In February 2016, Quinn Flanagan was pitching in the first game of the season for Corona del Sol High School in Tempe. In the fourth inning, he felt something pop in his right arm. He later would find out that he had torn an elbow ligament and would need Tommy John surgery.
It isn’t an unusual injury these days. But it doesn’t usually take three years to come all the way back.
Flanagan finally pitched again in a game that counted Sunday afternoon for the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Wildcats. Almost three years to the day since he first got hurt, Flanagan started and picked up the victory in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s 20-5 win over UMass Lowell at Hi Corbett Field.
Flanagan allowed two runs (one earned) in four innings. He struck out four and didn’t walk a batter as the Cats completed a dominant season-opening, four-game sweep of the River Hawks.
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“It’s been a long time coming,†said Flanagan, a 6-foot-4 right-hander from Chandler who had several family members in attendance. “It felt really good to get back on the mound again. It was exciting.â€
The injury happened at the start of Flanagan’s junior season.
The recovery timeline forced him to miss his senior year, and he redshirted as a freshman for ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.
Flanagan pitched for the Wildcats in intrasquad scrimmages, and he played for the Bethesda Big Train in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball league last summer. But he never felt quite right.
“I knew it was going to take a while,†Flanagan said. “I knew I was going to have to take my time with it.
“But I wasn’t expecting this many setbacks.â€
Flanagan worked on mechanical adjustments with the UA coaching staff, and this past fall something clicked.
“I’m really proud of him, because there were some points along the way where you go, ‘I don’t know if he’s going to make it back,’ †ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ coach Jay Johnson said.
“It was around the end of October where we changed his arm (slot) and it alleviated some of the pain — shortened it up a little bit, freed up the motion. All of a sudden, the velo was back; the curveball was snapping. We knew we had something.â€
Flanagan started off somewhat shakily, allowing sharp singles to two of the first three batters he faced.
Both of the runs he allowed came in the first inning.
Once he settled down, Flanagan began pounding the strike zone. He didn’t allow another UML batter to reach second base. He threw 43 of 60 pitches for strikes.
“Throughout the locker room, I don’t think there was any doubt how well he would do on the mound,†junior third baseman Nick Quintana said. “Everybody in the clubhouse was pulling for him. They were super excited. We all had his back.â€
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ didn’t need pristine pitching to defeat UMass Lowell. The Wildcats’ offense overwhelmed the River Hawks’ staff throughout the series.
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ reached double figures in runs in all four games and outscored UML 69-17. The Wildcats’ patient, disciplined approach at the plate — a program staple under Johnson — reached a new level Sunday.
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ drew 17 walks, four shy of the school record. For the series, UA hitters walked 47 times. The Wildcats finished the four games with a .390 batting average and a .551 on-base percentage.
Those numbers aren’t sustainable. But good at-bats will produce good results more often than not.
“Even our pitchers have said it’s been harder to get us out because we don’t swing at bad pitches,†said Quintana, who went 3 for 3 with a pair of walks.
“It’s going to happen. But … we had really good at-bats, and it definitely showed.â€
ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ seldom deviates from its approach, no matter the score or situation. The Wildcats drew three walks in the bottom of the eighth inning in Game 3 of the series Saturday, when the score was 16-4. They drew five in the bottom of the eighth Sunday, when the score was 17-5.
“We have a high bar for offensive development here,†Johnson said. “Regardless of what the score is — if we’re getting cut up or shut down a little bit, or if we’re putting up a lot of runs like we did this weekend — we’re going to hold that high bar. This was a good start for our players to do that.
“It’s a team identity — hopefully a program identity by this point in time. They all know what they need to do to be successful.â€
Quintana was one of five Wildcats to draw two walks Sunday. Two players who didn’t have any — Matt Fraizer and Ryan Holgate – combined for 11 RBIs.
Fraizer tied his career high with four hits.
The junior center fielder doubled his previous career best by driving in six runs.
Holgate’s two hits included a two-run homer into a stiff wind in the seventh inning. The freshman right fielder leads the team with three home runs and 12 RBIs.
Inside pitch
- Johnson deployed six relievers after lifting Flanagan, who was on a pitch count. They included ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ High’s George Arias Jr. The freshman pitched a hitless sixth inning in his UA debut.
- Junior infielder Cameron Cannon went 8 for 14 against the River Hawks, including six doubles. He has scored a team-high 11 runs.
- ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ visits Rice on Wednesday before a three-game weekend series at Houston. The Owls took two of three from Rhode Island this weekend and face Texas on Tuesday before hosting the Wildcats. The Cougars won two of three against Northwestern State.
