PHCC title bid falls short; state ahead

NEW PORT RICHEY -- The Pasco-Hernando Community College softball team entered the final week of the regular season with a shot at its first Suncoast Conference title.

The good news for PHCC: it won four of its six conference games.

The bad news: The Conquistadors settled for second place.

PHCC had one of only two winning conference records, but at 9-7 it fell two games short of Manatee (11-5).

"The conference championship was in our hands," PHCC assistant Steve Miller said. "If we had won all six, the title was ours."

PHCC split with Manatee (a 4-3 win and 2-1 loss) Tuesday, swept Polk (4-1 and 5-2 victories) Wednesday and split with St. Petersburg College (a 4-0 win and 13-4 loss) Thursday.

By placing among the top four in the conference, PHCC advances to the Florida Community College Activities Association state tournament. The Conquistadors (26-19-1) will be joined by conference rivals Manatee, Polk and Hillsborough May1-3 at the Osceola County Softball Complex in Kissimmee.

"We feel we can play with anybody," Miller said. "Our offense hasn't been what we want, but we've got some good pitching and good defense. If we can put some runs up, we can play with anybody."

Former Rollins standout pitcher Kelly Powe notched three of PHCC's four wins last week. In the 4-0 win against St. Petersburg, Powe got her 15th win and ninth shutout.

Powe heads into the state tourney as PHCC's single-season strikeout leader. Her 136 topped the 118 by Megan Rodriguez in 1999.

Another single-season school record fell last week when Ashley Black stole her 21st base in the last regular-season game, topping her mark of 19, set last season.

HIT RECORDS: Victor Roldan (Land O'Lakes) and Lee Cruz (Pasco) each are within three hits of PHCC baseball records.

Roldan, a third baseman, went 0-for-4 in Monday's 8-5 loss to Hillsborough that snapped a three-game winning streak. Roldan is closing in on John Halliday's career mark of 127 hits set in 1997-98.

Cruz, a shortstop who went 1-for-4 Monday, is aiming for Ken Edwards' single-season mark of 76 hits in 1994.

Sophomore right-handed pitchers Chris Langlois and Billy Phillips, both from River Ridge, have signed partial athletic scholarships. Next season, Langlois will play at Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach and Phillips at Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers.

"They're going to have to be more consistent at the next level, but they both have the tools to continue to develop," PHCC coach Steve Winterling said.

In nine starts, Langlois is 3-3 with a team-leading 3.14 ERA. He has 65 strikeouts and 28 walks in 63 innings. Phillips, a reliever (1-3, 6.28) has 12 strikeouts and seven walks in 14.1 innings.

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