Falcons recover, win Upper State championship
Class 3A Baseball Upper State Championship • May 9, 2008
By George Kaupp

A.C. Flora's Kevin O'Quinn gets a bases clearing double in the second game.

A.C. Flora had a chance to close out Blythewood in the first game played on Friday, May 9th. Win, and they would be in the state finals as the Upper State champions. Lose, and they would have to play a second game that evening to determine the champion. The Falcons lost the first, but rallied to win the second over the Bengals and claim the Upper State championship.

In the first game, Blythewood scored early against Falcon starter Evan Brown. A single sandwiched by two walks gave the Bengals the bases loaded with one out. After Brown struck out Caleb Brazell, Daniel Andreu singled sharply to right to knock in a run, and Zach Drafts walked to force in another. Brown settled down to strike out Will Ferrell, stranding three Bengal base runners - a trend that would prove costly later. After one inning, Blythewood led 2- 0.

Brown got into trouble again in the second, allowing hits to Michael Hanzlik and Richard Mounce, and walking Grayson Greiner before being lifted by Falcon head coach Andy Hallett. James Newman came in and retired the next two Bengals on two pitches, again stranding three base runners.

A.C. Flora's catcher Jay Wilson looks to snag a foul ball.

In the bottom of the second, Blythewood starter Will Smith allowed a walk and two singles to load the bases for the Falcons, but he got catcher Jay Wilson to hit into a fielder's choice to keep Flora scoreless. The Falcons left the bases loaded again in the third when Smith got Adger Rice to fly out to right.

The Falcons finally broke through in the fourth, with Robert Gibbes singling in Aaron Poole with two outs. Then they tied it in the fifth when Rice grounded out to first, driving in Kevin O'Quinn. With a man on second, Poole singled to center, but Mounce threw a laser in to Greiner, who tagged Duy Phan as he tried to score.

Blythewood struck back in the sixth, scoring twice. Mounce doubled to deep left off a tiring Newman, who was then replaced by Will Freeman. After two walks and a strikeout, Brazell came up with the bases loaded and drilled Freeman's first pitch deep to left field, high off the wall. Two runners scored, but Dwayne Addy was thrown out at third by Gibbes, who hustled the ball in when he noticed that Addy had not gotten a great jump off first.

Photos by Jim Marczesky Safe??? A.C. Flora's Leland Shealy looks for the call as Blythewood's Zach Drafts dives into second base.

A. C. Flora got one back in the bottom of the sixth when, with two out and runners on second and third, Newman hit a grounder that eluded third baseman Drafts for an error. O'Quinn then hit a sharp grounder that was knocked down by Andreu, who threw home to Greiner, nailing Wilson at the plate to keep Blythewood ahead, 4- 3. Smith then got the Falcons out in the bottom of the seventh, giving the Bengals the win they needed to stay alive.

The second game started off with a bang, as Flora scored twice off Bengal starter Hanzlik, who was starting because number one starter Mounce had pitched on Wednesday to get Blythewood into the championship. Newman doubled to deep center, driving in one, and O'Quinn singled to right, knocking in the second. But Hanzlik struck out the next two, stemming the tide. Blythewood then jumped on Falcon starter Alex Mitchell for three runs, all unearned. Brazell hit a grounder to Leland Shealy that he misplayed into a run; Andreu hit one to first baseman Newman, who booted it for an error and another run; and Drafts singled to right to bring in the third. However, Blythewood left the bases loaded again.

Flora struck back with two in the second on a home run by Gibbes. Blythewood left the bases loaded after loading them with nobody out. Mitchell struck out Addy and Brazell, and got Andreu to ground out to second. Then, the Bengals left the bases loaded again in the third, with Mitchell inducing popups by Ross Kistler and Greiner to end the inning.

Then the floodgates opened. The Falcons scored six runs in the fourth, all charged to Hanzlik. With one out, Shealy and Wilson each singled to left, and after a groundout by Gibbes, Freeman was intentionally walked to load the bases. With a 2- 2 count, Hanzlik tried to throw a curve inside, but instead hit Newman, driving in Shealy. O'Quinn followed with a bases- clearing double on a full count pitch. Phan finished off Hanzlik by singling in O'Quinn and going to third on a fielding error by Addy. Rice completed the scoring by singling in Phan off new pitcher Drafts.

Flora scored again in the fifth when Wilson doubled and Newman doubled him in two batters later. Newman was thrown out trying to score on an O'Quinn single, the third of four runners thrown out at home by the Bengals on the evening. Blythewood scored one in the sixth on a bases- loaded groundout by Evan Lanford, but the Falcons got the run back on a bases- loaded walk by Rice in the seventh. Joseph O'Steen, who had relieved Mitchell in the fifth, struck out Brazell to end the game with Flora winning, 12- 4.

Blythewood left 29 runners on in the two games, including 16 in the nightcap. Flora did not fare much better, leaving a total of 22 runners on in the two games. The Falcons move on the play Lower State champion Brookland- Cayce, who defeated Midland Valley in the second of their two games on Friday as well.