Presno’s Big Day Helps Flanagan Edge Coral Glades 4-3

Even though he was batting at the bottom of the lineup, Flanagan Manager Ray Evans credited Miguel Presno for having the best approach out of all the guys in their dugout on Friday night.

The Falcons starting catcher accounted for the winning run in a tight ball game befitting May baseball, as Flanagan edged Coral Glades 4-3 Friday night in the completion of a Class 8A regional playoff at Flanagan High.

The game had originally begun Thursday, but was suspended in the middle of the second inning due to the persistent rainstorms that have wrecked havoc on games across South Florida all week long.

Flanagan will now host Douglas in an 8A regional semifinal on Tuesday night.

The Falcons (20-5) came back onto the field with a 3-0 lead thanks to a big opening inning a day prior, as Daniel Oliveri had an RBI single and Kharlin Sued added a two-RBI double to stake the hosts with a comfy advantage.

But it was the offense that they were able to manufacture with their first swings on Friday that ultimately made the difference.

Just as he was every time he came to the plate, Presno was right in the middle of it.

Presno singled with one out in the bottom of the second inning, then Oscar Rodriguez advanced him to second on a fielder’s choice groundout and Eric Rivera singled to drive the runner home to pad their 3-0 lead with the most important run of the day.

After drawing a walk his second time around the order, Evans and his coaches felt he had simply played too well to be lifted for a pinch-hitter when he came back to the plate in the sixth inning with the team looking to add a valuable insurance run.

“He goes and gets another hit there and makes us coaches look like we know what we’re doing,” said Evans, after Presno shortened his swing and popped a two-out single into shallow right field. “He has struggled all year, but he had it tonight.”

But after opening with a big first inning, overall the Falcons were able to muster very little offense on Friday.

“It was a bad job offensively, where we had guys taking long swings instead of shortening it up and trying to put the ball in play,” Evans said. “Obviously that was a good thing to score there because if we don’t get that fourth man across then we don’t get it done. We’ve got to do a lot better job though; we can’t sit back and assume the game is over.”

After staking a lead for the team’s ace and Thursday starter, Gentry Fortuno, it is almost understandable how the team could become so complacently confident so early on. The sophomore ace has yet to lose a high school game in his career, and had opened Flanagan’s home playoff game a day earlier with two scoreless innings.

But returning to the field Friday the team had opted to turn the ball over to their other ace in right-hander Alex Sarmiento, who earned the victory to improve to 7-1 on the season.

Sarmiento was efficient in his three innings of work, limiting the damage while keeping his team in the lead and in control.

But after Thomas Santarcangelo reached base on a throwing error that put him on second base leading off the sixth, and then advanced to third on a wild pitch, the Falcons made a move to their bullpen.

Needing at least a run to keep their season alive, the Jaguars (13-9) had now fought to put that run just ninety feet from home plate.

With no outs in the inning, it seemed as if nothing could stop Coral Glades from tying things up.

Except the Falcons had the one difference-maker capable of anchoring Santarcangelo to that third base bag, as the team trotted Fortuno back onto the mound to re-enter the contest in his first relief appearance of the season.

“When you have a shutdown ace like Gentry, it’s survive and advance. That was our mentality over here and that was their mentality over there,” Jaguars Manager Jorge Miranda said. “When you have a horse like that, he’s going to win a lot of ball games for you. That was the difference between getting that guy in from third base to him striking out the side.”

Where even a hard-hit ball deep enough into the outfield could be enough to knot things up, the Jaguars’ next three batters found out what so many other hitters this season have learned in that Fortuno is that tough to hit.

The right-handed hurler struck out the side swinging to erase the threat.

In closing down the side in order in the seventh to earn his second career save, Fortuno also completed perhaps the rarest of baseball feats as he came on in relief to close out a game in which he had started.

“It’s a different thing where we had to re-enter Fortuno. It’s not something that we really wanted to have to do, but I know of all people in there I put my check on that kid to come in here and do what he has to do,” Evans said. “He’s a bulldog and he’s a leader. He’s something special and he’s going to put this team on his back whenever he has to get the job done.”

Going up against an ace like that, as well as coming on the road to face a home team that is a three-time state champion, the Jaguars knew it was going to be a tall order for them to pull off the upset. Then the team fell into a hole in the first frame, and their starting ace, Jacob Melton, had his availability disrupted by the rainout.

Yet despite all of these circumstances they still found themselves so close to pulling off what would have been the biggest upset in program history.

“I’m just very proud of my guys,” said Miranda. “To come back was a testament to their effort and their heart, and the hard work they put in. They put up a valiant fight. I tip my cap to Flanagan; they made their plays and we made our plays. It was probably one of the better baseball games I’ve been around, but that’s playoff baseball and that’s the way you expect every game.”

Down 4-0, Coral Glades battled back to make things interesting in the fourth inning.

Thomas Santarcangelo was hit by a pitch and Tyler Steiner followed by slicing a single past a diving Andres Rios. Zach Thompson then put the Jaguars on the board when he chopped one past third base to bring in Santarcangelo. Steiner then also came in after Thompson broke for second and prompted a throw that the fielder bobbled to allow the run to score.

Oliver Levine lifted a shot to deep left field for an RBI double that easily scored Thompson to pull Coral Glades within a run.

As he has been all season long, Santarcangelo served as the spark plug that ignited the offense by getting on base.

It is not often that a team’s second baseman bats in the cleanup spot in the order, but for Miranda and his team these sorts of differences are a major factor for their success this year as they have excelled in using guys in their best roles.

“We’re very unconventional; our philosophy is we don’t want our four-hole guy striking out much,” explained Miranda. “Thomas gets on base a lot, and we’re not a power-hitting team so we want a guy who puts the ball in play and moves runners and scores runners. He’s done it all year for us. What I’m most proud of, is we converted him from a catcher in the fall of his junior year and now he will play college baseball at St. Joseph’s College, at second base.”

Although they were unable to get any closer, the Jaguars were able to stay in the fight thanks in large part to the great relief pitching from Christian Dominguez.

The right-hander tossed three scoreless innings in relief of Melton to keep the team’s chances alive, throwing 27 of his 44 pitches for strikes and playing to the team’s strong defense.

Although this means the end of the 2013 season for the Jaguars, Miranda could feel nothing short of pride in the group he’s had this year.

“The one thing that this group has that no one can take away is that this 2013 class is the first to make it to the regionals,” Miranda said. “They are the ones who cemented their legacy, and hopefully started a trend at Coral Glades. Our program is starting to develop into what we hope soon will be something like what Coach Evans has at Flanagan. They showed a lot of heart today. We played a great team and the results are what they are. But we can’t complain, and we are getting on the bus now with our heads high because we did a great job on the field today.”

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