The Mid-Florida Conference champion Santa Fe College softball team split its doubleheader against St. Petersburg College on Tuesday.
The Saints (47-7, 19-5 MFC) beat the Titans in Game 1 by a 7-1 margin and lost in Game 2 by a score of 11-1.
"The second game was a tune-up game to get ready for states," SFC coach Chris Ahern said. "We wanted to see how everything worked together. The pressure came off Saturday when we won the conference after beating Central Florida Community College."
Freshman Kimberly Squires (26-3) picked up the win in the first game, giving up 1 run on three hits. She had two strikeouts.
Squires and freshman outfielder Lawna Hunter were responsible for five of the game's 7 runs with two and three RBIs, respectively.
The Saints put up 2 more runs in the bottom of the sixth off RBIs from sophomore outfielders Brittany Cannon and B.B. Jean-Francois.
"(We) definitely had to battle back for the conference title," sophomore third baseman Kristina Cruz said. "We had a few more losses this season than we did last. It's a different team and it has great potential. We're ready to take on states."
In Game 2, SFC struggled to put even 1 run on the board. An RBI groundout from Hunter tied the game at 1-1 in the first inning.
But the Titans dominated the Saints' pitching, scoring 8 runs in the top of the fourth inning. The game ended in the fifth inning when the game was called on a mercy rule.
Despite the loss, SFC still finished the season one game ahead of Seminole Community College in the MFC to clinch the conference for the fifth time in a row. The Saints are ranked the third in the state and No. 8 in the country.
In addition to being named conference champions over the weekend, SFC was honored by having substantial representation on the MFC first and second teams. Nadirah Nesfield, Erika Garica, Ashley Schmitt, Maria Gilreath, and Morgan Fortson were named to MFC's second team. On the conference's first team are Cannon, Hunter, Cruz and Squires.
Jean-Francios, Ali Savage, Brittany Holick, Yahtea Benton and Carissa Albizu received honorable mentions in their conference, and Cannon was named MFC Player of the Year.
"It's great," Cannon said. "I'm glad I can help my team out in every way. I plan on continuing that through states, which we are going to win."
