Cougars End Regular Season On High Note

FREDERICK, Md. -  Whew! I'd say the FCC baseball team and coaching staff deserve a couple of days off. After playing 11 games in eight days, the Cougars will take some time to rest tired arms and legs and then return to the diamond as they prepare for postseason action. In those eight days, FCC Head Coach Rodney Bennett captured win No. 600 and the Cougars sealed a perfect record of 16-0 in Region XX D2 play.

On Saturday afternoon, FCC swept Prince Geogre's Community College by the scores of 10-0 (six innings) and 6-2. FCC finished the regular season with a record of 34-15 (20-6 MD JUCO).

Game 1

FCC starting pitcher Nick Pantos (9-1) continues his magical season on the mound. The hard-throwing righty was dealing on the hill as he picked up his ninth win of the season and gave up just two hits. He tossed five innings and struck out 10 batters. This season, he has pitched 61 innings with 81 strikeouts and just 21 walks. Pantos has only given up 36 hits on the year and sports an ERA of just 2.80. Brad Foster came out of the bullpen and pitched one inning to hold the shutout.

FCC brought the lumber to the field today as their bats were on fire! The top of the order is on quite a tear and continues to produce. FCC leadoff hitter Jared Pine went 2-for-4 with a triple. Hayden Kissel went 2-for-3 and scored three runs. Eric Naylor was a perfect 3-for-3 (2 2B) at the dish and has been ripping the cover off the baseball the entire season. Pine, Kissel, Mitch Long, Brandon Austin, and Josh Greenberg each had two hits. Naylor knocked in a game-high five RBIs and is hitting .409 on the year

Game 2

The FCC offense manufactured a run in five out of six innings. FCC third baseman Brandon Austin had a double and knocked in a run. Zachary Faust had a seeing-eye single and recorded an RBI in the win!

Four different pitchers toed the rubber for FCC in game two.  Antonio Bianchini got the nod and tossed two innings. He was relieved by Sean Clark who pitched two innings and gets credit for the win. Clark improves to 2-2 on the year. Brayden Coe tossed two perfect innings and Teagan Staver pitched the seventh to secure the win

UP NEXT:

FCC will return to the diamond on Friday (5/11) as the No. 1 seed of the Region XX D2 Tournament. FCC's opponent will be announced later this week. First pitch on Friday for FCC will be at 3:00 P.M. CCBC Catonsville is the host site of the tournament.

Familiar Face Returns To FCC:

Great to see former FCC baseball standout SS CJ Mackinson in the house! Mackinson just completed his junior year at Francis Marion University. He hit .320 with six dingers and was named the team's Most Valuable Player this season! Winner in the classroom and on the diamond!

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FCC BASEBALL BY THE NUMBERS
Overall Record: 34- 15
Region XX D2 Record: 16-0
Conference Record: 20-6
Home Record: 16-4
Streak: Won 2