SFCC's Winning Streak Halted

AVON PARK - South Florida Community College baseball coach Rick Hitt doesn't believe in moral victories.

After watching his Panthers erase an 11-run deficit only to fall 13-12 to Hillsborough Community College on Wednesday, his assessment was rather blunt.

"A loss is a loss, plain and simple," Hitt said. "Yes, they battled back and I applaud them for that, but we still lost."

After falling behind 10-0, SFCC's Brandon Decker broke the scoreless drought for the Panthers (4-5) with a two-run blast over the right-field fence in the fifth, but the Hawks responded by adding three runs in the top-half of the seventh for a 13-2 advantage.

After scoring three runs off a double by Ryan Thorlton and a sacrifice fly by pitcher Cameron Nelson, the Panthers exploded for three home runs by Jasper Brown, Brien Coppola and Nelson to cut the lead to two.

Brown, who cracked his first homer of the season, said he was very confident during the at-bat.

"I just sat back and waited for the fastball," Brown said. "All this team needed was that spark to get things going."

Austin Gaines cut that deficit to one with a single swing of the bat in the bottom of the ninth, crushing a fastball over the fence in right to bring smiles across the SFCC dugout.

Decker was then hit by a pitch and catcher Gerry Neufang walked with two outs, but HCC's Reinaldo DeJesus struck out Mike Jantomaso to end the game.

"There is never any throwing in the towel on this team, no matter how big of a hole we're in," Brown said. "There's a lot of resiliency on this team."

A recurring theme for the Panthers season after season is one of giving up a big inning, falling behind and having to fight back in the later half of the game.

Hitt's assessment of his youthful pitchers (freshmen Chaz Ablen and Corey Ritter), who gave up an eight-run second inning to the Hawks, was one of disappointment.

"We pitched scared to start the game," Hitt said. "You don't throw pitches down the middle of the plate at the college level. I was really disappointed to see that.

"This game starts with the first pitch and you play every pitch after that. You don't just start playing when you feel like it."

The Hawks scored eight runs on seven hits and two walks, finding every hole in SFCC's defense, as they peppered the outfield with singles.

Abeln (1-2), who gave up two hits in the first, looked out of sync on the mound, giving up a lead-off double to outfielder Dagmar Pena. He allowed six of the first seven Hawk's batters to get good wood on the ball, getting just one out on a fielder's choice at third before heading for the dugout.

The former Blue Streak hurler has been inconsistent in the early going of his college career, but Hitt knows there's better stuff left in him.

"He just needs to get some outings that'll help build his confidence," Hitt said. "He's not hitting his spots and pitching to location like you have to at this level. He's pitched some quality innings but there's quality hitters throughout the lineup in college.

"But we'll keep running him out there, because like I told him, there's no rest for the weary."

Ritter came on in relief to end the second, but his command and delivery were off which led to him giving up a pair of hits and walks that allowed four runs to cross the plate. Another two runs scored in the third before he went to the bench and a quick 10-0 deficit was born.

"We've been working on Corey on some things to help his command," Hitt said. "[On Wednesday], I thought he reverted back to some things he's done in the past that aren't beneficial to him getting better as a pitcher.

Freshman Wiggy Vazquez took the mound to get the last out in the third and settled the Panthers down, as he threw with confidence and trusted his defense to make plays when he had to.

Vazquez cooled down HCC's hot bats, giving up just one hit and two walks while going 3 1/3 innings in relief for the Panthers.

"Wiggy gave up a few walks but I thought he managed the walks better than the previous two pitchers," Hitt said. "He pitched to location better and didn't give up the big innings, which allowed us to hang around."

The Panthers out-hit the visiting Hawks, 17-15, but stranded 10 runners on the night.

SFCC hits the road for a three-game road trip beginning with St. Johns River in Palatka on Friday. The Panthers next home game is Feb. 12 against Webber International University at 6 p.m.