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Highlands Today

Panthers Win Pair At Polk Tourney

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By MARK PINSON Highlands Today

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 10, 2009

LAKELAND - The time to get down to business has arrived for the South Florida Community College softball team.

The Panthers competed in the Polk Community College tournament over the weekend to fine tune their game in preparation for today's conference opener against Polk CC.

South Florida won two games and lost three in the three-day event.

"It was good competition and we lost the first game to Polk on Friday because we made a bunch of errors," said Panther coach Carlos Falla. "Fielding has been a problem all season and then we gave up some hits that we shouldn't have."

SFCC knocked off Hillsborough by a score of 6-3, but lost to Seminole 8-0 on Saturday.

"We played better against Hillsborough, but Seminole came out and annihilated us," said Falla.

The Panthers defeated Webber International University 3-1 in Sunday's first game and then lost 1-0 in Sunday's final game to Central Florida Community College.

"We played well against Webber and then the game against CFCC was a great ballgame," said Falla. "We pitched well, played solid defense and we only gave up two hits.

"The girls have been working hard and we've played a lot of games, but now it's time to start playing our conference schedule."

South Florida hosts conference rival Polk CC in a doubleheader that begins at 5 p.m. today and then the Panthers host conference foe Pasco-Hernando CC at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

SFCC BASEBALL Lincolnland 7, SFCC 5
AVON PARK - Playing a non-conference game against Lincolnland CC (Illinois) on Sunday wasn't the best thing for the South Florida Community College baseball team.

Lincolnland got a grand slam in the top of the ninth inning to ease past SFCC by a score of 7-5.

The loss dropped the Panthers to 20-8 on the season.

SFCC opened its Suncoast Conference schedule with a 10-7 home win against Pasco-Hernando CC on Friday before dropping an 11-inning 4-3 decision at Pasco on Saturday.

"Lincolnland played very well," said SFCC coach Rick Hitt. "Our first six hitters were a combined 2-for-21 at the plate and that obviously doesn't say a whole lot about our offense.

'It was a rough day for us, but even though we struggled in certain areas of the game, we still had an opportunity to win the game."

The Panthers used the non-conference contest to rest some starters and give some other players the opportunity to show what they could do before Monday's home game against Pasco.

"We rested a few guys and pitched some different guys," said Hitt. "It's a game that was pinched between conference games, but you have to be prepared to play every day."

Mark Pinson can be reached at 863-386-5837 or mpinson@highlandstoday.com

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