KISSIMMEE - St. Petersburg College got the rematch it wanted Monday afternoon against Seminole Community College in the Florida Community College state tournament. And things were a little different this time around.
Instead of going through one bad inning, the Titans had two.
SPC gave up four runs in the third inning and five in the seventh in a 9-5 loss at Osceola County Stadium. The Titans (36-14) were eliminated from the tournament and are 0-for-6 in as many years in their quest for a first state title.
Seminole CC faces Okaloosa-Walton CC today at noon. OWCC has to win twice to take the state title. If Seminole wins it will be the state champion.
"The whole tournament really came down to two bad innings," SPC coach Dave Pano said.
The first came Saturday, when the Titans gave up nine runs in the seventh to Seminole CC in a 14-12 loss. The second was the seventh on Monday, which would not have hurt as much if it wasn't for the four-run third.
SPC starter T.J. Large (10-2) got in trouble in the third when he walked six of the 10 batters he faced. The inning started with consecutive walks, and after a strikeout of Michael Hntyka, Large walked two more batters to tie the score at 1. Courtney Probst followed with an RBI single, and Dan Quartararo and Matt Matheson each got RBIs when they walked with the bases loaded to make it 4-1.
But the Titans came back to tie it at 4 on Brendan Winn's three-run home run off Troy Beall. Diego Guandagnino had an RBI single in the inning to give SPC its only lead, 5-4.
Large found his control until the seventh, when things went south fast. A single and a walk chased Large, who walked nine. Jason Costello came in, but a hit batsman with the bases loaded and an RBI single by Dan Quartararo made it 6-5.
Shawn Williams relieved Costello, but he gave up three more runs on two singles. The Titans failed to score off Seminole reliever Uriah Kimmig, who pitched 21/3 innings to earn the win.
"We've been swinging the bats well," Pano said. "But we didn't get any key hits today. We left two guys on base in each of the first four innings. You can't do that."
