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Highlands Today

Santa Fe Sweeps Past South Florida

Chris Hofffman/ Highlands Today

SFCC pitcher Lindsey Andree got the start against Santa Fe in the Panthers home-opener on Saturday.

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By CHRIS HOFFMAN

Highlands Today

Published: February 2, 2009

AVON PARK - Kicking off the season against the top ranked team in the state is never an easy task and the South Florida Community College softball team took its fair share of lumps.

Against Santa Fe, which is ranked No. 1 in the state in the current FCCAA rankings, SFCC hung with them for the first half of the opening game of the double header, but in the end, the Saints swept the Panthers 5-1 and 8-0 in the home and regular-season opener on Saturday.

SFCC head coach Carlos Falla saw right away what his team's shortcomings were against the highly touted Saints.

"It comes down to the little things like fielding and hitting," said Falla. "The little things are what's going to help you win or they'll beat you every time.

"We haven't done enough of the little things well during the last couple weeks leading up to the opener."

Santa Fe freshman Lawna Hunter blistered SFCC with her timely hitting, as she went 4 for 6 over the two games to lead the Saints to the pair of victories.

The little things did come back to bite the Panthers, who committed seven errors in the doubleheader, which frustrated Falla.

"We had errors at bad times and couple that with our lack of hitting and you're not going to win many games," said Falla. "We took too many good pitches and you have to take advantage of bad pitches against a team like Santa Fe if you expect to win."

The Saints got on the board early in the second game, scoring three runs in the first inning off Panther starter Lindsey Andree, who showed that she has the stuff, but was overmatched against a lineup that had few weaknesses.

Leading 4-0, Santa Fe's Carissa Albizu hit a run-scoring double into center and Erika Garcia's RBI single gave the Saints a commanding 6-0 lead after three.

Saints third baseman Kristina Cruz hit a two-run double in the fourth for the eight-run lead.

SFCC put a pair on base after Amanda Leiter's single up the middle and Lara Helton reached on an error, but Santa Fe pitcher Ashley Schmitt forced a grounder and a shallow pop-up to get out of the jam.

Leiter showed solid skills at the plate, by hitting a two-out triple to center in the fifth, but was left stranded and the game ended in the fifth on the mercy rule.

"Santa Fe is really a top team and it's good to see where we stand against good competition," said Leiter. "I think we came out with the jitters today. We only faced live pitching over the last week of practice and I think it showed in our performance at the plate.

"We saw some things we need to work on, especially our defense and patience at the plate. I think we just need to come out and take every game seriously and keep working together as a team."

The Panthers starters were peppered with freshmen and Falla understands the learning curve that every new player has to go through, but was more displeased with the mental mistakes that led to easy runs for Santa Fe.

"The mental mistakes in the field should never happen at any level," said Falla. "They scored eight runs on five errors in the second game. We just chalk it up to experience and go from here.

"What I was really pleased with was the girls stayed up and were supportive of their teammates, even when they were down. We just need to get back to the level of play we were in the fall."

SFCC is back on the field Tuesday when they host Seminole Community College at 5 p.m.

Chris Hoffman can be reached at 863-386-5837 or choffman@highlandstoday.com.

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