Pasco-Hernando State College Volume XIII, Issue II Fall 2019 | Page 14

ATHLETICS
UPDATE
The 2018-19 PHSC baseball team celebrates their third place
finish at NJCAA DII World Series.
Bobcats Prove Relentless—Finish Third
in Nation
The Bobcat’s 2018-19 baseball season was neatly summed up
in a Twitter post by Superfan Bob Bade, PHSC Vice President of
Student Affairs and Enrollment Management:
“Congratulations to the 2018-2019 #PHSCBaseball
team on their incredible season. The #Bobcats
finished NJCAA Division II Region 8 champions,
Southeast District Champions, and third in the nation,
topping the fourth place finish earned in 2014.”
Every ballplayer’s dream is to play in a World Series, whether Little
League, high school, college or Major League. “Getting to the
World Series is the ultimate award and finishing third in the country
is remarkable. The team came together at the right time and played
for each other. It was exciting to watch this team play and never
quit until the final out,” said Winterling.
Coleman says the players will remember this experience for the
rest of their lives and tell stories to their grandchildren. “I’m really
proud of the way they fought,” said Coleman. “We struggled to do
that in the beginning of the season. We were a bunch of individuals
starting the year and we finished as one team.”
Reflecting on the season, Lyndon Coleman, first-year head coach,
said, “Going into regionals, I finally felt like we were playing our
best baseball.” At the district tournament, the Bobcat’s changed
their strategy after losing game one. “The first loss in districts was
a tough pill to swallow. Our guys were definitely motivated to win
even after losing the first game and once we focused on winning
every single pitch rather than trying to win the game, I knew we had
a chance to come back and win it all.”
The team headed into the World Series with that same strategy
taking them and fans on a rollercoaster ride throughout the
tournament. The PHSC Bobcats made the largest comeback
victory in ballpark history to stay alive in the NJCAA World Series.
The Bobcats eliminated top seeded Pearl River by scoring 10
unanswered runs in the final three innings for victory. In their
fight to play in the top two, the Bobcats beat Northern Oklahoma
College-Enid forcing an “If Game” against NOC-Enid. The Bobcats
eventually fell to NOC-Enid, who went on to win the NJCAA DII
World Series.
Athletic Director and former head coach Steve Winterling said, “It
felt like a reunion, having our same tournament hosts as in 2014,
Slater Mechanical and the Aggies baseball team. The whole town
embraced us and cheered us on. But, my focus this time was
ensuring the team received first-class accommodations for the 10
tournament days. Lyndon and his staff did a remarkable job
of coaching.”
14
PHSC Perspective
Coach Lyndon Coleman accepts the third place trophy.
CHECK OUT PHSC’S YOUTUBE
CHANNEL FOR TEAM VIDEO AND THE
WORLD SERIES EXPERIENCE.