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Patriots Out-Slug Panthers

Brian Gjurgevich/Highlands Today

SFCC's Chaz Abeln blasts a two-run home run during the fourth inning on Wednesday during Central Florida CC's 15-11 victory over the Panthers in Avon Park. Abeln, a Sebring alumnus, was 3-for-5 with three RBI on the night.

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Highlands Today Staff Report

Published: February 20, 2009

AVON PARK - The two games between the South Florida Community College baseball team and Central Florida CC this young season have hardly been pitchers' duels, and Wednesday's game as no exception.

The No. 12 Patriots hammered four home runs - including a second-inning grand slam - and held off a Panther rally to nab a 15-11 victory in a slugfest at Panther Field. The teams previously battled to a 13-11 in their last meeting, an SFCC victory.

"They were one of the best clubs we've seen when we beat them at their place earlier in the year, and they still are," said SFCC coach Rick Hitt, whose team has risen to No. 4 in the state rankings after a hot start. "We knew they would come in here with a great effort, and to be honest, we never really had an answer for them from the mound."

Two Sebring grads made the biggest noise offensively for the Panthers: Chaz Ablen was 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBI, including a two-run home run in the fourth inning, while outfielder Ryan Williams was 2-for-5 with three RBI.

Abeln also threw five innings, giving up seven hits and eight earned runs before settling down and reaching his pitch count in the sixth.

"Whenever the wind blows at Panther Field, you run the risk of balls flying out of there," Hitt said. "But we didn't minimize the damage in the second inning, and that was the difference."

After the Patriots got on the board in the first with a solo homer, Williams put the Panthers up early with a bases-clearing triple in the bottom of the frame. The second inning saw the strange occurrence of three straight fielder's choice plays by the SFCC defense, none of which resulted in outs.

"They weren't errors or base hits, they were no-mans-land type of plays and any one of them could've been an out," Hitt said, noting a seven-run second inning is always tough to come back from. "We kind of played a sloppy inning and they made us pay with a grand slam."

The Panthers rallied with an Abeln homer and a three-run fourth, but the Patriots poured it on late, hitting two home runs over the final two innings to earn the victory.

"Our guys battled hard, which is expected of them," Hitt said. "I'd like to see our pitchers go back to how we were pitching first eight or 10 games of the year. We were doing a better job of staying around the middle of the plate and pitching down.

"And I'd like to see a little more enthusiasm in the confines of our dugout. We didn't seem to play with same level of intensity we've shown."

The Panthers are back in action today when they host their ninth ranked opponent in 14 games, Indian River CC. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.

SOFTBALL: CFCC Sweeps Panthers

OCALA - Errors continued to plague the SFCC softball team, which dropped two games to Central Florida CC on Tuesday, 7-6 and 3-1.

"We continue to make errors on routine plays," said SFCC coach Carlos Falla. "It's our biggest problem. We're not fielding it clean and we're bobbling balls."

The Panthers are back in action on Sunday at Indian River.

SFCC BASEBALL

Upcoming Home Games

TODAY vs. Indian River, 6 p.m.

SATURDAY vs. Clearwater Christian (DH), 1 p.m.

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