Defense emphasized as TCC prep for Ocala Regional series at College of Central Florida

This isn't about revenge.

The is about winning and advancing in the FCSAA/NJCAA South Atlantic District 8 Tournament that starts Friday.

The Tallahassee Community College Eagles (33-16, 14-10 Panhandle) face College of Central Florida (41-14, 27-3 Mid-Florida) in a best-of-three series in the Ocala Regional at Goodlett Field in Ocala.

The winner will represent the region in the double-elimination round May 12-15.

TCC COVERAGE

• TCC honors retiring Mike McLeod, Eagles secure spot in JUCO state tournament

• TCC baseball in the state tourney mix as Panhandle Conference schedule winds down

EVENING THE SCORE

The Patriots traveled to Eagle Field on Feb. 9 and escaped with a 4-3 victory in extra innings.

"We're not trying to avenge anything but we're trying to win," TCC coach Mike McLeod said.

"They're a very fine and well-coached ball club. The pitching coach (Zac Cole) is a guy from Tallahassee and the head coach (Marty Smith) and I have known each other for 35 years. It should be a great series.

"When they came up here, we let John Marant hit two massive home runs off of us to win the game."

STREAK VS. STREAK

The teams are both riding on three-game winning streaks. One will come to an end.

The Eagles won the back half of a two-game series against Northwest Florida and swept Pensacola State.

Over that span, they allowed 1.6 runs per game.

"It all begins on the mound," McLeod said.

"And (Ethan) Firoved sets the tone for us. When we moved (Andrew) Fernandez from third to second, I think it shorted us up in the middle. We were struggling there. But it also put a guy at third that hadn't played a whole lot so it's sort of a yin and a yang to everything you do. But that move improved us greatly on defense.

"If we're able to hold people down, our offense is usually able to get something going in time to win."

Firoved, a freshman transfer from Virginia Tech, struck out eight in the Northwest Florida win in his last start.

"I've been just been trying to be real productive throughout the week," he said. "It's important to set the tone. It starts with pitching and defense.

"I just need to throw strikes and letting our defense work. (Ethan) Krizen is one of the best catchers in JUCO ball. Trust will get the job done."

A NEW FORMAT

It's a new JUCO State Tournament setup where the top two teams from the Panhandle and the top two from Mid-Florida meets in a three-game series.

The Suncoast and Southern conferences meet in the opposite bracket.

The top seed hosts and the winner of the four team, double-elimination round will get an automatic bid to the World Series.

Finishing second in the Panhandle behind Chipola College, the Eagles are at Ocala to play the Mid-Florida winners College of Central Florida for their first round series.

"I love the format over the eight-team tournament," McLeod said. "We also had a 10-team tournament with a play-in game. We were in it twice. It gives teams more an opportunity to earn a postseason berth.

"In those eight or ten-team tournaments, if you lost the first game, it was over," McLeod added. "It was a war of attrition. I've been in the state Florida and I've know one team in that old format that lost the first day and came back to go to the World Series.

"It's a very hard, grueling tournament that I've voted against it for the last 20 something years and they finally listened to me even though a six-team state tournament will give the third-place team in the conference a chance for postseason play."

Schedule

Game 1: Friday, 2 p.m. at Goodlett Field

Game 2: Saturday, 11 a.m. at Goodlett Field

Game 3: Saturday, 2:30 p.m., if necessary at Goodlett Field

All-Panhandle Conference

TCC representatives

First-Team

Infield: Jayson Zmejkowski.

Outfield: Josh Pigozzo

Catcher: Ethan Krizen

DH: Marcos Dinges

Pitcher: Ethan Firoved

Second-Team

Infield: Andrew Fernandez

Outfield: Justen Crews

AWARD WINNERS

Player of the Year: Tucker Flint, Chipola

Pitcher of the Year: Ethan Firoved, TCC

Fireman of the Year: Grant Harrison, TCC

Defensive Player of the Year: Ethan Krizen, TCC

Coach of the Year: Jeff Johnson, Chipola

Gerald Thomas III covers TCC athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Eagles head to CCF for best of three series in Ocala Regional