Charles W. Flanagan High School Baseball

While the names weren't Gomez, Fondon or Witkowski, a different cast of characters led to a familiar result,  as the Flanagan Falcons defeated the Douglas Eagles, 5-2, on Monday night at Falcons Field.

For the third time in six days, the 2009 edition of the Falcons relied on solid pitching and defense to win a close game against a top notch program, adding Douglas to quality wins against South Miami and Jupiter last week.  Flanagan starter Andres Ortegano struck out 5 Eagles, while surrendering 2 runs on 3 hits in his three innings of work.  Senior southpaw Mark Peterson (1.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 K, 0 BB) and junior righthander Adam Quiles (2.1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 K, 1 BB) combined in relief to blank the Eagles for the final four frames, with Peterson (2-0) getting the win and Quiles earning the save.

Offensively, like the weather during the game, the Flanagan bats were cold, as they only mustered three hits in the ballgame; an RBI double off the bat of Collin Martindale (1-2, R, RBI, 2B, BB) in the first inning and a pair of singles in the second inning from Corey Janson (1-3) and Ricky Santiago (1-3, RBI) gave the Falcons an early 3-1 lead which they didn't relinquish.  Martindale improved his team leading batting average to .412, and has now hit safely in 5 of the team's first 6 games, including the last four in a row. 

Despite the lack of offensive production through their first six games, the young Falcons ballclub finds themselves sitting at 5-1, with all five wins coming by margins of 4 runs or less, and the lone loss by one run in eight innings; certainly not a bad start for a team predicted by a certain high school assistant coach in Parkland to be a "non-factor" in 2009.

The Falcons take their show on the road for four straight district games over the next 2 1/2 weeks,  with their first stop at Cooper City on Friday, 3/6 at 6:30pm.

Behind a solid relief pitching effort from Mark Peterson (3 1/3 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 K, 0 BB), a pair of home runs from Ryan Smith (1-2, R, RBI, HR) and Justin Frias (1-3, R, 2 RBI, HR), and steady defense throughout the contest (including a timely 6-4-3 double play in the top of the 5th inning), the Flanagan Falcons defeated Palm Beach County's #2 ranked Jupiter Warriors, 4-3, on Friday night at Falcons Field.

It was a well played game that saw the Falcons take a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning, with the Warriors storming back in the top of the fourth inning wth three runs of their own.  Jupiter threatened again in their half of the 5th inning, only to see a Ricky Santiago to Collin Martindale to Frias double play end the scoring chance.  Peterson cruised the rest of the way, earning his first varsity win in relief of Falcons starter Dave Thomas.

The 4-1 Falcons will have another tough matchup on Monday, 3/2, when they host the the Douglas Eagles at 6:30pm.

The Flanagan Falcons Junior Varsity moved to 3-0 on the young season after defeating the Seminole Ridge Hawks 15-0 and 6-3 in a doubleheader at Falcons Field on Saturday.

In Game 1, starter Keil Conway (4 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 4 K, 1 BB) was effective and efficient, throwing 50 pitches in his four innings of work.  The Hawks threatened in their half of the first and fourth innings, but Conway strikeouts ended the rallies and salvaged the shutout.  On offense, there were many Falcons contributors, but none bigger than sophomore Matt Beauchemin (1-2, R, 5 RBI, SAC), whose grand slam in the second inning blew the game wide open.  Ryan Lozada, Matt Figueroa and Nick Basto each went 1-3, and Hebert Quintana was 2-2 with 2 runs scored.

In Game 2, the Falcons continued where they left off in Game 1, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning after consecutive hits by Nick Basto (1-2, 2 R, 2B, BB), Robert Collin (2-3, R, 2 RBI) and Keil Conway (2-3, RBI).  The Hawks, however, would climb back, knotting the game at 2-2 in the 2nd inning and actually taking a 3-2 lead in the top of the third.  That's when Falcons reliever Jesse Pazienza shut the door, working his way out of a bases loaded jam, and then pitching a scoreless 4th and 5th to earn the win.  Pazienza would go 3 innings, allowing no runs, 2 hits, 4 strikeouts and no walks.  Collin would work the final frame to earn the save.  Matt Beauchemin continued his torrid start to the season, going 2-2 with a walk and RBI, and Adrian Garces added a late RBI single for some Falcons insurance.

The Baby Falcons travel to St. Thomas Aquinas High School on Wednesday, 3/4, to face the Raiders at 4pm, before coming back home for a Saturday, 3/7, doubleader against the Douglas Eagles.

Andres Ortegano pitched a near masterpiece for the Flanagan Falcons on Wednesday night, throwing a complete game four hitter in the 2-0 win over the South Miami Cobras. Ortegano (7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 6 K, 0 BB) moves to 2-0 on the young season after facing only three batters over the minimum and allowing only one Cobra baserunner to reach second base in the game. The Falcons played error-free baseball behind the senior righthander, with some fine plays turned in by senior 3rd baseman Ryan Smith and junior centerfielder Geoff Jimenez.

Despite leaving a total of 10 men left on base during the game, the Falcons were led offensively by Danny Rojo-Campos (2-3, RBI), Justin Frias (2-3, R, 2B, BB, SB) and Collin Martindale (2-4, SB). With the win, the Falcons move to 3-1, before a tough two game home stretch against the Jupiter Warriors on Friday, 2/27, and the Douglas Eagles on Monday, 3/2.

The Falcons JV took the field for the first time on Monday in a cross city rival game versus the Jaguars of Pines Charter. The Falcons did not dissapoint, beating Pines Charter convincingly 7-3. Game standouts were Ryan Lozada, Matt Beauchemin, Kyle Schmidt and Matthew Figueroa with each collecting two hits respectively. Matt Beauchemin delivered the crushing blow in the first inning with the bases loaded in the form of a 3 RBI double. The Baby Falcons will resume play this Saturday when they host Seminole Ridge from Palm Beach County.