The FCC Baseball team continued their torrid pace in March as they concluded this week’s schedule with a 11-1 victory over NCAA DII Hillsdale College (the game was called after eight innings due to the mercy rule). It was the 2nd win of the week over Hillsdale for the Suns, they defeated the Chargers 8-2 on Monday. It was the third win of the season over a NCAA DII opponent for FCC. The first was back on 2/24 when the Suns defeated the St. Leo Lions. The Lions are currently one of the top teams in the Sunshine State Conference. That first DII win was also a first for the FCC Athletic Dept., which is quickly growing into a force in Florida. That win over St. Leo helped propel the Suns into a current 13-4 run, which includes wins over NCCAA foes Lincoln Christian (twice), Valley Forge, Clearwater Christian, and defending national NCCAA DII champion, Toccoa Falls. The victory over Clearwater Christian was an exciting 1-0 shutout by Brent Hodge (Fr., Daytona Beach). That performance earned Hodge a national Player of the Week nomination. He also pitched a gem against defending national champion, Toccoa Falls, but all the runs that FCC gave up were unearned in a 2-3 loss. The Suns bounced back to mercy-rule Toccoa Falls in the nightcap of their doubleheader, 12-1. The Suns also picked up wins over NAIA opponents, Florida Memorial, Calumet College (twice), and Mt. Vernon Nazarene College (twice), a perennial NAIA, NCCAA DI power. Along the way the Suns also added another national Player of the Week nominee as Andres Cancio (Fr., Orlando) had a tremendous week (March 5-11) with an 11 for 18 performance at the plate, that included three doubles, a triple and six RBI’s. The NCCAA has not announced the national player of the week selections for March yet, but that should be coming soon. FCC Head Coach, Jon Copeland, is pleased with the squad’s performance so far in March, “As a first-year program, it naturally took some time for the players to coalesce and build together what it means to play Suns Baseball on a consistent basis. They have followed our program very well, and are enjoying some of the benefits of that. But we still have a lot of hard work ahead”.

Player of the Week: Mark Vidal, (So., Daytona Beach), capped off a solid week with a 4-hit, 3-RBI, 2-doubles performance in the 11-1 win over Hillsdale College.

Next Week: The Suns continue their play in the Florida RussMatt Invitational at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex in Auburndale when they face Lindenwood-Belleville on 3/26 and 3/29 at 3pm, and the U. of Maine- Farmington on 3/28 at 3pm.