Eagles Come From Four Down to Clip Flying L’s, 6-4

Never give up.

That’s one of the many messages learned by the Eagles in their come-from-behind, 6-4 win over the Flying L’s on Tuesday night in the 2012 HSBN Fall Classic.

“In the past we would lower our heads and let the early deficit hurt us,” Eagles manager Todd Fitz-Gerald. “Tonight we fought back and didn’t let an early deficit deplete us.”

The Flying L’s got off to a soaring start in the first, scoring four runs on four hits. Brandon Rodriguez singled to center on the second pitch of the game. After a sacrifice bunt moved him to second base, Brad Smith doubled him home on a line drive in the left center-field gap. The next batter, Matt Freeman, reached on a fielder’s choice, placing runners on the corners with one out. Kenny Miggins cashed in for the Flying L’s with an RBI double to push the lead to 2-0.

With runners on second and third with one out, Eagles southpaw Derek Jacobs induced a lineout and lazy flyout to end the frame. However, the center fielder dropped the inning-ending flyout, which pushed across two more runs for the Flying L’s.

The Eagles answered with the long ball as they homered in the third and fourth innings to cut the lead to one. Max Boling took a 1-0 offering over the left-field fence to cut the lead to 4-1 in the third, and Luis Silverio made up for his error in the first inning, as he blasted a 3-2 curveball over the left center-field fence for a two-run homer in the fourth.

“I felt like I let the team down in the first,” Silverio said about dropping the fly ball. “I knew I had to try and make it up, so it was great feeling hitting that homer.”

The Eagles continued their threat in the fourth, hitting two liners and drawing two walks before coach Terry Portice removed Smith, the starter. Flying L’s reliever Jason Jeffrey induced the inning-ending groundout to hold on to the one-run lead.

The Eagles’ offensive prowess showed in the next two frames as they scored one in the fifth and two in sixth to take a 6-4 lead.

The Eagles used two hits and a balk to push across a run in the fifth, and Boling added another hit to his total in the sixth as he smacked the first pitch of the inning for a leadoff double. He moved to third on a bunt single by Dominick DiCaprio.

After giving up runs early on, Jacobs settled down for the remainder of the game for the Eagles. The lefty tossed five innings, allowing four runs — two earned — and striking out two. He was in line for the victory as the bullpen took over in the sixth.

The Flying L’s took advantage with a leadoff single by Alec Bryant and hit batsmen to place runners on first and second with one out. Hunter Kay moved both runners with a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher. However, like they did most of the evening, the Flying L’s stranded both runners in scoring position with a popup and strikeout.

“We left a lot of players on base,” Portice said. “It was tough not to come up with the big hit, but it was the mental mistakes that were disappointing. It’s something we have to fix going forward.”

If going 3-for-4 at the dish wasn’t enough, Boling threw a perfect seventh to pick up the save.

“We have the big six at the top of the order,” said Boling about his current spot in the lineup. “Anytime I can contribute like I did tonight, is an added bonus to our team. We have a really deep squad here.”

Click here to view the photo gallery for this game.

Leave a comment using your facebook account!