Fort Lauderdale Reaches Tournament Final With 4-1 Win Over Host Monarch

The Fort Lauderdale Flying L’s were not very gracious guests of Monarch’s on Monday afternoon. With a tournament finals appearance at stake, the Flying L’s worked some magic in the sixth inning en route to a 4-1 win over the Knights.

For five innings, the story of the game was Monarch starting pitcher David Webb. Just a year removed from surgery, Webb had a perfect game going into the sixth inning. The Knights pushed across a run in the fourth on a double by Michael stokes. After a passed ball moved Stokes to third, Kenny Finley hit an RBI single.

That run looked like it was going to be enough for Webb, but the Fort Lauderdale offense, stifled much of the day, finally came alive in the bottom of the sixth. Alex De La Cruz led off the inning with a ground ball that was bobbled by Monarch’s second baseman. The error broke up the perfect game, and more importantly, put the tying run on base for the Flying L’s.

Alex Honner laid down what was intended to be a sacrifice bunt, but Webb had trouble picking the ball up and his throw to first was late. Suddenly Fort Lauderdale had runners on first and second with nobody out. Lead-off hitter Kris Chatman was hit by a pitch, and setting the stage for the Flying L’s heroics.

Shelby Geisler singled to tie the score, and Stetson McCollum’s two-RBI single gave Fort Lauderdale a lead they would not relinquish. Winning pitcher Logan White went the distance for the Flying L’s, scattering six hits and striking out five. For White, reaching the championship game was a team effort.

“Throw strikes, get the defense ground balls, and get through the game,” was White’s response to his game plan on the mound coming in against Monarch. As for his team finally breaking through in the sixth, White had this to say, “I’m very proud of my team. I just tried to keep them in the game as long as possible, and I did my job, and they came through with theirs.”

Fort Lauderdale will move on to play Pine Crest in the championship game on Wednesday at Monarch. For a team that is often overshadowed by some of the private schools in District 15-4A, this tournament gave the Flying L’s a chance to shine, and they have taken full advantage of the opportunity.

“I was real pleased, we battled well,” said Fort Lauderdale Head Coach Terry Portice of the winning performance. “The last two weeks we really played some good baseball. This is big for us….these kids deserve this. They work hard, they bust their hump every day, and it’s really nice to see them get an opportunity to be in the championship game.”

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