Columbus’ Zapata keeps Flanagan off balance as Explorers advance to regional semifinals
Longtime Columbus baseball coach Joe Weber can’t remember ever having a starting pitcher throw over 70 innings in a season and walk just six batters.
That was until righthander Federico Zapata toed the rubber for the Explorers this season.
Zapata, a senior and Barry University signee, doesn’t have an overpowering 90-plus mph fastball.
But his mix of offspeed stuff and ability to consistently locate and induce weak contact has continually kept batters off balance the entire season.
On Tuesday afternoon, Zapata did it again to the tune of his seventh complete game resulting in a 3-2 Columbus victory over visiting Flanagan in a Region 4-7A quarterfinal at the Explorers’ home field.
Columbus (21-6), the No. 3 seed in the region, advanced to the regional semifinals where they will travel to Davie to take on No. 2-seed Western on Friday.
Zapata, who pitched only five innings in relief as a junior last season, improved to 10-1 with 66 strikeouts and a staggering six walks over 73 ⅔ innings and maintained his ERA at 0.76 for the season.
“I don’t like giving away any free passes,” Zapata said. “They came out aggressive but I just kept my composure and made my pitches.”
Donning his pair of white-framed sunglasses, Zapata struck out three but issued no walks on Tuesday as he continually got Falcons hitters to chase and pop up or ground out throughout the game.
“He’s not overpowering, but the ball runs and tails and the defense loves to play behind him because he works quick and they know they’re getting the ball in play,” Weber said. “He’s very difficult to barrel up.”
Flanagan (19-9), however, swung early in counts and managed to plate a run in the first inning Danny Perez singled to drive in Tyler Venegas, who led off the game with a double.
It was Zapata’s only earned run as Flanagan would score a second run unearned in the top of the sixth after a throwing error allowed left fielder Danny Herrera to score and tie the game at 2.
Michael Corral would lead off the bottom of the sixth with a single and come around to score the eventual winning run two batters later on a fielder’s choice ground ball by Julian Gonzalez.
Zapata has picked up quality wins against playoff teams such as Westminster Christian, Southwest, Mater Lakes and Goleman.
Columbus answered Flanagan’s initial run immediately in the bottom of the first with a run scored by Ryan Cainzos on a fielder’s choice grounder by Luis Miguel.
Nickolas Mora’s RBI single in the second with two outs would then give the Explorers a 2-1 edge until the sixth.
Once Columbus jumped back in front, Zapata did the rest in the seventh, working around a bloop leadoff single by Brayden Allison to seal the win.
“(Zapata) has been like that all year,” Weber said. “Our team plays great defense behind him and with him, you’re going to have to get three hits to beat him because he won’t beat himself.”
This story was originally published May 10, 2022 at 9:05 PM.
