Douglas Beats Flanagan In Match Up Of 6A Powers

When two of the top programs in the county face off, it is often the little things that make the difference. Execution, sound defensive play, and command of pitches are what usually leads to a victory. On Friday, it was Douglas who performed in those three areas best, leading to a 3-2 come from behind win over Flanagan, their 6A rivals.

“Big win as far as measuring sticks go,” said Douglas Head Coach Dean Florio. “It’s not a district game, not a playoff game, but state champs, a really good team, obviously you saw the emotion in the kids.”

Flanagan came into the game the more battle tested of the two teams. The Falcons have played some tough competition early on, and have come out of each of their first six games with victories. Feeling the pressure of a tight game late for the first time this year, Flanagan finally cracked.

The Falcons started quickly in the second inning when Danny Zardon singled and Andres Sanchez walked. After a fly out to center, Robert Collin drove in the game’s first run with a single. Alfredo Lozada came up and hit a sacrifice fly, and Flanagan led 2-0.

Falcons starter Mike Melendez has not needed much offensive help when he has been on the mound this season, and it appeared he again was on his way to a masterpiece. Through the first four innings, Melendez only gave up two hits, while striking out five.

In the fifth, a one out single, followed by a couple of wild pitches, and an error, led to the Eagles first run of the day. In the sixth, Douglas tied the game on a hit batter, a walk, and a single by Alec Dowell. Melendez proceeded to walk Chris Pannell to load the bases, but worked out of the jam when he got Evan Leyva to fly out to left.

The top of the seventh was a quick one for eventual winning pitcher Johnny Valek. The Eagles pitcher retired the side in order, setting the stage for the exciting win.

Luis Silverio led off the seventh with a single to center, and advanced to second on center fielder Lozada’s error. Louis Silverio was hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Danny Payton attempted to sacrifice the runners to third, and ended up with a base hit when a state of confusion came over the Falcons infield. Melendez closed the sloppy inning and the game by hitting Brandon Raaf, bringing in the winning run.

The Eagles showed heart in coming back, and Luis Silverio expressed what the mindset was for Douglas after they fell behind early.

“Usually other high school teams, if their opponent scores early, they think, ‘oh, we’re done’, and a selfish team goes down,” said Silverio. “We stay up throughout the game and we believe we’re gonna win, and today, it just happened.”

The Falcons showed that even the best of teams can be beat when the mental game is off, and Head Coach Ray Evans hopes this loss shows his team that they are not invincible.

“Not executing, not hitting,” said Evans, when asked what the difference was in the game on Friday. “Maybe we didn’t come to play today. Maybe we thought we were a little bit better than we were. Maybe this was the best thing that could have happened to us to get us back on track.”

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