Flanagan Falls Just Short Against Columbus

The Flanagan Falcons have made it to the regional final the past three seasons, but each time, their strong efforts have come up just a bit short. Despite a strong pitching performance from ace Gentry Fortuno, the Falcons fell just short against Columbus, losing 1-0 on Tuesday.

Incredibly strong pitching, a stingy defense and clutch hits when required are what brought Columbus to the Class 8A regional championship game, and that’s why the Explorers are headed to the state semifinals for the third time in five years. Chris Coipel fired a one-hitter, Danny Casals made two outstanding plays at shortstop and Alain Santana drove home the game’s only run as Columbus edged visiting Flanagan 1-0 in Tuesday night’s 8A regional final.

“We’re built on pitching and defense,” said Columbus Manager Joe Weber, whose club will take a 13-game winning streak and 25-5 record into the state semifinals May 20 against Park Vista at jetBlue Park in Fort Myers. “We play great defense, and we try to get a timely hit. We try to get a bunt down when we try. But we know that we’re built on pitching and defense. They’ve been great. They’ve been awesome.”

Coipel, an FIU recruit who entered the game with a 1.27 ERA, upped his record to 11-1 by tossing the team’s 10th shutout. The only offensive support he needed came in the fourth when Jackie Urbaez led off with a walk. He raced home ahead of the from the outfield on Santana’s second hit of the game, an opposite-field double to the left-center gap on a 1-2 pitch.

Flanagan had a few scoring chances with walks in the first and fourth, a hit-batsman in the second and its only hit of the night, Andy Epstein’s hard-hit single off an infielder’s glove in the third. But Flanagan’s runners never advanced past first base. Bunts didn’t pan out. Neither did attempted steals as Columbus catcher Nick Rocha fired a bullet to second to nab Hunter Platts in the fourth.

Coipel recorded five strikeouts on a night his defense behind him was flawless.

“He knows he doesn’t have to be overpowering,” Casals said. “He trusts in us. He tells us every inning, ‘Help me out.’ We had his back throughout the whole game.”

Casals started his evening by volunteering to line the batters box after the umpires deemed it needed to be done. When that task was finished, the University of Maine signee shifted his attention to shortstop where he flashed his versatility with a pair of defensive gems on tough plays, one going to his right, the other to his left.

“The backhand was so special because it’s something you always practice,” Casals said about his backhanded stop on a grounder deep in the hole that robbed Platts of a hit in the second inning. “I threw it from the grass. It was pretty fun. It modeled my favorite player, Derek Jeter.”

In the sixth, Casals dove to his left to snag a line drive off the bat of Eric Rivera.

In his final outing for Flanagan, senior Gentry Fortuno delivered yet another strong performance on the mound. He yielded four hits, fanned five and walked none.

“He’s been like that for his whole career,” said Flanagan Manager Ray Evans, whose pitching staff had delivered a remarkable four straight shutouts entering the game. “He’s got 35 wins — 35-5 in his career. He pitched his heart out. He kept us in the game the whole time.”

Flanagan (21-6) saw its season end in a gut-wrenching fashion in the regional final for the second straight year. Coaches and players spent nearly 30 minutes together talking in right field after the game.

“This is so damn difficult to get here, and we’ve done it now 10 times in 12 years,” Evans said. “Four times we got to the states, and there were times when we just a play away, or a hit away.”

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