Charles W. Flanagan High School Baseball

The Flanagan Falcons (16-2) opened up their trip to Charleston, South Carolina for the 2009 Hanahan Invitational Tournament (H.I.T.) with a decisive 15-3 victory over the First Baptist Church Hurricanes.  The Falcons scored early, often and late, pounding out 15 hits and taking advantage of eight defensive miscues by First Baptist.  Falcons starter Mark Peterson (6 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 8 K, 1 BB) went the distance in the mercy rule shortened contest, extending his record to 5-0.

On offense, the contributions were plentiful, as the Falcons picked up a run in the 1st inning, 3 in the 2nd, 4 in the 3rd, 1 in the 5th and 6 in the 6th.  Eight of the nine Falcons starters hit safely in the contest, with multiple hit games from Justin Frias ( 2-4, 3 R, 2 2B, HBP), Pichi Torres (2-3, R, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 BB, SB), Zach Jackson (2-4, R, RBI, BB), Carlos Delgado (2-3, 3RBI, 2B), Nick Basto (3-4, R) and Geoff Jimenez (2-4, 2 R, SB).

The Falcons will play their second game of the tournament on Tuesday night at 7:30pm against the James Island Trojans (SC).  Please click on the headline above to link into the Hanahan Invitational Tournament website. 

For the second straight game at Falcons Field, it was the Ricky Santiago show, as the sophomore shortstop had a monster night in a 10-0 rout over the McArthur Mustangs (8-6).  Santiago followed a 2 HR/5 RBI effort on Wednesday night against Deerfield Beach with a 3 HR/6 RBI performance on Friday.  Even more remarkable, the five combined home runs came in consecutive at bats, raisng his season home run total to six and his batting average to .417. 

Santiago followed up solo shots in the 1st and 3rd innings with a grad slam in the 4th inning to thoroughly put the game out of reach.  The Falcons would close it out via mercy rule in the bottom of the fifth, after senior leftfielder Zach Jackson (2-3, 2 R, RBI, HR, SB) hit his 7th home run of the year, a solo shot to left center, and junior centerfielder Geoff Jimenez (2-2, 2 R, RBI, BB) followed a walk to David Gonzalez and a double by Nick Basto (1-3, 2B) with an RBI single.

On the hill, seniors Andres Ortegano (3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 K, 1 BB) and Mark Peterson (2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 K, 0 BB) combined on the four hit shutout, allowing only two Mustang baserunners to reach past first base.  Defensively, the Falcons played error free baseball, while turning in two double plays.

With the win, the Falcons completed the 8-0 District 12-6A sweep, outscoring their district opponents 103 to 13 in 2009.  The Falcons now take their 15-2 overall record to South Carolina over the spring break for the Hanahan Invitational Tournament (H.I.T.) before coming back home on Tuesday, 4/14, for a 6:30pm matchup against Great Bridge (Virginia).   

Behind a pair of round trippers from sophomore shortstop Ricky Santiago (2-2, 4 R, 5 RBI, 2 HR, 2 BB, SB) that drove in five runs, the Flanagan Falcons (14-2) defeated the Deerfield Beach Bucks (6-9) in convincing fashion, 12-2, at Falcons Field. 

The Falcons took a 1-0 lead in the first inning after Collin Martindale (1-1, 4 R, 3B, 3 BB, SB) led the game off with a  triple to right and scored a few pitches later on a passed ball.  After three straight walks and a pop out to third, Danny Rojo-Campos (0-0, RBI, 3 BB) drew his first of three walks on the night to drive in Santiago, extending the lead to 2-0.  Two batters later, freshman Nick Basto (2-3, 2 RBI) delivered a two out, two run single for a 4-0 lead the Falcons would never relinquish.

After a Bucks home run off starter and eventual winner Dave Thomas (3 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 K, 1 BB) in the 2nd inning cut the lead to 4-1, the Falcons picked up three unearned runs in the bottom half to take control at 7-1.  That lead would turn to 10-1 by the bottom of third inning after Santiago's first home run of the night drove in three more Falcon runs.

The Bucks would tack on another run in their half of the fourth inning after a solo homer by Jon Hafer, but Santiago would end it by mercy rule in the 5th inning with a walk off two-run bomb to dead centerfield.

The Falcons now wait until Friday, 4/3, at 6:30pm to play their final district game of the season at home against the McArthur Mustangs, before packing their bags and heading to South Carolina for the Hanahan Invitational Tournament.

In yet another display of tenacity and resiliency, the never say die Flanagan Falcons (13-2) mounted a huge late inning comeback on the road to defeat a solid St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders (10-4) ballclub, 13-11.

The Raiders got out to a 3-0 first inning lead after four hits and two Falcon defensive miscues resulted in a pair of unearned runs off starter Mark Peterson.  Flanagan would knot the game at 3-3 in the top half of the 3rd inning when Pichi Torres (3-5, 2 R, 5 RBI, 2 HR) hit the first of his two home runs in the game, driving in Collin Martindale and Ryan Lozada, who was pinch running for Justin Frias (3-3, 2 R, RBI, BB, HBP).

St. Thomas got their three run lead right back in the bottom half of the third when, after a pair of one out singles chased Peterson, rightfielder Vinnie Mauro greeted Falcons reliever Andres Ortegano with a three run home run to center.  The Raiders lead would grow to 9-3 in the bottom of the 4th after another Falcons error resulted in two more unearned runs.

Battered but not beaten going into the top of the 5th inning, the Falcons were ready to answer the bell with another signature comeback, aided by the long ball, and led by a few different heroes.  A walk to Frias was followed immediately by Torres' second home run of the game, cutting the lead to 9-5.  A lineout and a strikeout put the Falcons in a precarious position, with two outs and nobody on, still down by four.  A double by Corey Janson (1-3, 2B, 2 BB) and a single by Nick Basto (2-3, R, 2 RBI, BB) put men on the corners for pinch hitter Carlos Delgado (1-2, R, 3 RBI, HR), who slammed the second pitch he saw over the left field fence, cutting the deficit to 9-8.  After a pair of walks, Frias would deliver the tying run with an RBI single to right.          

As they had done in their half of the third, the Raiders immediately retook the lead, 10-9, in the fifth when Jake Wiesler drove a two-out run scoring double off Flanagan reliever David Gonzalez.  The Falcons would answer right back in their half of the sixth inning when a solo moon shot to left by Zach Jackson tied it back up at 10-10.  However, the boys in black and green were not done there, as Basto followed back to back walks and a wild pitch with a two run single, extending the Falcon lead to 12-10.

Another missle shot by the Raiders' Mauro made it 12-11 in the bottom of the sixth, and a head first effort by Frias on a two out wild pitch made it 13-11 Falcons going into the final at bat for St. Thomas.  After a lead off walk, Junior Adam Quiles was called upon to relieve Gonzalez.  After a walk, a strikeout and an infield single, Quiles was staring at a one out, bases loaded jam, with no room for error.  Quiles would preserve the victory for Gonzalez, earning the save after a strikeout and a flyout by the Raiders number five and six hitters.

With the victory, the Falcons move to 13-2 with two more home games this week before heading to South Carolina for the Hanahan Invitational Tournament.  The Falcons host the Deerfield Beach Bucks on Wednesday and the McArthur Mustangs on Friday, with both games starting at 6:30pm.

Despite an exciting comeback that saw them erase a 4-0 deficit in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Flanagan Falcons (12-2) fell short in eight innings, losing 5-4 to the Timber Creek Wolves (10-2).  The loss was the first for the Falcons in over 5 weeks, since a 9-8 8th inning heartbreaker to Cardinal Gibbons on February 18.

The game was scoreless through the first three frames, as Falcons starter David Thomas (5 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 H, 2 K, 0 BB) and Wolves starter Jordan Dailey seemed destined for a classic pitcher's duel.  However, after back to back home runs in the top of the fourth and a lead off solo shot in the sixth, the Wolves chased Thomas from the game, seemingly taking control with a 4-0 lead after 5 1/2 innings played. 

In the bottom half of the 6th, the Falcons would respond, finally getting to Dailey when Ricky Santiago (2-4, R, RBI, HR, SB) blasted a solo shot to center, cutting the Flanagan deficit to 4-1.  After a Justin Frias (2-4, R) single and a walk to Pichi Torres, Danny Rojo-Campos (2-3, R, 3 RBI, HR, BB) stepped up and delivered a two-out, 3-run homer, knotting the game at 4-4 and bringing Falcons fans to their feet.  Two innings later, however, those same Flanagan fans would be brought to their knees, when a throwing error allowed the Wolves to pull ahead 5-4.  In the home half of the eighth, Corey Janson (3-3, 2B, BB) drew a two-out walk, but would be left stranded, making it 7 Falcons left on base for the evening.

The Falcons are back in action on Monday, 3/30, when they travel to St. Thomas Aquinas for a 4pm game against the Raiders.