- April 3, 2026
Brody Youngman allowed one unearned run in six innings and picked up the win in FPC's 6-1 victory against Deltona. Photo by Brent Woronoff
First baseman Jordan Gonzelez catches a pickoff throw from pitcher Brody Youngman as Brayden Thorn slides back to the bag. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC left fielder Tyler Bohnenkamper watches a pitch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Jordan Gonzalez laces a line drive that was snagged by the shortstop in the fourth inning against Deltona. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC pitcher Brody Youngman allowed three hits and one walk in his first start of the season. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Paul Bowen went 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI against Deltona. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Clayton Lamb takes a pitch. Photo by Brent Woronoff
Nole Hemmerle went 1-for-3 and pitched a scoreless seventh in FPC's 6-1 win against Deltona. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Brody Youngman allowed one unearned run in six innings against Deltona. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Brody Youngman picked up his first win of the season. Photo by Brent Woronoff
FPC's Tyler Bohnenkamper went 1-for-3 with a bunt single and scored a run against Deltona. Photo by Brent Woronoff
The Bulldogs needed a spark. Instead, they got a blaze. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Flagler Palm Coast’s Marion Clayton drilled a two-run homer over the left-center field fence. FPC went on to score four more runs in the inning to defeat Deltona 6-1 on Thursday, April 2.
With the home win, the Bulldogs (15-7) earned fifth place in the Five Star Conference baseball tournament.
It was Clayton’s second home run in two games and his fifth of the season. But it was the left-hander’s first dinger to the opposite field this season. And it came just in time.
“It got us going,” said Clayton, who will play baseball at Jacksonville University next season. “We scored six that inning, so it really sparked the rally.”
FPC sophomore Brody Youngman pitched a three-hit gem in his first start of the season. Yet, after six innings, he was in danger of getting tagged with a loss as the Wolves (12-11) scored an unearned run in the top of the sixth to take a 1-0 lead.
Youngman was on the verge of getting out of the inning unscathed, but with two outs, Deltona’s Eric Cunningham hit a grounder to third baseman Carson Flis. It appeared that Flis' throw to first was in time to get the out, but the umpire ruled Cunningham safe for an infield hit. During the next at-bat, Cunningham went all the way to third on Youngman’s errant pickoff throw and then scored on a wild pitch. The inning ended with a fly out to left field.
We were going through the motions for a lot of the game, but then we realized, ‘All right, well, we got to figure it out this inning to win.’ That sparked a fire under under me, and I was ready to go.”
— MARION CLAYTON
“It kind of woke us up,” Clayton said of the Wolves getting on the scoreboard. “We were going through the motions for a lot of the game, but then we realized, ‘All right, well, we got to figure it out this inning to win.’ That sparked a fire under under me, and I was ready to go.”
Youngman and Deltona’s Brayden Flores had been locked in a scoreless pitching duel through five innings. Flores left the game after the fifth having thrown 70 pitches. The sophomore lefty allowed three hits and no walks.
In the bottom of the sixth, FPC catcher Clayton Lamb greeted reliever Kyle Goodpaster with a grounder and reached first on a throwing error by the pitcher.
“It’s the freebie war,” FPC coach Kyle Marsh said. “You got to take advantage of the freebie wars. And they gave us a freebie on the throw to first, and you got to capitalize. And I think we did a good job capitalizing after that.”
The next batter, Marion Clayton, capitalized by scorching a high and outside fastball for a two-run shot. He said he knew it was gone as soon as he hit it.
“I needed to put a good swing on it, and it carried over the wall,” he said. “I gave a little trot there right off the bat.”
That got the bats going. Flis singled, Jordan Gonzalez walked. Tyler Bohnenkamper loaded the bases with a bunt single. Paul Bowen made it 3-1 with a line-drive single to right. Gonzalez scored on a wild pitch. And Nick Pandich completed the six-run inning with a two-run double to center field.
“Marion is a good spark plug for our team,” Marsh said. “He comes ready to play, works hard.”
Nole Hemmerle pitched a scoreless seventh to secure the Bulldogs’ eighth win in their last 10 games. Youngman lowered his earned run average to 1.79 in 15.2 innings pitched.
““Every time he’s come in the game this year, he's done a really good job for us,” Marsh said of the sophomore. “For his first start of the year, I think he looked really good. He gave us a chance to win. It was good to see him just fill up the (strike) zone and let us play defense.”
Youngman allowed three hits, one walk and no earned runs in six innings. He had two strikeouts and threw 76 pitches.
“It was just good to get out there,” he said. “I was just trying to hit my spots, moving it around with different pitches.”
“Brody was on fire all night,” Marion Clayton said. “(The Wolves) didn't have many hits that they put together. Brody shoved today. It was great to see.”
The Bulldogs were seeded second in the Five Star tournament but lost their first-round game to No. 7 University, 5-3. FPC bounced back with a 9-1 win over New Smyrna Beach in the consolation bracket to gain a spot in the fifth-place game. Spruce Creek won the conference title with a 10-0 win over University in the title game.
FPC has three more regular-season games beginning with its final home game on Tuesday, April 7, against St. Augustine. The district tournament begins April 14.
“One of our pitchers, Jordan Gonzalez, said it best,” Clayton said. “If we lose the Five Star, but we win the district, then nobody cares that we didn’t win the Five Star. We got to keep the win streak going through next week and in the playoffs.”
