Flanagan Falcons beats Douglas Eagles
Pembroke Pines � Flanagan scored six runs and sent 10 batters to the plate in the third inning on their way to a 12-4 victory over visiting Douglas in its Class 6A regional semifinal on Friday. Eric McCans highlighted the inning with a double to score three runs.
McCans finished 3 for 3 and reached base four times and pitchers D.J. Swatscheno and Glenn Witkowski did their share of damage at the plate by collecting a combined five RBI in the seventh spot of the lineup.
For Douglas, catcher Shaun Ochinko went 2 for 4 with two RBI.
The Eagles (26-3) drew three walks to start the game and all came around to score, but they could not hold the lead as the Falcons (22-6) rallied to score twice in the second before taking the lead for good in the third.
Flanagan advances to play Cypress Bay in a regional final on Tuesday.
CYPRESS BAY 2, PLANTATION 0: Defending 6A state champion Cypress Bay survived a scare as it jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held off host Plantation in a regional semifinal.
Gabe Gonzalez (5-2) tossed five solid innings and allowed just one run as the Lightning (23-8) advanced to a Tuesday's regional final against rival Flanagan. Alec Hernandez pitched the final two hitless innings and struck out two for his second save of the season.
The Lightning scored in the second on an RBI double by Kevin Stabile, who knocked in Mitch Houck, who reached on an error. Cypress Bay added a run in the third when Kennedy Kinsell led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on a sacrifice fly by Josh Chester.
The Colonels (21-8) cut the lead to 2-1 on an RBI single by Jon Massey to score Eric Abend in the fourth. Plantation starter Jordan Fisher (5-5) scattered seven hits and allowed just one earned run while striking out two and hitting two batters.
"We swung the bat early and Gonzalez really battled," said Cypress Bay coach Pete Colabella, whose team is 1-2 against Flanagan this season.
PALM BEACH GARDENS 6, KISSIMMEE OSCEOLA 1: Dan Houston pitched a one-hitter and drove in the winning run to lead the Gators in their 6A semifinal.
Chris Volstad and Matt Sheely hit home runs for the Gators (23-6), who will play at Palm Beach Central (21-8) Tuesday in the regional finals.
Houston struck out the side in the first and seventh innings for a total of 10 strikeouts. He walked four. The only hit off him was an RBI single by B.J. Zimmerman in the third inning.
Zimmerman's hit tied the score and it stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth.
Sheely opened the inning with a single and then stole second and third bases.
Volstad was walked intentionally with two out and Houston lined a single to left field, driving in Sheely with the go-ahead run. Volstad scored later in the inning on a wild pitch.
"[Osceola pitcher Dustin Jeansonne] was throwing me a lot of off-speed stuff, so I started looking for it. He threw me an off-speed slider," Houston said.
The Gators added three insurance runs in the sixth on a one-out solo home run by Sheely and a long two-out, two-run home run by Volstad.
Sheely went 2 for 4 with two runs scored, an RBI and two stolen bases, and Volstad 2 for 2 with two walks, two runs scored and two RBI.
The Gators had opportunities for rallies in the first two innings, but both innings were shortened by base-running mistakes.
McCans finished 3 for 3 and reached base four times and pitchers D.J. Swatscheno and Glenn Witkowski did their share of damage at the plate by collecting a combined five RBI in the seventh spot of the lineup.
For Douglas, catcher Shaun Ochinko went 2 for 4 with two RBI.
The Eagles (26-3) drew three walks to start the game and all came around to score, but they could not hold the lead as the Falcons (22-6) rallied to score twice in the second before taking the lead for good in the third.
Flanagan advances to play Cypress Bay in a regional final on Tuesday.
CYPRESS BAY 2, PLANTATION 0: Defending 6A state champion Cypress Bay survived a scare as it jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held off host Plantation in a regional semifinal.
Gabe Gonzalez (5-2) tossed five solid innings and allowed just one run as the Lightning (23-8) advanced to a Tuesday's regional final against rival Flanagan. Alec Hernandez pitched the final two hitless innings and struck out two for his second save of the season.
The Lightning scored in the second on an RBI double by Kevin Stabile, who knocked in Mitch Houck, who reached on an error. Cypress Bay added a run in the third when Kennedy Kinsell led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on a sacrifice fly by Josh Chester.
The Colonels (21-8) cut the lead to 2-1 on an RBI single by Jon Massey to score Eric Abend in the fourth. Plantation starter Jordan Fisher (5-5) scattered seven hits and allowed just one earned run while striking out two and hitting two batters.
"We swung the bat early and Gonzalez really battled," said Cypress Bay coach Pete Colabella, whose team is 1-2 against Flanagan this season.
PALM BEACH GARDENS 6, KISSIMMEE OSCEOLA 1: Dan Houston pitched a one-hitter and drove in the winning run to lead the Gators in their 6A semifinal.
Chris Volstad and Matt Sheely hit home runs for the Gators (23-6), who will play at Palm Beach Central (21-8) Tuesday in the regional finals.
Houston struck out the side in the first and seventh innings for a total of 10 strikeouts. He walked four. The only hit off him was an RBI single by B.J. Zimmerman in the third inning.
Zimmerman's hit tied the score and it stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth.
Sheely opened the inning with a single and then stole second and third bases.
Volstad was walked intentionally with two out and Houston lined a single to left field, driving in Sheely with the go-ahead run. Volstad scored later in the inning on a wild pitch.
"[Osceola pitcher Dustin Jeansonne] was throwing me a lot of off-speed stuff, so I started looking for it. He threw me an off-speed slider," Houston said.
The Gators added three insurance runs in the sixth on a one-out solo home run by Sheely and a long two-out, two-run home run by Volstad.
Sheely went 2 for 4 with two runs scored, an RBI and two stolen bases, and Volstad 2 for 2 with two walks, two runs scored and two RBI.
The Gators had opportunities for rallies in the first two innings, but both innings were shortened by base-running mistakes.