Panthers Blast Past Seminole

Sebring graduate Adam Simmons picked up his first collegiate victory behind the hot South Florida Community college baseball team's bats on Wednesday at Panther Field.

Sophomore Jose Rodriguez was 4-for-6 with three RBI, sophomore catcher Jerry Neufang was 2-for-3 with four RBI and a home run and sophomore outfielder Ryan Williams (a Sebring alumnus) was 4-for-6 with four RBI to pace the SFCC offense, which pounded out 20 hits to crush No. 14 Seminole Community College, 21-1.

"Obviously, when you get 20 hits, you feel real good about swinging the bat," said SFCC coach Rick Hitt. "Our guys really bunched them together and did a good job of consistently swinging the bat throughout the order."

Freshman Ethan Lovell was 2-for-2 with four runs scored, two walks and two stolen bases to help Simmons, who allowed three hits and fanned five in three innings of relief.

"Seven of our nine starters have multi hit games," Hitt said, "which from a consistency standpoint is outstanding."

The Panthers (3-0) took on Webber International University's JV team on Thursday (see Saturday's Highlands Today for result) and face Lake Sumter CC at 4 p.m. today. They then hit the road for a double-header Saturday at Clearwater Christian at 1 p.m. and Sunday for a single game at. Eckerd College (B) at 1 p.m. The Panthers will complete a seven-games-in-six-days run with a 6 p.m. game on Monday at Webber.

"It's great that we're off to a 3-0 start against three ranked opponents but we have a long way to go," Hitt said. "It's our responsibility to show up and play with the same enthusiasm and consistency day after day. That's the goal."