Charles W. Flanagan High School Baseball

Flanagan lost back to back games for the 2nd time this season after a 5-2 set back at the hands of District 11-6A, Stoneman-Douglas(8-4) on saturday. The Falcons(6-5) took an early lead 1-0 when Junior DH Justin Frias hit his 3rd home run of the season in the 2nd inning.  Douglas would come back to score 5 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning which was more then enough for Eagles starter Stephen Colangelo. Junior leftfielder Zach Jackson doubled and scored the other Falcons run on a double steal in the top of the 5th inning. Senior Josh Gonzaga(1-2) took the loss allowing the 5 runs on 4 hits. Senior Rudy Miret pitched great in relief going 3 2/3 innings without allowing a run and just 3 hits.

The Falcons will look to get back on track Monday when they face Miramar at home in a District 12 matchup before a showdown with another District 11 foe Taravella on Wednesday night at home. The Trojans are the only undefeated team left in Broward county at 11-0.  

The Falcons dropped a pivital District 12 game last night losing 11-7 to rival Cypress Bay(7-2, 5-0) at home. Flanagan(6-4, 3-1) trailed from the outset giving up 6 unearned runs in the 1st inning with the big blow being a grand slam home run by RF Zach Perez. The Falcons would climb back into the game cutting the lead to 6-5 in the 4th inning capped by a 2 run home run off the bat of Rolando Gomez. Flanagan would not get any closer as the Lightning put up another 5 runs in the 5th inning (3 unearned) to put the game out of reach. RJ Fondon(2-3) took the loss scattering 7 hits and striking out 6 over 4 and 1/3 innings. The Falcons offense was led by Diego Delgado who went 3 for 3 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI. Zach Jackson, Josh Gonzaga and Justin Frias had 2 hits apiece. Flanagan will travel to Parkland on Saturday to face Stoneman-Douglas. Game time is set for 11:00am.

Flanagan players and coaches experienced something they don't see everyday. After a 10 hour bus ride the team woke up for their 1st day of the LaGrange Tournament with cold, wet conditions on Friday March 7th. After a delay of 2 hours they played Cullman, Alabama at LaGrange College. We lost the game 4-2 which put a damper on our hopes of a Championship appearance. Senior Josh Gonzaga took the loss despite a stellar performance on the mound.  He allowed only 4 hits and struck out 10 in 6+ innings. Cullman posted 3 runs in the top of the 7th inning to steal away the win.

The tournament continued with us playing Brookwood, Georgia that same evening. This time we played at Callaway HS at 5:35. Unfortunately for the Falcons our opening game loss lingered as the Broncos blasted 4 home runs in route to a 15-4 win. We were out played offensively as Brookwood pounded out 16 hits in the game. The lone highlight for the Falcons came off the bat of Junior DH Justin Frias who homered to centerfield in the 3rd inning. 

The tournament continued on Saturday as we prepared for a 10am game against Cartersville, Georgia. The only problem was that the temperature had dropped to about 20 degrees with snow flurries!!! The weather caused the pool play rounds of the tournament to be cancelled which sent us into the 7th place game against tournament host LaGrange HS who had also dropped the 2 games they had played (Loss to Nova 7-4, Loss to American Heritage 13-3) at 4:00pm. The Falcons bat came alive as the offense scored 2 in the 1st, 3 in the 2nd and 2 in the 3rd and 2 runs in the 5th innings to cruise to a 9-0 win. Senior Corey Witkowski was dominant once again posting his 3rd shutout win of the season. He struck out 7 in the game. Ali Sanchez led the offense with 3 hits and 2 RBI in the game.

*Ali Sanchez and Corey Witkowski were named to the LaGrange Invitational All-Tournament Team.  

Flanagan(6-3, 3-0) will host their District Rival Cypress Bay(5-2, 4-0) on Thursday, March 13th at 6:30pm. The winner will hold sole posession of 1st place in District 12-6A.

South Plantation(3-2,2-1) entered todays game out to prove their run in the District playoffs last season wasn't a fluke. The hype was quickly erased as the Falcons took control of the game and the lead in District 12-6A with a 10-2 win. Flanagan(5-1,3-0) used a 5 run 2nd inning to take a commanding lead in the game and with RJ Fondon(2-1) on the mound that lead was more then enough. Fondon pitched all 6 innings (game called due to darkness) allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits and striking out 5 Paladins. The offense was led by sophomore RF Pichi Torres who went 3 for 4 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. Junior DH Justin Frias added 2 hits and 2 RBI. Senior 3B Greg Goldberger lined a double down the right field line driving in 2 runs in the 5th inning and Senior catcher Ian Castro doubled to right driving in the final run of the game in the 6th inning. Flanagan travels to LaGrange, GA. on Thursday for a 4 game Tournament featuring teams from Georgia, Alabama and Florida:Davie-Nova and Plantation-American Heritage are also entered.