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Highlands Today

Panthers Cruise Past Spartans

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Highlands Today Staff Report

Published: February 24, 2008

AVON PARK –– Panther Field is a lot like Wrigley Field when the wind is blowing out –– you can expect a high-scoring game.

The South Florida Community College baseball team took advantage of the windy conditions to pound out 21 base hits on its way to a 20-8 win over the Tampa University "B" team in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday.

The second game was rained out.

"We play in a small yard and when the conditions were like they were, the ball has a chance to travel a long ways," said Panther coach Rick Hitt. "We were fortunate to get some balls up in the air and they got out of the park."

SFCC got solo home runs from Avon Park freshman Taiwan Perry and Brien Coppola and a grand slam from freshman catcher Gerry Neufang.

Coppola and Neufang went back-to-back in the fifth inning to break the game open for the Panthers.

"It's good to see us swing the bats well and we've scored a lot of runs the last couple of games," said Hitt. "But the reality of the situation is that we have a lot of areas where we can improve."

The victory improved South Florida to 12-10 on the season.

"Hopefully, our players can take these wins for what they were," said Hitt. "And they certainly need to understand that we have a long way to go."

The Panthers have a home game at 6 p.m. today against Cantonsville CC from Baltimore, Md., and a home game at 5 p.m. on Tuesday against Polk Community College.

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