Western wiggles out of bases-loaded jam to defeat Flanagan in BCAA tournament

Brandon Lopez records improbable seventh-inning save

PEMBROKE PINES, FLORIDA – Close games are expected when the Western Wildcats face their district rivals, the Flanagan Falcons.

It was more of the same on Thursday night as Western wiggled out of a seventh-inning jam to defeat Flanagan, 2-0, in the Broward County Athletic Association (BCAA) baseball tournament.

Western claimed the consolation contest behind the late-inning heroics of reliever, Brandon Lopez, who escaped a bases-loaded, no-out situation on the road in the seventh inning.

Western reliever Brandon Lopez inherited the bases loaded and no outs in the 7th inning and got out of the jam to close out a 2-0 victory / Photo by Joe Frisaro

“It was a gritty win,” Western coach Onel Garcia said. “A 2-0 game is not very comfortable. It being the third game of the week, and we were kind of running on fumes at little bit on the mound. But we gritted it out and we got the W.”

Western went 2-1 in the week, rebounding with a pair of wins after losing, 5-2, to West Broward. The Wildcats followed that up by shutting out Coral Springs Charter, 6-0.

“We had a disappointing loss in the first game,” Garcia said. “But these last two games, throwing two shutouts, puts us in a pretty good spot, going 2-1 in the first week. We wanted to do better than that, but we’ll take 2-1 after the first loss.”

Flanagan, meanwhile, went 1-2. In both of the Falcons’ losses, they were shutout. They lost 10-0 to St. Thomas Aquinas in the first game, and rebounded to beat, Cardinal Gibbons, 6-4.

On Thursday, there was plenty of drama, even though scoring was scarce.

“There was a lot of intensity,” Flanagan coach Noel Figueroa said. “I just think that the main thing that we’re taking away from it is a lot of these guys need to jump on some fastballs, and swing, instead of taking so many pitches. That was the message we had [postgame]. The defense didn’t play bad. The pitching was exceptional.”

In the BCAA finals on Friday, Stoneman Douglas will face Taravella on Friday at Nova High School.

Western and Flanagan are Class 7A-District 14 rivals.

A year ago, Western won the district, and beat Flanagan twice, each time by one run.

The key moments in the game are as follows:

· Fantastic finish for Lopez: Since each team squandered opportunities all night, the game fittingly was decided by a pitcher slamming the door with the bases full.

Western used three pitchers in the bottom of the seventh. Luis Lorenzo, who pitched the sixth inning, issued two straight walks to Caden Corzo and Diego Oliveri to open the seventh, prompting a pitching change.

Gabriel Maya walked Bruno Schafer, the only batter he faced, to fill the bases. Lopez was brought in to face the heart of the order.

The sophomore responded by retiring Daniel Perez and Brayden Allison on infield pop ups.

“I didn’t even think I was going to pitch today,” Lopez said. “I went in there, and you have a job to do. It’s really a hard thing to do. The adrenaline was pumping through me. Once we got that first out, it got my confidence up. I just got through it.”

Lopez sealed the save by striking out Joey Roberts, who threw four innings of relief for Flanagan.

“I had a fourth [reliever] ready,” Garcia said. “We can’t mess around. I don’t like walks. They all know it. We have to be a strike throwing team. I don’t have too much patience for guys who don’t throw strikes.”

· Flanagan’s offensive frustrations: Stranding runners was a problem all night for the Falcons.

Along with being unable to score in the seventh inning, Flanagan had the bases full in the fifth inning with one out, but couldn’t score of Western’s Jason Braverman.

The third out came on a pitch that went to the backstop, but the runner was tossed out trying to score from third.

“We’ve got to do a better job of hitting,” Figueroa said. “I recall having runners on every inning, from the fourth inning on. We couldn’t get a two-out hit. With runners in scoring position, we couldn’t get them in. We just didn’t do our jobs with the bats. Our bats really struggled.”

In the fourth inning, Flanagan had runners on first-and-second with one out. Miguel Colmenares had a single in the inning. But again, the Falcons couldn’t cash in.

· Western scratches out two runs: The only run the Wildcats really needed came in the second inning. Bryce Huffman doubled and advanced to third on Cristian Alvarez’s single. Andrew Holt lifted a sacrifice fly off Richard Bello, who gave up one run in three innings for Flanagan.

Western manufactured an insurance run in the fourth inning. Holt doubled off Roberts and Brandon Lorenzo collected an RBI single.

Like Flanagan, Western repeatedly missed chances.

The Wildcats left runners on second and third in the second inning after Brandon Ortega doubled. In the third innings, Western loaded the bases but were turned away.

“I think they’re trying to do too much,” Garcia said. “The swings are long. They all want to hit home runs. They’re swinging at bad pitches. They’ve got to start settling down and becoming better hitters first. You’ve got to be a better hitter first, and then develop the power.”

· Strong start for Western’s Beyra: Sophomore right-hander Zach Beyra stepped up during a week Western’s pitching was stretched.

Beyra threw four scoreless innings, and he ended his outing with two strikeouts.

“He gave us four innings,” Garcia said. “The kid has a great arm. He’s only a sophomore, and he’s up to 90. He throws strikes. His curveball is getting better, and he has a pretty good changeup. That’s a good mix. That’s good because we need a little more pitching. That’s going to be good. I’m glad he did well tonight.”