FWL's Monarchs end season in semifinals

The Orlando Monarchs, a team in the Florida Collegiate Summer League’s Futures Wood-bat League playing their home games out of West Orange High School, concluded their season in the semifinals of the FWL Playoffs with a 7-4 loss to the DeLand Cudas on Wednesday.

The Monarchs placed third in the league’s regular season standings, going 12-8-1, behind the Winter Park Angels (14-6-1) and the Lake Mary Shockers (12-8).

The Monarchs defeated the Winter Park Warthogs in the opening round of the FWL Playoffs on Saturday, 4-3, advancing to Wednesday’s semifinal.

The FWL serves as a minor league of sorts for the FCSL, with an emphasis on hosting recently graduated high school ballplayers who will be freshman college players in the fall.

The Monarchs had several local players on their 2014 roster including Austin Heinz (Windermere), John Pacheco (Winter Garden), Alex Smith (Winter Garden), Alphonse Silvestri (Windermere), Alan Archer (Winter Garden), Cody Burgess (Winter Garden), Brooks Estrada (Windermere) and Greg Kalogriodis (Winter Garden).