Flanagan Edges Jupiter In Cross-County Battle

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Flanagan’s Chris Rodriguez had waited an entire year for this opportunity.

The right-hander could not stop thinking about the last time he faced Jupiter at the end of last season, when the Warriors won handily on the Falcons’ home field to earn a berth in the state final four. Rodriguez suffered the loss in that lopsided result, and he had been hoping ever since that he would get another shot at them. He was sure his coach would schedule Jupiter this year, and he wanted the ball when that time came.

Falcons Manager Ray Evans did schedule the rematch, and he made it a point to let Rodriguez know that the final two innings of that meeting would belong to him regardless of the circumstances. As it turned out, the Falcons closer would have been called upon anyway, as his club held a slim 4-3 advantage when he got his turn on the hill to close things out.

Rodriguez seized the moment he had waited so long to reach, tossing two scoreless frames to hold Jupiter at bay and pick up the narrow victory Friday night at Flanagan High. Rodriguez picked up the save and helped preserve the win for their ace starter, Gentry Fortuno.

“We told Chris you’re a much better pitcher then you were last year,” said Evans. “He’s trimmed down, he’s in great shape and he throws strikes. He’s a legit closer at the high school level. He came in and just shut the door and they did not take good swings against him at all. He actually threw better than Gentry today. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind; we have all the confidence in the world in him. He has it in himself and he’s just a different kid this year. He wanted this and he knew what he had to do, and that’s a great save situation for him. To come in that game now, it’s only going to benefit us later in the long haul.”

Rodriguez did not allow the ball to leave the infield, as he attacked the Warriors lineup without malice by throwing 24 of his 36 pitches for strikes. The first pitch he threw was a blazing fastball that seemed to be traveling at the speed of light, pounding the catcher’s mitt with so much impact to perhaps extinguish the anguish that Rodriguez had been carrying in him ever since that tough loss last year.

“I wanted them and I told Coach that I wanted this game,” Rodriguez said. “There was all this emotion and adrenaline, because they ended our season last year and they lit me up in the first inning, and I couldn’t even get out of the first inning. The fact that Coach Evans had faith in me again to put me out there against the same team just shows me a lot, and it showed me a lot the pitcher that I am. I should be like that every game, and I should think that every team ended my season last year and go after them the same way.”

Rodriguez was not the only one to feel that emotional lift. When their closer toed the rubber to start the top of the sixth, the entire Falcons squad seemed to be lifted up with an extra charge and drive to finish out the victory. Second baseman Luis Barranco helped to highlight that desire by diving out and snaring an infield blooper to record the first out of the sixth, and first baseman Ryan Dodge did the same by tracking a foul ball along the fence for the first out of the seventh.

The plays helped to erase some of the memories of what had brought them to this point, when several uncharacteristic errors opened the door to allow the Warriors to battle back and pull within one run of tying things up. Flanagan (9-0) is a team that prides itself on its defense, but on Friday night the team was far from their sharpest in that department.

“We made more errors in this game than we have in the last five,” Evans admitted. “It put us in a situation where we had to throw more pitches and we gave up unearned runs. Gentry didn’t look sharp tonight at all; he wasn’t very good and he was still able to battle. He’s a kid who is going to battle and keep you in the game whether he’s great or not. He wasn’t great and he still did a great job and didn’t even allow an earned run.”

These miscues set in motion the opportunity for Rodriguez to come into action with the game on the line. It was a situation that is more to his liking, and he quickly found his comfort zone to get the job done.

“Last year that was my role was to come in and close it, but only for one inning,” said Rodriguez. “I was in big situations last year with Archbishop McCarthy and Spruce Creek in Orlando, and I shut them both down 1-2-3. Those are two teams that won state championships the year before, and it is just awesome that coach has the same faith in me as he did last year to come back and close it out.”

Playing behind an ace like Fortuno, the Falcons always have confidence when he is on the mound. But on this night the emotional lift that gave them the final drive they needed actually came when Rodriguez finally made his long-awaited appearance.

“I knew with Gentry we were going to be fine, but I knew Chris was going to come in and I was waiting for that,” said shortstop Andres Rios. “I was out there always talking to myself, but speaking to him, and I said he’s got this and he deserves this more than anyone because of what happened last year. He wanted this more than anyone in this dugout.”

It was Rios who delivered the decisive RBI, as he blooped a shallow pop that just stayed fair along the right field sideline to push across David Sarmiento in the bottom of the fourth. Karlin Sued got things started by lining a one-out single to right field, and then giving way to courtesy runner Alex Sarmiento. His brother David then bounced a 0-1 offering past third base for a double that put both runners into scoring position. Miguel Presno pushed Alex home on an infield groundout that also turned the lineup over to bring Rios back to the plate for the biggest hit of the night.

“It just felt great to be able to do something productive for the team so we could come out with the ‘W’,” said Rios. “We all wanted it badly; they ended our season last year and we we’re not going to let them beat us again.”

Rios was 2-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases, while both Sued and Alex Sarmiento were also 2-for-3.

Presno also played a big part in the victory, delivering an RBI double in the bottom of the second inning to put Flanagan up 2-0. Eric Rivera led off the second with a walk, and quickly advanced to third on a double off the bat of Kevin Mora, before scoring on a passed ball. With the defense drawn in against him, Presno stroked the first pitch he saw into left field to drive Rivera home.

The clutch hitting helped Flanagan to overcome their defensive miscues, but those mistakes were still the main thing Evans was concerned with following the victory.

“We have to do a better job defensively,” the Falcons skipper said. “We have to go back to the drawing board and work them hard and let them know that they did not play well defensively. We are better than that, and defense wins championships, so we have to do a better job.”

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