Flying L’s Win First District Title In 10 Years

It took 10 years, but veteran Fort Lauderdale Manager Terry Portice is finally a district champion again.

His Flying L’s rode the arm of senior Matt Freeman to a 1-0 win over Monarch on Thursday night, clinching the 4A-14 title on their home field.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” said Portice, who is in his 18th year at Fort Lauderdale. “The kids work hard every day, and it’s nice to see them rewarded.”

Freeman pitched every inning of every district game for his team this season, and there was no doubt he would be the guy on the mound for this biggest game at Fort Lauderdale in a decade.

“Freeman is a bulldog,” Portice said. “He’s going to pound the strike zone and do what it takes.”

Freeman pitched a five-hit shutout, striking out six and walking six. He also got out of bases-loaded jams on two occasions.

“I had everything working tonight,” said Freeman. “The focus was there.”

Matching Freeman almost pitch-for-pitch all night was Knights starter Andrew Rohloff, who held the Flying L’s (12-9-1) to just one run on five hits. He struck out eight and walked just a single batter.

The winning run came in the fifth inning. Matt Sweetapple was hit by a pitch and then moved over to second thanks to a Freeman sacrifice bunt. A Corey Stern single through the right side looked like it would be enough to bring Sweetapple home, but he was held up at third with just one out, much to the disappointment of the vociferous crowd in royal blue. They wouldn’t be mad for long, however, as next batter Lucas Berken brought Sweetapple home on a groundout to the right side.

While Freeman did pitch very effectively, the Knights (15-7) had plenty of chances to get on the board throughout the contest. In the second inning, Nick Alonzo led off with a single, and then a two-out hit by Nick Ritornato and a walk to Matt Rumpf loaded the bases. All three runners would be left stranded though.

Monarch loaded the bases again in the fifth thanks to a walk, an error and an intentional walk, but Freeman did enough to escape another jam. The Knights also left two on in the third.

“I knew it was going to come down to execution, and we just didn’t execute on offense,” said Monarch coach Joe Franco. “We played with a lot of heart and fire, but we just didn’t get it done. Our season still exists though. A lot of teams will be watching baseball next week.”

The only Knights with multiple hits were Alonzo and Ritornato, while Hassan Westbrook and Justin Fucci both had two hits each for the Flying L’s.

In Wednesday’s regional quarterfinals, Fort Lauderdale will host William T. Dwyer and could well face the Panthers ace, hard-throwing left-hander Thomas Szapucki, who is committed to Florida and is consistently listed as one of the country’s top pitching prospects.

Meanwhile, Monarch will travel to Delray Beach to face Atlantic, who beat powerhouses Dwyer and West Boca to win the 4A-13 title as a number four seed.

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