For years she has been at the top of the junior college softball world, searching for that elusive national title. The first step in reaching another national tournament begins Friday in Auburndale for the FCCAA Gulf District/NJCAA Region 8 tournament.

The winner of the Gulf District moves on to the national tourney in Plant City later this month. But that’s a long way away.

GC is the underdog of sorts. Chipola, the defending state and national champions, are the favorites and have played as such throughout the season. Manatee also is a contender, but only one team, Manatee to be exact, outside of the Panhandle Conference has won the Gulf District title.

This points to what has transpired over the years. It’s likely GC and Chipola will meet up to three times. Both teams can meet in the winners’ bracket final and in the district championship.

That was the case in the last two seasons, with GC sweeping Chipola in 2006 and Chipola holding off the Lady Commodores last year.

What will happen this time?

Well, I’ll say this, if GC plays like it did against Chipola in the final doubleheader of the season then the Lady Commodores will be tough to beat. It’s rare for a team to play so much better than it had in weeks prior, but that’s exactly what GC did.

The first game of the doubleheader was like watching vintage GC. The Lady Commodores had timely hits, played excellent defense and made good decisions all around. They did this all against Chipola’s ace pitcher.

However, while a championship may be in order, a quick exit is just as likely should GC play like it did in spots down the stretch. The bats weren’t clicking, the errors piled up and the reliable pitching could only do so much until the game was gone.

I’d bet GC would perform better than that this weekend. The key will be keeping it up for several days in a row. GC showed it could do that in the NFCA tournament earlier this season.

Painter said this team, which mirrors her previously youngest team in 2005. But this year’s group isn’t as far along as hitters as the 2005 bunch. Pitching is a strength and it will come around next year if it doesn’t this weekend.

The best news was the seasoned 2006 team advanced to the national final before falling to Pima, Ariz. in the championship. The same could be in store for the 2009 team, but Painter hopes this year’s season extends just a bit further.

You can check out the tournament brackets by clicking here. I’ll update them throughout the weekend.

Also, you can read my preview story by clicking here.

Post from: Organized Chaos

The news is shocking to the juco community, but it may not be surprising in these tough economic times. Could this happen at Gulf Coast or Chipola? You would hope not, but you never really know.

The article by the Lake City Reporter reported the school spent nearly $600,000 on the teams. The figure would have been higher had Lake City not discontinued men’s and women’s basketball more than 10 years ago. Lake City President Charles Hall told the Gainesville Sun that the college had an obligation to prepare students for the work force.

Apparently, Mr. Hall doesn’t understand the importance of athletics as a boost for self esteem, teamwork, fair play and what hard work can accomplish. All of those are qualities needed to survive in the real world.

Anyhow, I believe GC and Chipola have a better grasp of the whole importance of being a good student-athlete. But, the harsh reality is that money is an issue everywhere. There have been minor budget cuts at GC over the last few years, and you wonder if it’s something to stave off major changes.

I can’t imagine GC not playing baseball, softball or basketball. I suppose those players who came to Lake City, and those who committed to playing next season, couldn’t imagine that possibility, either.

It’s uncertain what will happen to those Lake City players. Many will find new places. But those who stay should be compensated by the school (as in paying off their school as if they were still on scholarship), rather than being hung out to dry.

Lake City was in the process of rebuilding its once powerful softball program that even won one of the few national fastpitch championships by a Florida school. The baseball team also is one of the top programs in the state, but those days are soon to be gone.

It’s a shame. And it’s probably not the last you’ll see of this.

Post from: Organized Chaos

Gulf Coast defeated Parkland and Chattanooga State in one-run games on Friday. The games were played in a driving wind and the temperature dipped as the night went on. At least the NFCA games were able to be played, especially with the threat of rain looming all day.

Pool play resumed Saturday at 10 a.m. There is another round of pool games at 12:30 p.m. One round of bracket play is slated for Saturday afternoon, in what is expected to be even colder temps.

Other notable items included defending national champion Chipola College splitting its first two games. The Lady Indians played against Southeastern and a pitcher who played for the Venezuelan Olympic team.

Fellow GC and Chipola state rival Indian River exploded for 33 runs in its two games. It’s obvious Indian River was smarting from its loss to GC on Thursday and wanted to take it out on someone.

For a complete wrapup of pool games, click here.

……. 2 p.m. Saturday update

GC defeated Florida Community College-Jacksonville 10-6 to clinch first place in Pool 3. The Lady Commodores held a 10-1 lead, but FCCJ avoided the run rule with five runs in the final three innings against starting pitcher Ginny Walsh.

GC advanced to the Gold Bracket. Seeding was set to take place after the conclusion of the 12:30 p.m. games.

…… 9 p.m. Saturday update

GC defeated Indian Hills 10-5 after earning the fourth seed in the Gold Bracket. That sets up a rematch with Indian River Sunday at noon. Indian River took the top seed and pounded Wallace-Dothan, Ala., 7-2, which was the lowest output for Indian River in four games.

Chipola was 2-1 in pool play and opened the Silver Bracket later Saturday. I don’t know the score, but you can click here to find out all the bracket updates.

Sunday’s games are at 10 a.m., noon and championship and consolation finals are to be held at 2 p.m. I’ll be there on Sunday to cover GC’s games, as well as the championship regardless of who’s playing in it.

 ……. 4 p.m. Sunday update

Indian River gained revenge by beating GC 5-0 in the Gold Bracket semifinals. The Pioneers had only two hits, but both were home runs and accounted for four runs.

Indian River advanced to play Wallace-Hanceville, Ala., in the championship game.

Chipola College was eliminated in the Silver Bracket semifinals by Chattanooga State, 1-0 with a late run in the seventh inning. The Lady Indians opened Silver Bracket play with a 9-0 win over Brevard Saturday night.

 ……. 5:45 p.m. Sunday update

Indian River scored a run in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat Wallace-Hanceville, Ala., 2-1 for the tournament championship. The Pioneers won all six of their games played in the event, including three in bracket play.

GC’s Karri Bisbee made the all-tournament team. You can view the rest of the team by clicking here.

This was a well-run tournament and I don’t see any reason why the NJCAA national championship shouldn’t come to PCB. It would be a great boost for the economy and the staff at Frank Brown Park has shown it can handle two major tournaments in back-to-back years with more teams than come for nationals.

Post from: Organized Chaos

 The NFCA Juco Leadoff Classic tournament at Frank Brown Park was scheduled to begin at noon, GC softball coach Susan Painter said. There are four rounds of pool play games scheduled for today, with final games set for 7:30 p.m.

I will have updates from the tournament, including any delays due to bad weather. The forecast called for a slight chance of rain, which won’t be a major deal unless there’s a huge downpour like Thursday night.

You can find the schedule of games at the bottom of the previous post by clicking here.

Post from: Organized Chaos

This is the second time the NFCA has staged a major collegiate tournament in Panama City Beach. The first was in 2007 for the NCAA Division III Leadoff Classic. The NAIA Leadoff Classic is next year.

This is a major step in PCB trying to land the NJCAA national tournament. The city bid for the tournament a few years ago, but it was passed over for Plant City. The bid for the 2009-2011 NJCAA tournaments is upcoming, but Richard Sanders, director of sports marketing for the PCB Convention and Visitors Bureau, said on Wednesday that there were no immediate plans to bid again.

A big hangup for the selection committee was the lack of a larger airport in the area. Sanders said the new airport would help in showing the NJCAA that teams can come into Panama City without paying a high air fare.

The tentative plan is to put in another bid for the three-year deal to host the NFCA events. Sanders said the bidding process will be at the NFCA convention either this year or next year. Sanders is confident the NFCA will choose PCB again.

“This is another stepping stone to get these types of events under our belts,” Sanders said.

This weekend features six rounds of pool play. The teams will be seeded based on pool finish and run differential and placed in the Gold, Silver or Bronze brackets. Only the teams in the Gold Bracket, which includes the six pool winners and two at-large berths, are eligible for the title.

The field includes highly ranked teams in both Division I and II of the NJCAA, including defending Division I champion Chipola College and Gulf Coast Community College, which aims to build on a current four-game winning streak.

The Lady Commodores are 14-3 and will play two non-tournament games today at Joe Tom King Field. GC plays Chattanooga (Tenn.) State at 2 p.m. and Indian River at 6 p.m. Indian River and Chattanooga play at 4 p.m.

GC coach Susan Painter said this weekend’s competition will be a step above the quality the Lady Commodores encountered during their own tournament a few weeks back.

“Our tournament was a little taste of it,” Painter said. “This tournament has more seasoned teams, but that’s what we need to see.

“We’re targeting our Round 2, which is March 18 (the start of the Panhandle Conference schedule). We’re getting closer to being ready for that date.”

I will be covering the NFCA tournament over the weekend and will include additional information on my blog about the event due to space constraints in The News Herald print edition.

Here is the schedule of games. I’ll update if there are changes. Feel free to click on links for selected teams.

NFCA Junior College Leadoff Classic
All games played at Frank Brown Park in Panama City Beach
All times CST
Friday
Noon — Chipola vs. Meridian (Field 1); CCBC vs. Young Harris (Field 2); Chattanooga State vs. FCCJ (Field 3); Blinn vs. Central Alabama (Field 5); Georgia Perimeter vs. Chattahoochee Valley (Field 6); Aiken vs. Brevard (Field 7)
2:30 p.m. — Meridian vs. Navarro (Field 1); Young Harris vs. Mississippi Gulf Coast (Field 2); FCCJ vs. Parkland (Field 3); Central Alabama vs. Miami Dade (Field 5);
Chattahoochee Valley vs. Indian River (Field 6); Brevard vs. Wallace-Hanceville (Field 7)
5 p.m. — Southeastern vs. Chipola (Field 1); Mississippi Gulf Coast vs. Wallace-Dothan (Field 2); Parkland vs. Gulf Coast (Field 3); Miami Dade vs. Wenatchee (Field 5);
Indian River vs. Louisburg (Field 6); Wallace-Hanceville vs. Indian Hills (Field 7)
7:30 p.m. — Navarro vs. Southeastern (Field 1); Wallace-Dothan vs. CCBC (Field 2); Gulf Coast vs. Chattanooga State (Field 3); Wenatchee vs. Blinn (Field 5); Louisburg vs. Georgia Perimeter (Field 6); Indian Hills vs. Aiken (Field 7)
Saturday
10 a.m. — Chattahoochee Valley vs. Louisburg (Field 1); Brevard vs. Indian Hills (Field 2); Central Alabama vs. Wenatchee (Field 3); FCCJ vs. Gulf Coast (Field 5);
Meridian vs. Southeastern (Field 6); Young Harris vs. Wallace-Dothan (Field 7)
12:30 p.m. — Georgia Perimeter vs. Indian River (Field 1); Aiken vs. Wallace-Hanceville (Field 2); Blinn vs. Miami Dade (Field 3); Chattanooga State vs. Parkland (Field 5); Chipola vs. Navarro (Field 6); CCBC vs. Mississippi Gulf Coast (Field 7)

Post from: Organized Chaos

The NCAA Tournament begins on Friday at 16 regional sites. Tallahassee is one of those, featuring No. 6 national seed Florida State, Mississippi State, Stetson and Bethune-Cookman. Winners of each regional meet in the super regional round next week, with the eight survivors headed to Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series.

If you peruse the brackets closely enough, FSU’s road to Omaha (its last appearance there was in 2000) is easier than it has been in years. The Seminoles should run away with their region and are poised to meet Coastal Carolina or Clemson in the super regional. Of course, a surprise could be in order, but it looks to be that way. 

But recent history has been unkind to FSU in the super regional round. The Seminoles have been less than stellar, and often were overmatched by better teams. That shouldn’t happen this time around.

Further West, the Chipola Indians are attempting to win their first national junior college title. They’re in the Final Four of the NJCAA Division I World Series in Grand Junction, Colo., which has an atmosphere that many liken to Omaha.

There are larger crowds and the competition is as good as you’ll find. If only I had some vacation time to get back to my home state. I’d be in heaven.

Anyone else love baseball? Have any thoughts about the Seminoles, as they try to gain back some of the state headlines from their counterparts in Gainesville.

Post from: Organized Chaos

Other days saw oppressive heat and the need for gobs of sunscreen (I burn like an ant under a magnifying glass). Then there was the rain, something we need up there, but it was more necessary down here. So far I’ve heard of;three wildfires in the Tampa area, so rain is a good thing.

Chipola beat Manatee 4-3 in advancing to;the state championship on Tuesday. A state title would give Chipola an unprecedented feat, state crowns in all four major sports in the same academic year. The Chipola men’s and women’s teams won state titles earlier this year. The softball team won its first state title on Sunday.

Before I go, here are a few observations:

I seem to encounter a lot of rude people on these trips. There was the older woman who cut in front of everyone (including me who was waiting for 10 minutes) at Denny’s.;And she was seated before everyone else because the hostess thought she was there already. Rather than raise a stink, many of us;took our business elsewhere.

There were a ton of obnoxious fans, including ones from Santa Fe that were chanting “USA, USA” while playing Miami Dade. Yes, there are some foreign players on Miami Dade’s team, but the majority of the roster is made up of American citizens. The justice in all of it was Miami Dade won and eventually took the district title.

Post from: Organized Chaos

I’m here to cover Gulf Coast and Chipola teams in the state junior college softball and baseball tournaments. That’s going to be the easy part, considering it took me all day to get here.

First I had to return the company vehicle due to a non functional air conditioner. I took my personal vehicle, but was several hours behind schedule.

Once here, I took a wrong turn and went to everywhere but my hotel. It also was raining, making for finding the place even more diffcult. I finally reached the Best Western in Auburndale at around 10 p.m. CDT.

Well, the good news is the hotel is less than a year old, with computers and high-speed Internet access in each room. The AC also allows you to set the temperature exactly, rather than having to guess. And I almost grabbed one of the rooms with a jacuzzi, but someone upgraded to it before I walked in.

Anyhow, that’s the part that doesn’t matter. I just need a place to sleepafter a busy day. And I will be busy.

I’ll send updates when I can. The softball tourney runs through Sunday. Baseball continues through Tuesday.

Post from: Organized Chaos

Chipola’s men’s and women’s basketball teams won state championships, the women over Gulf Coast for the third straight time. Chipola’s baseball team opened with an emphatic three-game sweep of Gulf Coast. And Chipola’s softballers won the Okaloosa-Walton Jimmie Stewart Memorial Tournament, beating the team Gulf Coast lost to in the semifinals.

Chipola has set the standard in the men’s sports. It has only been recently that the Lady Indians have caught up to the Lady Commodores.

Chipola has found a way to get the better of Roonie Scovel, though that takes nothing away from one of the best junior college coaches in the state and the country. As for softball, Susan Painter has been able to keep Chipola at arm’s length, but Belinda Hendrix hopes to change that.

The first meeting between of the season takes place Saturday at Joe Tom King Field in the Panhandle Conference opener for both teams. Gulf Coast swept Chipola last season, winning all six meetings, including two in the state tournament.

Hendrix stated that her program can take the next step only when it defeats Gulf Coast. One win in Saturday’s doubleheader would go a long way to turning the corner.

Some coaches have lost their jobs because they couldn’t beat Gulf Coast in softball. Painter also is one of the top coaches in the country, and earning wins against her only helps the resume.
Chipola has been impressive, including defeating Chattanooga State 14-2 in the O-W tourney final. Chattanooga State beat Gulf Coast 5-4 in nine innings in the semifinal.

Scores are misleading at times, however. I didn’t see the games. Perhaps Chattanooga State wasted its pitching in the nine-inning affair, or maybe Chipola is just that good.

In any case, and to excuse the cliche, anything can happen Saturday. When Chipola and Gulf Coast meet you’re certain to see a competitive matchup. And to throw out another tired phrase, the records can be thrown out when it comes to these teams.

Both teams will find out where they stand. And it’s a long season, but the team that comes out on top would serve notice to the rest of the conference and to the other program as to which one is the team to beat.

Post from: Organized Chaos

The Lady Commodores, ranked third in the state, travel to Winter Haven for the Polk Tournament Saturday and Sunday. They will play five games, two of which come against other Top 10 teams. Painter should be to 600 and beyond barring an unheard of five-game losing streak.

All of her wins have come at Gulf Coast. She took over the program in 1994, coaching the team in its final season of slowpitch. The fastpitch era began in 1995 and she hasn’t looked back.

Painter will soon become only the third active junior college coach in the state with 600 or more wins. St. Petersburg’s Lance Lamport and Florida Community College-Jacksonville’s Jami Friedman lead the way with 815 and 781 wins, respectively.

Painter also will be only one of 10 active juco coaches in the country with 600 or more wins, according to NJCAA records. Also, a quick count among NCAA coaches past and present yields a number of about 64 coaches on both levels who have 600 or more victories.

Gulf Coast won 52 or more games in five of the last six seasons, led by a school record 57 victories in both 2004 and 2006. Not coincidentally, those seasons culminated in national tournament berths and second-place finishes.

And there lies the one missing victory.

Gulf Coast needed just one win in 2001 and 2004 to secure national championships. The Lady Commodores came through the losers’ bracket last season, needing two wins in the title game before falling in its first try against Pima, Ariz.

Painter is confident a national title will come to Panama City. She has been close before and will undoubtedly be close again.
But even if she doesn’t win a national title, she’s still set the standard for all other coaches in the Panhandle to follow. It’s difficult to fathom someone ever topping Painter when she decides its time to move on or walk away.

And though she’s been modest about win totals throughout her career, there’s little question that she may think of eclipsing Gulf Coast’s all-time winning mark of 881, set by the late Bill Frazier with the school’s baseball program. At this rate, she’ll surpass that record in 2013.

And, as always, you can surf to my blog index for more entries.

Post from: Organized Chaos