Charles W. Flanagan High School Baseball

Flanagan opened the game with a 3 run home run in the 1st inning and closed the game with a walk off 3 run blast in the 5th. In between the Falcons belted 5 more home runs for 7 total, breaking the school record of 6 HR's in a game which Flanagan had done twice. The game lasted 5 innings with a 14-4 Falcons win advancing them to the District Championship on Thursday at 7:00pm.  

Andres Sanchez and Danny Zardon hit 2 HR's each and drove in 4 RBI a piece. Sanchez inches closer to the single season record leaving him 1 behind Mike Napoli's record of 17 in 2000. Ricky Santiago went 3 for 3 with a single, double, walk, 2 run HR and 4 runs scored. Carlos Lopez launched his 2nd HR of the season, a pinch hit line drive over left centerfield. Mike Melendez joined the HR parade with his 4th HR of the season, his walk off 3 run blast ended the game and the season for Cooper City(8-13).

Jose Mesa Jr.(6-0) picked up the win going 3.1 innings allowing 4 runs on 3 hits. The righthander struggled with his control walking a season high 7 batters and striking out 3. Robert Collin earned his 2nd save of the year closing out the final 1.2 innings in relief.

Flanagan(19-2) will host West Broward(11-10) in a repeat of the District Championship from a year ago. The Bobcats advanced to the Championship with a 2-0 win over Cypress Bay.

Pitching, defense and timely hitting allowed the Falcons to ease through their Senior Night game with a 7-0 win over Pembroke Pines Charter.

Flanagan scored 3 runs in the 1st, 3 more in the 2nd and 1 run in the 4th to cap their regular season schedule. The Falcons(18-2) were led by seniors Mike Melendez and Robert Collin. Collin (2 for 4, double, 2 runs and 1 RBI) pitched the final 2 innings in relief allowing just 2 hits to complete the shutout. Melendez worked the opposite, he pitched 5 strong innings without allowing a run on 4 hits and 4 strike outs to improve his record to 6-2. At the plate he went 1 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI. Danny Zardon contributed with 2 hits, 2 runs scored and an RBI.

Flanagan will host the District 12 Tournament next week starting Tuesday afternoon April 26th. #2 West Broward will play #3 Cypress Bay at 4pm. #1 Flanagan will play #4 Cooper City at 7pm. The Championship Game will be on Thurs. April 28th at 7pm. 

Congratulations are in order for Ricky Santiago, Mike Melendez and Matthew Figueroa who have gained 2011 accolades by FACA. Santiago was named the 6A Player of the Year. He was the runner-up for Florida District-19 Player of the Year and was named a FACA ALL-STATE selection. Mike Melendez came in 6th in the District-19 Player of the Year voting. Melendez and Santiago were chosen to play in the FACA All-Star game in Sebring, FL. May 26th through the 28th at Firemans Field. They will represent the South Squad.

Each District elects one representative as an Academic All-State selection. The Falcons, Matthew Figueroa was voted on as the FACA Academic All-Star representing District-19.

Flanagan Head Coach Ray Evans was given the Honor of 6A Coach of the Year representing District 19.  

After a 12 day layoff where they only faced each other the Falcons put together a complete game win against a quality Coral Springs Charter(15-9) team coming in on a hot streak. The Falcons(17-2) got an excellent pitching performance from Mike Emigh(6-0) who went 5 and 2/3 innings allowing just 1 run on 2 hits and striking out 7 for the win. When Emigh got into a jam in the 6th inning Jose Mesa Jr. was called upon to shut the door and that's exactly what the right hander did, striking out the final 4 batters he faced in the game earning his 1st save of the season.

Offensively the Falcons pounded out 14 hits led by Robert Collin and Matthew Figueroa who had 3 hits a piece on the night. However the scoring  came from Andres Sanchez and Zack Collins who hit back to back home runs in the 4th inning giving the Falcons a 3-1 lead. Sanchez leads Broward county with his 14th HR of the season just 3 behind Flanagan's single season record of 17 set by Mike Napoli in 2000. 

The Falcons close out their regular season with a game against Pembroke Pines Charter which will be Senior Night on Thursday. Game time is scheduled for 7:00pm with the Senior Night presentations to begin at 6:30.

Congratulations goes out to the remaining 4 Seniors who have signed their National Letter of Intent on April 4th. All 8 of the Falcons Seniors have earned academic or athletic scholarships and will continue their education at the collegiate level.

OF Ryan Lozada and 1B/P Keil Conway will be playing baseball in Illinois for Morton College, Catcher Kyle Schmidt will be playing for Greensboro College in North Carolina and OF/P Robert Collin signed with the University of Charleston in West Virginia. 

Matthew Figueroa(Florida State), Ricky Santiago(Florida Atlantic), Mike Melendez(Nova Southeastern) and Matthew Beauchemin(St. Andrews) are the other Seniors that have already made their commitments .