little as the Falcons added 2 runs in the bottom of the inning which made the score 3-0. Fortuno closed out the 7th inning with 2 strikeouts and a weak grounder to 2nd base to end the game. Fortuno had at least 2 strikeouts in each of 4 innings including the 5th, 6th and 7th innings.
Fortuno's final line on the night was 7 IP, 6 H, 0 runs, 10 K's, 1 BB. Fortuno stays unbeatened in his high school career with a career record of 17-0.
The Falcons will host the Jupiter Warriors from Palm Beach County in the Regional Final on Friday night at 7pm at Falcon field. The winner of this game will take a trip to the Final Four being held in Ft. Myers on May 17th.
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