PREP BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Flanagan, Brito Power Cypress

Sometime, maybe Friday, maybe next week, Cypress’ Bobby Brito might set the Orange County single-season record for home runs. A milestone to be sure. But, for the moment, he was happy to talk about someone else’s performance.

Brito was on first, after being intentionally walked in the sixth inning, when Brian Flanagan slammed a three-run homer to give the Centurions a 12-8 victory over Loara Wednesday.

The victory gave Cypress a leg up in the race for the Empire League’s final playoff spot. The Centurions began the game in a three-way tie for third with Loara and Kennedy.

“I knew Brian was going to hammer it,” Brito said. “You could tell as soon as he hit it that it wasn’t going to stay in the park.”

Flanagan’s home run, his fourth, came on the first pitch by reliever Aaron Koontz. It cleared the 380-foot sign in center field at Cypress High.

“I was going to hit the first fastball I saw,” Flanagan said. “I wasn’t going to let a nice meat pitch like that go by.”

Said Coach Mark Steinert: “We live and die with Brito and Flanagan.”

Brito, who leads the county in hitting, home runs and runs batted in, helped bring the Centurions (14-9, 6-6) back after Loara (12-10, 5-7) had taken a 7-0 lead. His three-run homer in the second brought Cypress to within one at 7-6.

It was Brito’s 12th home run, one short of the county record set by Fullerton’s D.C. Olsen. Brito also raised his RBI total to 35.

“I don’t know why people are pitching more to me this season,” said Brito, who was an all-county selection as a freshman. “Maybe they want to challenge me or maybe they want to prove they can get me out.”

Or maybe facing Flanagan, who follows Brito in the order, is much more pleasant. He had two hits and drove in three runs, giving him 29 on the season.

The two got some help Wednesday. The Centurions had 14 hits, including doubles by Flanagan, Dan Alvillar, Jake Bratcher and Vince Ammirato. Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit except Bryan Husky, who scored two runs.

Cypress needed every bit of that offense. Loara had a 7-0 lead after two innings, aided by three Centurion errors. The Saxons had 10 hits, three by Clint Collins, but all stayed in the park.