Cole Flanagan had to watch from the dugout last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. But now he is back on the front lines as the Broncos look to win the program’s first state championship since 2001.

“It was tough, but you have to stay in there and support your guys and do the thing in the dugout and keep the energy up,” Flanagan said. “It is nice to be back out there for myself, but having these guys to play with has been awesome.

“I have had great teams and great leadership for four years, so I am trying to go about how the people before me led and try to do that with this team. It has been going pretty well.”

The No. 11 Broncos, who have won 14 of their last 15 games, open a best-of-three series against No. 1 Live Oak for the Non-select Division I state championship at the state baseball tournament in Sulphur at 5:30 p.m. today. Game 2 will be at the same time Friday. If a third game is necessary, it will be played on at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

“We can’t take it for granted,” Flanagan said. “We have to live in the moment and enjoy every minute of it.”

The Louisiana-Lafayette signee had a stellar sophomore year, going 6-2, including a win over Live Oak in the quarterfinals, and batted over .300.

After limited pitch counts early in the season, Flanagan said he feels back to his old self. He is 7-2 with a 2.10 earned run average and batting .375 with 30 RBIs. He has improved his control, increasing his strike-to-ball ratio from 2.79 to 3.81- to-1. He has 61 strikeouts in 53 1/3 innings. He pitched a complete game two-hit shutout on Saturday to complete the Broncos’ (35-7) sweep of Barbe (34-6) in the semifinals.

“I feel great,” Flanagan said. “I feel like I was a little bit better maybe.

“The surgery went well, so that is a good thing. I had to go to five months of physical therapy, a lot of rangeof- motion stuff and get my elbow back in shape and get my shoulder back in shape to be able to throw.”

With the new series format in all rounds of the playoffs for Divisions I, II and III, pitching has become exponentially more important. The Broncos have a deep pitching staff led by Flanagan and sophomore Owen Galley (8-1, 722/3 IP, 1.25 ERA). Six Broncos have won three or more games on the mound, and the staff has a 1.85 ERA. Flanagan and Galley have each won three postseason games.

The Broncos’ playoff run hasn’t been easy. They had to win on the road at defending champion West Monroe and 12-time state champion Barbe. But Flanagan said the Broncos are well prepared to take on the Eagles.

“I feel like we have had a tough playoff run,” Flanagan said. “The arms and teams that we have played have all led up to this point for preparation. We just have to come out here and do the same thing we do every day and play with everything we have. I expect another close one and get in there and go win a dogfight. Outcompeting them is our goal.

“Throwing the fastball and letting the guys behind me make the plays has been my mind-set out there. I have a good defense working behind me this year.”

Knowing that the Eagles (32-6) have a strong pitching staff, Flanagan said the Broncos will have to scratch out every hit and run they can get. ULL signee Sawyer Pruitt shut out Benton in the semifinals with 11 strikeouts, and left-handed pitcher Zant Gurney has allowed one earned run in two postseason starts. Five of Sam Houston’s eight postseason wins have been by one or two runs.

“Coach has been preaching to us that every time we get in the box to get in there and compete, no matter the outcome, and we will ultimately get what we want,” Flanagan said.