NEW PORT RICHEY - The Pasco-Hernando Community College softball team had four straight 40-win seasons from 1997-2000, including a school-record 44 in 1997.
The Conquistadors are on the verge of reaching the 40-win plateau for the fifth time.
"I'm not really worried about that," coach Tom Ryan said of the mark. "That's not even in my brain."
Of greater concern is preparing for the playoffs. PHCC, which has won four straight and 12 of 16, has appeared in seven state tournaments and was the runnerup in 1998.
"We're just trying to keep things going and, hopefully, qualify for the postseason," Ryan said.
PHCC (29-12, 12-2 Suncoast Conference) is in prime position to do that. The Conquistadors share the conference lead with Manatee (12-2). The top four conference teams reach the state tournament.
PHCC hosted a round-robin tournament Saturday and won twice. The Conquistadors defeated Hillsborough 12-3 and St. Petersburg College 1-0.
Santa Fe also won twice with Hillsborough and St. Petersburg College each finishing 0-2.
April Slate (Land O'Lakes) had two hits, including a double against Hillsborough, and drove in the winning run against SPC. Slate's single scored Tesheena Pinder in the third inning.
Slate leads PHCC in batting (.374), triples (three) and stolen bases (32).
Chrissy Carter (Hernando), who tripled in the Hillsborough game, has a .349 average and leads the team in doubles (12) and RBIs (22).
Andy Babij (Land O'Lakes) is hitting .330 with 21 RBIs.
Pitcher Elise Powell scattered four hits to beat Hillsborough and Shauna Kortas (Ridgewood) pitched a two-hitter against St. Petersburg College.
Ryan opted to rest his top pitcher, Cassie Pearson (Crystal River), on Saturday.
Pearson earned her team-leading 13th win Thursday, 5-1 in the first game of a doubleheader at Lake Sumter. Powell won the second game, 6-0.
Pearson is 13-3 with a 1.78 ERA and 66 strikeouts.
SIX FOR BUA: Erik Bua (Ridgewood) set a PHCC baseball record in Friday's 5-4 win over Lake Sumter. The sophomore right-hander tossed his single-season record sixth complete game.
Kyle Albright slugged his team-leading fifth homer.
On Saturday, Lake Sumter won 4-3, snapping PHCC's three-game winning streak and dropping the Conquistadors to 16-13, 5-7.
THREE-PEAT: For the third time this season Saint Leo softball pitcher Katie Heintz was named Sunshine State Conference player of the week (March 20-26).
The senior southpaw, who this month became the school's career strikeout leader, was 2-1 with a save and an 0.29 ERA in 24.1 innings. She struck out 44 and walked four, and ranks sixth on the Division II career strikeout list with 1,021.
Heintz tossed back-to-back three-hit shutouts last week in wins over Alabama-Huntsville and Rollins.
Saint Leo (21-13, 5-4 in SSC play) was led offensively last week by catcher Heather Stroud , a former standout at Pasco.
Stroud, who catches and plays second base, hit .353 with three RBIs. The Lions' other top hitters for the week included Ashley Urbanik (.333), Ali Flynn (.318) and Monique Dominguez (.316).
