There are times when third place is a disappointment, then there are times when third is acceptable.
For the 2004 St. Petersburg College baseball team, third place at the state junior college tournament in Kissimmee was just fine.
The Titans were not expected to make much of an impact after losing several key players to graduation and the Major League Baseball draft.
And after securing second place in the Suncoast Conference on the last weekend of the season, not much was expected of SPC in the state tournament.
But a surprising opening-round win against Tallahassee CC, Florida's top-ranked junior college team, and a loser's bracket win May 9 against conference rival Manatee CC had the Titans thinking about their first-ever state championship.
In an elimination game, however, SPC fell 9-2 to Pensacola CC. Pensacola went on the win the state championship. The Titans (33-16) gladly accepted third.
"Hey, third place in the state with the young team we had, I'm very pleased," SPC coach Dave Pano said.
"Hand it to Pensacola, they made just about every play. I've been here enough now and I know what it takes to win this thing. It's a long process. I know exactly what we need to do to get back here next year."
This was the seventh straight season SPC has qualified for the state tournament.
And on paper it looks like an eighth straight appearance is likely. The Titans return their top seven pitchers, including starters Todd Redmond and Reidier Gonzalez. Key position players like Peter Taraskevich and Steve Paddock also return.
The only hitch could be the June baseball draft, where some players may forego their sophomore seasons for a professional contract.
"You can't predict the draft," Pano said.
Pano has commitments from some of Florida's best players, including locals Ryan Koch of Osceola and Chris Wheaton of Palm Harbor University. He'll continue to recruit this summer.
"I think we've established ourselves as one of the top two or three teams in the state consistently," Pano said. "We're looking all over the state for players. We'll continue to do that."
SEASON'S OVER: Eckerd College wrapped up its baseball and softball seasons last week. The baseball team finished 21-31 overall, 7-14 in the Sunshine State conference. Joe Savino led the Tritons with a .325 average, 37 RBIs and seven home runs. Chris Rosende and Craig Albernaz each hit .287.
Jason Wishin had a solid season on the mound. He was 2-2 with a 2.52 ERA in 711/3 innings. Bill Evers was the other pitcher with a .500 or better record. He was 4-3 with a 4.62 ERA and 44 strikeouts. Evers threw a no-hitter against Rollins in March.
"We struggled a little bit with some injuries early to Billy Evers (wrist and back) and Joe Milbury was lost for seven weeks with a hamstring injury," Eckerd coach Bill Mathews said.
"He was our clean-up hitter, so that was a big loss. We also had 22 one-run games and lost 13 of them. So the season was a little less than we expected, but there were also some good individual efforts."
The Tritons return their top seven pitchers and five of their top eight hitters. Key losses will be Evers and Rosende.
The Eckerd softball team struggled through another tough season. It was 14-36-1 overall and 1-20 in the SSC. Amy Kilbert was a bright spot at the plate with a .302 average in 51 games. Kristina Lemon made the most appearances on the mound and was 13-18 with a 3.75 ERA.
ECKERD TENNIS: The women's team lost 5-1 to SSC rival Florida Southern in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional at Rollins College on May 7. The Tritons' doubles team of Amanda McClure and Magdalena Correa won their doubles match for Eckerd's only point.
The Eckerd men's team lost 5-3 to Lynn University at the same tournament. Byron Kidd was the only singles winner for the Tritons. The Eckerd doubles team of Sebastian Niedermayer and Nikola Vujovic, as well as Rafael Neves and Kidd, won their matches.
SPC SOFTBALL: Things started well for St. Petersburg College in the junior college state championship, then quickly went downhill. After defeating Okaloosa Walton CC 5-0 in the opener at Kissimmee's Osceola County softball complex, the Titans lost 10-0 to Gulf Coast CC and 1-0 to Pensacola CC in a loser's bracket game.
Gulf Coast CC won the Gulf District bracket but lost to Indian River CC in the overall state championship. The Titans ended their season 45-20.
ROLLINS BEST IN CONFERENCE: Rollins College in Winter Park won the SSC Mayor's Cup for men's and women's athletics. The Mayor's Cup is awarded to the school with the most successful athletic program during the school year.
Rollins men's and women's programs won five different conference championships and sent eight programs to the postseason. Tampa finished fifth in men's athletics and Eckerd sixth. Tampa was fourth in women's athletics and Eckerd was eighth.
