Flanagan Falls 5-3 To South Dade In 8A Regional Final
Gentry Fortuno got the start and took the loss for Flanagan.
It was a dejected feeling that hurt worse than no other. As the Flanagan baseball team prepared to say their final goodbyes and leave the field for the last time this season, Manager Ray Evans admitted that it was a pain unlike any other they had ever felt before.
In a tough battle with South Dade, the final result was a 5-3 defeat that left the Falcons reeling as their season came to a close in the 8A regional championship. The Buccaneers (21-6) came back from a two-run deficit to claim the victory and shock the Falcons on their home turf.
Flanagan (24-2) had not lost on their field since falling to Jupiter at the same point in the season a year ago.
“You wait 365 days, and God there was a lot of hard work to get back to this point, and then you don’t win it,” said Evans. “This is four years in a row for us that we’ve watched somebody else pile up on our field, and three of them have been regional finals. It’s just not a good feeling. Twice we thought we had the game won, with Park Vista in 2011 and then today. Jupiter we had no shot. It’s just not a good feeling at all right now.”
Trailing by a run in the top of the sixth, Bucs star player Erik Manoah connected for a two-run home run that proved to be the difference. Erik drove a 1-2 offering from Falcons ace Gentry Fortuno over the center field fence, driving in Artie Paula before touching the plate with the deciding run. South Dade added an unearned run later in the inning, as Sergio Lopez hit a sacrifice flyout to deep center to push across Jahzeel Clarit.
“One of the kids said it was like getting stabbed in the gut last year when we lost, and this year it’s like getting stabbed in the heart,” said Evans. “This one hurt more than last year. We were in this game, we felt that we had it under control, we had our horse on the hill, and we had a lead late. You’ve got to give it to them; Manoah’s a helluva of pitcher and he’s a helluva hitter. He went and got a 1-2 change-up that sat up and he was able to hit it well. A lot of guys, maybe they roll over, maybe they get underneath it and pop it up. But he was able to stay behind it and take one out and put them up. The nail in the coffin was when we make an error and put a guy on third base, and then we get the sac-fly. A one-run game is a lot different then a two-run game.”
Falcons Manager Ray Evans celebrates with Ryan Dodge, following Dodge’s two-run home run in the fourth inning.
After the Bucs took an early lead in the top of the first, Flanagan rallied back to even the score in the bottom of the third. Andres Rios bounced a chopper over the second baseman and then stole second to get into scoring position. David Sarmiento wasted no time in capitalizing, as he rolled an RBI single through the left side to push Rios across the plate to make it 1-1.
The next inning the Falcons took their only lead of the contest. Oscar Rodriguez drew a leadoff walk and Ryan Dodge jumped on a 3-1 pitch to drive it over the centerfield fence for a two-run home run and a 3-1 advantage. With their ace on the mound and the lead in their favor, the Falcons looked in position to hold on for the victory.
But the Bucs simply wouldn’t be denied. Lopez cut the deficit in half by leading off the top of the fifth with a solo home run to left-center and Paula chopped a single over the third baseman with one out in the sixth to bring Erik Manoah to the plate for the pivotal moment in the game.
After taking back the lead, Erik replaced Danny Vaughan, who had come in to pitch to one batter in replacement of starter Jose Gorordo. Erik tossed two scoreless frames to close out the victory.
“They’re a good team and I think they’ve got an excellent shot at winning it all,” said Evans. “Manoah will be on the hill in the first round, and after that Gorordo showed he can pitch with the best of them. So I think they have a great shot of taking home a state title.”
After tipping his cap to the Bucs, Evans reminisced on the senior class the program will now say goodbye to. Nearly every starter on the team is among that group, and most have been with the club for the duration of their high school careers.
“We have ten seniors and this is not how they wanted to go out at all,” said Evans. “They worked so hard, they have great leadership and they paved the way. It was like a bunch of ducks and they spear-headed and everybody followed them. Now I lose all that leadership and I lose all that experience, and now we’ve got to see who is going to go ahead and take over that role for next year. It should be interesting to see what will happen from here to the beginning of next season.”
Miguel Presno slides into third with a triple in the fifth inning.
Evans spoke about how much time he has spent with his players, how they are like a family. Nearly an hour after the game ended, the seniors remained together in the outfield, none ready to walk off their field and say goodbye. Evans understood the sentiment, since even while realizing that they will all come back to visit he knows it will not be the same thing. The team was not ready to say goodbye, perhaps never will be.
“They don’t know what to do; they’re lost. They’ll be around and they’ll come back, but it’s not the same,” Evans said. “They grow on you and they become part of your surrogate family. I’m a surrogate dad to them. It gets to the point where you get really attached and when you won’t see them again it’s like that lost feeling. Last year we lost three and with other ones down the road, they come back all the time. You see all our alumni coming back this year, and we let down our fans a little bit too. But we’ve just got to get back to work and try to do this whole thing all over again to try and get back to this point next year or the year after and see if we can overcome this hump.”
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