Flashback to May 11, 2002
ONEONTA, N.Y.-Every person that ever put on a uniform,
at any level of competition, has dreamed of making the last play in a playoff
game that will bring his or her team the championship. For freshman
outfielder Mike Flanagan, that dream came true when he belted a solo
home run on a three-ball, two-strike pitch leading off the bottom of the 10th
to give the Dutchmen a 3-2 victory over Oswego in the championship game of the
Eastern College Athletic Conference's Upstate New York baseball
tournament. The blast ended a weekend that saw the Oxford, New York,
native collect four hits in seven at bats in the two-game event from the No. 9
position. He also had five put outs in
as many chances.
Flanagan's rookie season saw him finish seventh on the
Dutchmen's batting chart with a .292 average (26 of 89) with eight doubles, two
home runs and 15 runs scored while playing in 28 of the team's 34 games.
Flashback to September 18, 2004
SCHENECTADY, N.Y.–Playing with a cast on his right
arm, senior strong safety Mike Flanagan not only is in on three tackles with
three pass deflections, he picks off two passes against a Muhlenberg team that
participated in last year's NCAA tournament.
Flanagan's first “pick” came on the Mules' third play of the game and
gave the Dutchmen the ball on the Muhlenberg 41-yard line. His second interception occurred on the
Mules' first drive of the second half allowing Union to take over on the
Muhlenberg 40.
Flanagan, a three-year starter who has led the
Dutchmen in interceptions each of the last two seasons, now has 10 career
interceptions to go along with his 126 total tackles.
Throughout his career, Mike Flanagan has been a
constant contributor to the baseball and football teams. Recruited by Bucknell, Hamilton, St.
Lawrence, Ithaca, Case Western and Gettysburg, Flanagan came to Union because
of its engineering program, its academic reputation, and the opportunity to
continue his athletic career in the two sports he loves.
Recruited by Gary Reynolds, who was then the
Dutchmen's head baseball coach as well an assistant football coach, Flanagan
did not realize that two of his cousins, twin sisters Molly and Liz, had also
decided to attend Union. The women have
also had highly successful careers at Union in the sports of soccer, ice
hockey, and lacrosse.
“We didn't even know we were going to the same school
until about two weeks before orientation,” said Mike of his cousins. “It was a great surprise.”
The cousins have always been close and the fact that
they are all attending Union has brought even more meaning to their
relationship and to their college experience.
“I am very
close with my cousins, before and during Union,” said Mike. “Holidays are spent together, Christmas, the
Fourth of July, and many others. I saw
them a lot during the summer months. At
school Molly is also a civil engineer so I see her often. I don't see Liz (who is majoring in English
and sociology) as frequent but we do spend as much time together as possible on
the weekends. We all have a common
interest and that is sports. We like to
have fun and we like to win. I think
all three of us are very competitive.”
Erv Chambliss, the Dutchmen's secondary coach and
Flanagan's primary coach, had nothing but high praise for Mike's performance
last week against Muhlenberg.
“I have been fortunate enough to have coached
record-setting secondary units, with league leaders and all-time team leaders
both on the Division III and IAA levels,” said Chambliss. “Mike brings every bit the talent and
football savvy as any of them.
Obviously Mike is a gifted athlete and what I love about him is his
competitive nature. He plays hard and
he plays with intelligence, but most of all, he plays the game like it was
being played in the backyard with the neighborhood kids…he has fun and he
enjoys the competition.
“As for last week's performance against the Mules,”
Chambliss continued, “the fact that he was playing with a cast on his had is
just a minor detail. He was given two
hands but he made pretty good use of the other one. One hand…it just makes his eyes a little bigger and his focus a
little keener.”
Looking back, Mike counts the
ECAC home run, the ECAC football championship game, scoring a touchdown last
year on a 33-yard interception return against Rochester and earning the
defensive Most Valuable Player award following the 2003 campaign are a few of
the many highlights that have occurred during his stellar career. Looking ahead Mike wants to capture every
moment of his senior year before finding a job in Albany and working his way up
the ladder to becoming a professional engineer.