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Falcon baseball closes book on 2022 season

Posted 5/12/22

The Fountain Hills High School baseball season concluded after the Falcons nearly came back and beat Tanque Verde after being down 6-0 in the playoffs. The Falcons lost 7-5 in the first round, but …

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Falcon baseball closes book on 2022 season

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The Fountain Hills High School baseball season concluded after the Falcons nearly came back and beat Tanque Verde after being down 6-0 in the playoffs. The Falcons lost 7-5 in the first round, but they laid the groundwork this season for a competitive team that will stay together for the next few years.

After losing nine seniors last year, the Falcons only had two true starting returners in seniors Zack Langer and Andy Lloyd, and Lloyd only played nine games this season. A few first-year upperclassmen like senior Brogan Hardison and junior Devyn Hernandez helped steady the Falcons, but the team still relied on underclassmen throughout the season.

Hardison was homeschooled last year and pitched and played outfield this season. Hardison pitched 13.2 innings in nine appearances, and he threw 11 strikeouts en route to a 3.07 earned run average.

Head coach Bob Langer was impressed his squad made playoffs with an 11-14 record. The Falcons faced three top-10 teams in their final five games, and playing them close helped the Falcons get in.

Langer said the Falcons used a flex roster from the beginning to the end of the season, and that the rosters were wide open for players to step up. Some underclassmen played a mix of varsity and JV games, and others became varsity starters.

The Falcons had seven players receive all-region accolades at the end of the season, and five of them were first-year varsity players.

“Where the younger kids started and where they finished was pretty remarkable, how much better they got,” Langer said. “Sometimes it showed up on the field and sometimes it didn’t. They did a good job and they worked hard in practice, and we definitely have something to build off from this year.”

Senior Zack Langer and sophomore Ty Langer were both named to the 3A North Central all-region first team. Zack had 28 hits, 17 RBIs, five doubles and one home run all while maintaining a .431 batting average. Ty had team highs in doubles with eight, triples with six, and home runs with four, and he had 37 hits and 36 RBIs on a .462 batting average.

Ty is just the third Falcon and first underclassman to hit more than three home runs in a season since the 2014-15 season, and he hit three of them in one week. Ty played in 17 of the 19 games last season and had eight hits and five RBIs on a .250 batting average.

Sophomores David Goldapper and Ty Flynn were named to the all-region second team. Flynn was the Falcons’ catcher but received the honor as a position player. Flynn only had one hit in two games last season, but he had the third highest batting average on the team with .308 this season. Flynn ended with 20 hits, 18 RBIs and he tied Ty Langer with eight doubles.

According to Goldapper, he pitched 12 straight balls at some point near the end of his freshman season. He was coming off a hamstring injury and had the speed he wanted, but not the accuracy. This season, Goldapper had both accuracy and speed.

Goldapper threw 48 strikeouts, more than any other Falcon, and had a 6.19 ERA in 26 innings. After not playing much last year, Goldapper was excited to play with so many of his classmates, and he said, “every single strikeout was an accomplishment,” this season.

“We gained a lot of experience on the mound,” Bob Langer said. “Most of our pitchers, besides Brogan and Aidan [Cronican], were sophomores.”

Cronican was the only freshman pitcher, and his number was called in a couple of big moments. Cronican did not receive all-region accolades, but he threw 27 strikeouts and had a 4.50 ERA in 23 innings.

Freshmen Lucas Grieco and Cooper Loyet received honorable mentions for region awards, as did sophomore Nathan Hughes. Grieco and Loyet became infield starters at third base and second base respectively, and Hughes pitched and played in the outfield.

Grieco had 13 hits, five RBIs and three doubles on a .236 batting average. Defensively, his fielding percentage was .829. Loyet only had seven hits and seven RBIs on .140 hitting, but he had a .929 fielding percentage and led the Falcons with five defensive double plays.

Hughes pitched 33 innings, second only to sophomore Lucas Williams, and Hughes threw 42 strikeouts and had a 7.64 ERA. Hughes also batted more than any other pitcher and had 14 hits and six RBIs with a .246 batting average.

There were two juniors that played more than 15 games this season, Hernandez and Zack Mendello. Hernandez had 15 hits and 17 RBIs on a .268 batting average, and Mendello added 14 hits and 11 RBIS on a .298 average.

The Falcons will lose Langer, Hardison and Lloyd to graduation, but with six sophomores moving up, they could have at least eight underclassmen return for next season. Langer said he’s already been in contact with three incoming transfer students that should help add to the roster as well.

The Falcons showed signs of growth during the season and grit for challenging players older and bigger than they are. The Falcons will have more opportunities to grow in club leagues over the summer and school practices in the Fall, and next spring they’ll start the process over again.