Charles W. Flanagan High School Baseball

For the second straight game, the Flanagan Falcons showed their muscle and used the long ball to dispatch a District 12-6A foe, defeating the South Broward Bulldogs, 14-4, in six innings at Falcons Field.  The victory clinched the District 12-6A regular season title for the Falcons, who have outscored their 2009 district opponents 93-13, running their overall record to 12-1, while winning their last 11 straight games.

On Thursday night, the power display started early when Justin Frias (2-4, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR, BB), Danny Rojo-Campos (1-3, R, 2 RBI, HR, BB), and Corey Janson (2-3, RBI, HR, BB) each connected for home runs in the 1st inning, giving the Falcons a 6-2 lead.  The Bulldogs would settle down, getting as close as 6-3 in the 4th inning and 8-4 in the 5th, but in the bottom of the sixth inning, a two-run triple off the bat of Collin Martindale (1-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 3B, BB, SB), an RBI single from Ricky Santiago (2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HBP) and Frias' second 2-run bomb of the game would give the Falcons the walk-off, mercy rule victory.  Pichi Torres (2-3, 3 R, 2B, 3B, BB) and Matt Figueroa (2-2, R, BB, HBP, SB) also had nice games offensively, while Falcons starter Andres Ortegano (5 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 H, 9 K, 3 BB, HBP) improved his 2009 record to 4-0.  Junior pitcher Adam Quiles was also effective, pitching a perfect 6th inning.

The Falcons are back home on Friday, 3/27, at 6:30pm to face the Timber Creek Wolves (9-2), who visit from the Orlando area.

The Flanagan Falcons won their 10th straight game in decisive fashion with an 18-2 win on the road against the Western Wildcats.  Senior lefthander Mark Peterson moved his record to 4-0, allowing 1 earned run on 4 hits, while striking out six and walking none in the five inning, mercy-rule shortened contest.  Despite another solid performance from the Falcons pitching staff, it was again the offense that stole the show, with 3 home runs coming off the bats of Justin Frias (3-3, 4 R, 5 RBI, 2 2B, HR, BB), Zach Jackson (1-2, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR, BB, HBP) and Corey Janson (1-2, R, 3 RBI, HR, BB).

Flanagan got out of the gate quickly, sending 11 men to the plate in the first inning, capitalizing on three of the nine free passes issued by Wildcat pitchers in the game, to come away with a 5-0 lead.  The Falcons followed that up in their second at bat by picking up 10 more runs after sending another sixteen batters to the dish.  By the time the dust had settled, eight of the nine starters had at least one hit.  In addition to the big games from Frias, Jackson and Janson, Pichi Torres kicked in 3 RBI and Danny Rojo-Campos knocked in two, helping to lead the Falcons to an 11-1 overall record and 6-0 record in district play.

The Falcons head home for back to back 6:30pm games on Thursday, 3/26, against South Broward and Friday, 3/27, against Timber Creek (Orlando).

With a nine run outburst in the bottom of the fourth inning that saw them send 13 batters to the plate, the Flanagan Falcons broke open what had been a close game at 2-2 against District 12-6A rival South Plantation, eventually finishing it by run rule in the fifth inning, 12-2.  The Falcons moved to 10-1 overall and 5-0 in the district, completing a two week span where they outscored their opponents 61-7.

Zach Jackson (2-2, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, BB) led the Falcons offense, hitting his second home run in as many days, while Collin Martindale (2-3, 2 R, RBI, 2 SB), Ricky Santiago (2-3, R, RBI, HBP) and Pichi Torres (2-3, 2 R, RBI, SB) accounted for the rest of the Falcons hits against the Paladins.

In the top of the fourth inning, starter David Thomas (3 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 4K, 1 BB) gave way to Andres Ortegano (2 IP, 0 R, 0H, 3 K, 0 BB), who earned the victory in relief, moving his record to 3-0.

The Falcons will shoot for their 10th consecutive victory when they start another three game week on the road this coming Monday, 3/23, with a district game against the Western Wildcats at 6:30pm.

In his first career start as a Falcon, Junior Adam Quiles (1-0) earned his first win of the season in convincing fashion, pitching a five inning no hitter in the 11-0 road win against the Miramar Patriots.  With an error-free Flanagan defense behind him that converted two double plays, Quiles ( 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 5 K, 2 BB, HBP) only faced one batter over the minimum in the five inning contest, leading the Falcons to a 9-1 overall record and a 4-0 record in District 12-6A.

On offense, four Falcons enjoyed muti-hit games, including Collin Martindale (3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB), Ryan Smith (3-4, R, 4 RBI, 2B, SB), Ricky Santiago (2-2, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 SB) and Zach Jackson (2-3, R, RBI, HR).  The Falcons pounded out twelve hits as a team, and put the game away with six runs in the top of the fifth inning.

The Falcons play their fourth district game in seven days when they take on the South Plantation Paladins at home on Friday, 3/20, at 6:30pm.

As they did four days earlier against Cypress Bay, the Flanagan Falcons (8-1) started out a bit slow on the road against a District 12 rival, but came from behind, tacking runs on late, to defeat the Everglades Gators, 6-3.  It was the 7th consecutive win for the Falcons, moving them to 3-0 in district play.

The Gators jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning off Falcons starter Andres Ortegano (3 1/3 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 K, 1 BB) on a solo shot by Gators designated hitter Richard Ibarra.  That lead would hold for Everglades until the top of the fourth inning, when Falcons rightfielder Pichi Torres (3-3, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR, BB) collected the first of his four RBI, driving in pinch runner Diego Delgado on a deep double to left field.  Ricky Santiago (2-3, R, RBI, BB) would follow with an RBI single, giving the Falcons their first lead, at 2-1.  After a pinch hit single by freshman Nick Basto and a walk to Falcons second baseman Collin Martindale (1-2, 2B, 2 BB) to load the bases, senior firstbaseman Justin Frias extended the lead to 3-1 with a deep sacrifice fly to right field.

After a solo shot and a pair of singles in the bottom of the fourth, Everglades would chase Ortegano, giving way to Mark Peterson (3 2/3, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 5 K, 0 BB) who shut the door, leaving two Gators stranded and holding on to a 3-2 lead.  The Falcons would get that run back in the 5th after a two-out RBI single by Torres, and two more in the top of the 7th on Torres' two run bomb to left field.  The Gators picked up one more in their final at bat on a pair doubles, but Peterson (3-0) would get out of it, earning the victory in relief.

The Falcons take their district "road show" to Miramar on Thursday, 3/19, at 6:30pm, before coming back home on Friday, 3/20, to the friendly confines of Falcons Field against South Plantation at 6:30pm.