- May 2, 2024
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FPC players celebrate with the Five Star Conference championship trophy. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Flagler Palm Coast baseball team poses with the championship trophy after winning the Five Star Conference title with a 9-6 victory over Pine Ridge at the Spruce Creek High School field. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Coaches talk to the team after the game with the Five Star Conference championship trophy close by. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC players celebrate their Five Star Conference championship after defeating Pine Ridge 9-6. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Brenin Striplin takes an inside pitch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Junior righthander Adam Kleinfelder fires a pitch with a man on second. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC reliever Adam Kleinfelder allowed one run in three innings. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Brenin Striplin scores on a sacrifice fly by Connor May in the fourth to put FPC ahead 4-3. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Dalton Roberts relieved in the second inning and got the win to improve to 4-0 on the mound. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC catcher Thomas Seeley throws the ball back to pitcher Jordan Gonzalez. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Kevin Maya drew two walks. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Logan Shudy checks his bunt. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Nole Hemmerle takes a cut. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Wyatt Reynolds reached base twice and scored a run. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Wyatt Reynolds looks to bunt with a man on third. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Adam Kleinfelder walks off the mound after pitching the final three innings for the Bulldogs. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Jordan Gonzalez started the game for the Bulldogs. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Flager Palm Coast’s baseball players swarmed the field and hoisted the Five Star Conference championship trophy high into the air.
The Bulldogs defeated Pine Ridge 9-6 on April 18 at Spruce Creek High School to win their first Five Star tournament title. The way they have been playing lately, there could be more championships to come this year. FPC (12-10) won its seventh game in a row, and coach Kyle Marsh said the players are buying in.
We just found our identity as a team and understood the things that we’re good at and not good at,”
— KYLE MARSH, FPC baseball coach
“We just found our identity as a team and understood the things that we’re good at and not good at,” Marsh said. “And sometimes that's OK to accept that, hey, we got to still figure out ways to win games. If A is not working, we got to go to B. And I think that's what kind of turned our season around.”
A year ago in the Five Star championship game, the Bulldogs’ seventh-inning rally fell just short in a 4-3 loss to Spruce Creek. This year, they broke open a 3-3 tie against Pine Ridge with a four-run fourth inning.
Just like last season, when FPC won its first district championship in eight years, the Bulldogs have shown that they’re never really out of a game. During their win streak they've scored 21 runs in the fifth inning or later. They scored six runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings to rally past Bishop Snyder 9-8 on April 5.
They are playing within themselves and they’re treating every game the same, Marsh said.
“I always preach to them, ‘Do your job, and then pass to the next guy. Do your job, whether it's hit and run, bunt, steal.’ So I think they actually bought in on that since our little win streak has happened and understood that if we just do our job, we'll be all right.”
FPC came back from deficits in both the Five Star semifinal (a 5-3 win over Spruce Creek) and the final. The Bulldogs trailed Pine Ridge 3-1 after two innings. They tied the score in the third on Marion Clayton’s run-scoring double to right field and Nole Hemmerle’s sacrifice bunt.
In the fourth, Connor May drove in a run with a sacifice fly, Cody Clymer drove in two runs with a single to right and Carson Flis added an RBI single.
Relievers Dalton Roberts and Adam Kleinfelder did their job on the mound. Roberts allowed two runs in 2.2 innings and got the win to improve his record to 4-0. The senior retired the side after the Panthers’ Chris Kable led off the third with a double. Kleinfelder allowed one run pitching the final three innings.
“My two-seamer was working on the outside corner and my slider was working away,” said Kleinfelder, who allowed one run on one hit and two walks.
“I’ve been wanting to close,” he said. “I like coming in and getting the save in a big moment. I thrive under pressure.”
The Bulldogs have three home games on consecutive nights to end the season: Fleming Island on April 23, Pine Ridge on April 24 and Deltona on April 25. District tournaments are scheduled to begin on April 29. The Bulldogs won’t be doing anything different once the postseason arrives.
“I preach to them every day, this is another game. Because the more I try to do certain things, it's just more pressure for them,” Marsh said. “So my thing with them is, it's another game, it's another game. Go out there, play the same way we've been playing other games, and we'll be fine.”
