San Jacinto College softball places fourth at nationals

Kyle Smith - 5/17/2008

PLANT CITY, Florida – The San Jacinto College softball team fell to top-ranked, and top-seeded, Santa Fe Community College (SFCC), 13-2 placing them fourth in the 2008 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I Fast Pitch National Championship.

SFCC immediately drove in four runs in the first inning before a 30-minute rain delay. When the teams returned to the field, SFCC drove in another five runs to make it 9-0 going into the bottom of the first. San Jac would hold them to only four more runs for the game but were unable to produce enough runs to close the gap.

The game was called after five innings, advancing Santa Fe to the next round and ending San Jac’s run for it’s first-ever softball national title. Making it all the way to the top four, and despite what others have said in the league, San Jac proved to everyone that they deserved to be there.

After playing five games in the span of two days, San Jac showed fatigue early on against SFCC. “We simply ran out of gas at the end. The key thing is the team never rolled over, and I couldn’t have asked for more effort on their part,” said fifth-year head coach Kelly Saenz. San Jac finishes the year with a 41-17 record.