Colleges

SPC takes baseball state title in 3-0 win

By RODNEY PAGE
Published May 11, 2005

KISSIMMEE - St. Petersburg College is getting its first state baseball championship banner. And coach Dave Pano is getting his first tattoo.

The Titans beat Chipola College 3-0 Tuesday afternoon at Osceola County Stadium to cap an impressive tournament run of five straight wins.

They also have qualified for the National Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, Colo., May 28-June 4. When the Titans (44-14) play in that tournament, Pano will sport a new tattoo as part of a deal he made with his team before the season.

"I hate tattoos," said Pano, who has taken SPC to eight consecutive state tournaments. "Everyone on this team, almost, has one. ... I told them in the fall that if they win a state championship, I'll get a tattoo. Hey, I'll go through with it."

The tattoo, likely the SPC logo on his upper arm, will remind Pano of how well his team played. The championship game was a microcosm of the tournament.

There was good pitching. Former Northside Christian pitcher Todd Redmond scattered eight hits over nine innings to earn his second win in the tournament. Redmond, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Pitcher, also pitched nine shutout innings against Miami-Dade CC.

There was good defense. Catcher Trent Cline essentially ended a threat by throwing out Chipola's Darren Ford trying to steal second with a man on third and one out in the third. SPC leftfielder Steve Paddock climbed the fence to rob Travis Anderson of a home run in the fourth. "Pitching and defense, that's what won this for us," Paddock said. "Right now I don't think there are any holes in our defense. We had something to play for here, and we all came together."

The Titans came up with just enough offense to win. In the second inning Kline doubled with one out and was driven in one batter later on a Paddock single. In the third Willie Hernandez hit a home run to make it 2-0. John Scaglione collected the last RBI of the game, grounding into a bases loaded fielder's choice with one out in the fourth.

From there Redmond (12-2) took over. He had seven strikeouts and didn't allow a runner past second base after the third inning.

"(Redmond) has guts," Pano said. "He competes his butt off. All of our pitching was outstanding in this tournament. That and defense and some timely hitting won this thing for us."

For Redmond the game was redemption for a subpar performance in the state championship game two years ago with Northside Christian.

"Finally," Redmond said. "I wanted it even more since what happened in high school. ... I don't know that anyone on this team has won a state championship, so this feels great."

[Last modified May 11, 2005, 00:46:18]