SCF Hosts Suncoast Tournament, Sets Sight on FCSAA/NJCAA Tournament

The RV SCF softball team (41-13) look to qualify for the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 State Tournament at Boombah Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood, Florida. In order for them to qualify, the Manatees will first have to win the Suncoast Conference Tournament at the SCF Softball Complex in Bradenton on April 19 and 20.

The Manatees will await the winner between the #3 seed Hillsborough (18-25) and #4 seed St. Pete College (27-24) and play for best-of-3 series. The game between HCC and SPC will be played on Friday, April 19 at noon. SCF will then play the winner at 2 pm on April 19 for the first game. On April 20, game two will commence at 1 pm. Game three, if needed, will start at 3 pm. The winner of the Suncoast Tournament will qualify for a spot in the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 State Tournament.

Last Time Out:
The Manatees closed out Suncoast Conference Play in the regular with a sweep over Polk State by scores of 4-0 and 4-2 on the road. The Manatees earned sweeps against all of their Suncoast opponents but one: #1 FSW (52-1, 19-1 Suncoast). Despite the sweep over Polk State, the Manatees drop from the NJCAA Top 20, but are still receiving votes.

What's at Stake:
The winner of the Suncoast Tournament will secure a spot in the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 State Tournament at Boombah Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood, Florida. From there, the top two teams will go on to the NJCAA College Softball World Series in St. George, Utah.

Suncoast Standings:
1. #1 FSW (51-1, 19-1 Suncoast)* #
2. RV SCF (41-13, 16-4 Suncoast)
3. Hillsborough (18-25, 8-12 Suncoast)
4. St. Pete College (27-24, 7-13 Suncoast)%
5. Polk State (20-28, 6-14 Suncoast)
6. South Florida State (24-24, 4-16 Suncoast)

*: Suncoast Conference Regular Season Champions
#: Clinched Playoff Berth

Because of their conference records, Polk State and SFSC are not eligible to compete in the Suncoast Conference Tournament. Meanwhile, FSW has automatically secured a spot in the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 State Tournament, but what would happen if they were eliminated from the state tournament? If that's the case, then they would not be able to compete in the national tournament because there are no at-large bids in softball.

The Squad:
The squad that still leads the way for the Manatees in the sophomore class are Cheyenne Nunez, Haley McFadden, Kyria Holcomb and Megan Seeds, while for the freshman group it is Lauren Bostwick, Sabrina "Sas" Long, Madi LoCastro and Kailey Christian.

Nunez remains as the speedster on the team. The upcoming USC Upstate transfer is batting .350 with 57 hits, a home run, 27 RBI and 34 stolen bases. Nunez was 3-for-6 with two stolen bases against Polk State.

McFadden is batting .290 with 33 hits, two home runs and 28 RBI. Against Polk State, the upcoming Warner University transfer went 3-for-6 with a home run and three RBI.

Holcomb is batting .320 with 39 hits, a home run and 25 RBI. Against Polk State, Holcomb finished 3-for-7 with an RBI and a stolen base.

Seeds is batting .289 with 252 hits, a home run, 17 RBI and 11 stolen bases. Seeds was 2-for-7 with three RBI against Polk State.

Bostwick is batting .252 with 19 RBI and 23 stolen bases. Against Polk State, Bostwick went 0-for-5 with two stolen bases.

Long is batting .331 with two home runs and a team-leading 35 RBI despite going 1-for-7 against Polk State.

LoCastro is 9-2 with a 1.87 ERA and 47 strikeouts on the mound while still batting .336 with six home runs and 23 RBI at the plate. LoCastro did not pitch against Polk State, but went 1-for-3 at the plate.

Christian is 21-3 with a 1.87 ERA and 186 strikeouts while batting .354 with 46 hits, a home run and 29 RBI. The upcoming transfer for the University of Delaware that was named SCF Student-Athlete of the Month threw her fourth complete game shutout against Polk State with five strikeouts while batting 1-for-3 at the plate.


Scouting SPC:
The Titans fell to HCC losing 3-2 in game one and 8-0 in six innings. They will conclude the season against Seminole State College (42-14, 19-5 Mid-Florida) on Friday, April 26 at 1 and 3 pm.

Sophomore Sydney Tulin leads the team with five home runs at the plate, while on the mound she is 8-7 with a 4.49 ERA and 47 strikeouts.

Freshman Hannah Barnes is batting .377 with 32 RBI, while classmate Isabella Huff leads in batting average (.388), RBI (33) hits (67) and stolen bases (17).

Meanwhile freshman Ashley Smith joins Tulin with a  5-5 record, a 3.57 ERA and 50 strikeouts.

Scouting HCC:
The Hawks ended their part of Suncoast Conference play with a sweep over SPC to get the #3 seed in the tournament. After the tournament, HCC will play Seminole State on Saturday, April 27 at 1 and 3 pm.

At the plate, sophomore Dominique Mannerino is batting .380 with seven home runs and 31 RBI while fellow classmate Aliyah Carter is batting .304 with a team-leading 10 home runs and 38 RBI. 

Meanwhile the mound, freshman Landry Newgent is 11-14 with a 3.75 ERA and 50 strikeouts.

Series History (2012-present):
The Manatees are 20-14 against SPC and 25-7 against HCC. In fact, SCF swept both teams at home and on the road this season.

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available for the games and fans can also keep up on Twitter:
SCF: @SCFSoftbll
SPC: @spcsoftball
HCC: @HCCFL

Livestats Link (account needed): https://gc.com/t/spring-2019/state-college-of-florida-softball-5c4617fc03d69700218c16d3

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