Charles W. Flanagan High School Baseball

The Falcons scored runs in 4 out of the 6 innings they played to beat the Pines Charter Jaguars 11-1. Behind the pitching of Alex Sarmiento and Kharlin Sued the Falcons were able to jump out to an early lead and never looked back.

Sarmiento (2-1) started the game and got the win. Although he didn't have his best stuff, he was able to pitch 4 innings  giving up 1 earned run on 1 hit, while striking out 6 and walking 4. Sued pitched the 5th & 6th innings giving up 1 hit while striking out 3 and walking 2.

On this night the bats did what they needed to do to give the pitching plenty of support. Brandon Melendez led of the bottom of the 1st with a double down the left field line. Eric Rivera followed that up with a single to score Melendez and make the score 1-0. Andres Visbal got HBP and the wheels started to fall off for the Jaguars. Without getting another hit in the inning, the Falcons were able to capitalize on Jaguar mistakes and scored 3 more times to end the first inning leading 4-0. In the bottom of the second inning Rivera got something going with a 2 out single. Visbal followed that up with a walk and Dodge delivered the first of his 3 hits on the night for an RBI, which made the score 5-0. In the fourth inning Visbal led off with a triple and Dodge followed that up with a double for his 2nd RBI on the night. Two batters later Oscar Rodriguez hit a 2 run homerun to left field to make the score 8-1. The Falcons got it going again in the 6th inning when Dodge led off with his 3rd hit of the night. Two batters later Oscar Rodriguez got his 3rd RBI on the evening with a long double to right center field to score Dodge. Miguel Presno came up and delivered an RBI single to center field to make the score 10-1. The game ended when the bases were loaded and the Jags attempted a pick off at second base and threw the ball into centerfield. Luis Barranco who had entered the game as a pinch runner for Presno scored and the game ended 11-1.

The Falcons (4-2, 2-0) will take on Cypress Bay in a district game at home on Friday night at 6:30pm.

On a night where getting a hit for the Falcons was like finding a needle in a haystack, Ryan Dodge was able to come up with the biggest hit of the season so far.

In the bottom of the seventh with 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd, the score tied 2-2, Ryan Dodge hit a towering walk-off 3 run homerun to left field to give the Falcons a 5-2 victory at home in a district contest against the Western Wildcats.

The Falcons only had 2 hits on the night with the other one coming by way of Andres Visbal. Visbal singled in the bottom of the 7th with 1 out and Oscar Rodriguez, who had walked, on first. Then Dodge came up to deliver the big knockout blow. There were only 2 other scoring opportunities for the Falcons during the course of the game, but they were squashed when they could not come up with the clutch hits when needed.

Up until that point in the 7th inning it was an old fashioned pitchers dual. Gentry Fortuno (2-0) was nothing short of masterful, going the distance, giving up 2 runs, 1 earned on 4 hits, while striking out 12 and walking 2. Fortuno shut down scoring opportunities for the Wildcats in the 2nd and 5th innings to keep the game in check and struck out the side in the top of the 7th to give his team a chance to win in the bottom of the inning.

The Falcons (3-2, 2-0) will take on the Pines Charter Jaguars Tuesday night at home at 6:30pm.

Flanagan Baseball has had a long running tradition, pitching and defense wins games. The JV carried that mentality into their first game of the season Thursday night at Cypress Bay High School.

Even though it was game one of the season, the Falcons looked in mid-season form against the Lightning. The Falcons came out swinging early with line drive base hits from Hunter Platts, Andy Epstein and Christian Argueza which led to an early lead. Starting pitcher Steven Gonzalez threw only eight pitches the first inning to set the tone for the rest of the game. Luis Barranco led the defense at shortstop making flawless plays over and over again. Combine that with the solid play of Marcus Villalobos and the rest of the infielders and it all added up to a season opening win. 

The offense didn't let up in the late innings. Sophomore catcher Christian Argueza and freshman Andy Epstein had two hits a piece and reached base three times on the evening. The big story of the night was freshman Steven Gonzalez. He pitched 5 strong innings, giving up 1 run to earn the victory. Gonzalez had a quick tempo and great command of his pitches, throwing only 53 pitches on the night. Along with the brilliant display on the mound, Gonzalez also had two hits including a triple and reached base three times as well.

It was a great way to start the year off for the JV. There are high hopes for the upcoming season from the Falcon coaching staff. It should be exciting to see how this team progresses throughout the year.

The JV Falcons (1-0) will take on the Coral Springs Colts at home on Wednesday evening at 6:30pm.

The Falcons beat the Miramar Patriots, 29-1, with 9 hits, 9 walks and 7 HBP in a 3 inning shortened game. 

Alex Sarmiento (1-1) started the game and got the win. Sarmiento gave up 1 earned run on 2 hits while striking out 3 in 2 innings. Zach Finch struck out 2 while pitching the 3rd and final inning.

Freshman Eric Rivera hit his first high school homerun and what a homerun it was. Rivera, 1-3, hit a grand slam in the 2nd inning and had 6 RBI on the night. Chris Rodriguez went 2-3 with 3 RBI while David Sarmiento went 2-2 with 3 runs scored and 4 RBI on the night.  Oscar Rodriguez scored 4 runs and had 2 RBI and Andres Rios scored 3 runs and had 3 RBI on the night as well.

The Falcons (2-2) will take on the Western Wildcats in another District contest at home on Friday at 6:30 pm.

The Falcons got off to a slow start against the Killian Cougars, which in the end was what sealed their fate. Chris Rodriguez started on the hill for the Falcons.  He pitched 4 innings giving up 7 runs, 4 earned, with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks. He left the game losing 7-1, giving way to reliever Kharlin Sued. Sued went the final 3 innings giving up no runs, no hits, while striking out 2 and walking 4.

The offense didn't get anything going til late in the game in the 6th inning. With the score 7-1 and 2 outs, Kevin Mora delivered a pinch hit single to get things going. Brandon Melendez followed that with a walk and AJ Munoz reached on an error by the shortstop to load the bases. Andres Visbal walked with the bases loaded to make it 7-2 with 2 outs. Ryan Dodge then hit a double that got by the right fielder to score 2 more runs and make the score 7-4. David Sarmiento, who came in for Daniel Oliveri in the 5th, came up and singled in another run to make the score 7-5. Up came Eric Rivera who ended the inning by hitting a sharp ground ball to the 3rd baseman who threw him out at 1st.

The Falcons would not go down without one final fight. Oscar Rodriguez led off the seventh with a walk. Andres Rios followed that up with a walk of his own. Presno was called out on strikes for the first out of the inning. Melendez came up with a hard hit single, but right at the left fielder, so no runs could cross the plate. With bases loaded and 1 out, AJ Munoz came up to bat. He ended the game by hitting a line drive bullet at the shortstop who was able to double Rios off second to end the threat and the game with Killian winning the championship 7-5. 

The Falcons (1-2) will take on the Miramar Patriots in a District contest onTuesday night at Miramar at 6:30.