Softball team ready to open new season

The Eastern Florida State College softball team will open the regular season Friday with a pair of games at the 14^th annual JUCO Kickoff at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater.

The Titans are coming off a 26-win season last season and will open on Friday at 12:30 p.m. against Georgia Military College who went to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament last year after winning the GCAA Championship.

Eastern Florida State College will play the State College of Florida-Manatee at 3 p.m. Friday. SCF-Manatee won 25 games last season.

On Saturday the Titans will play St. Petersburg College at 1:30 p.m. and then wrap up the two-day tournament against Lake Sumter State College at 4 p.m.

Trinity Howard and Mandy Hedetniemi-Taylor return from last year's team and will be the top two starting pitchers for the Titans again this season.

Overall, seven Titans are returning from last year's team.

"Experience is really important but being successful in those experiences is even more important and we have a really talented sophomore class coming back and our team is centered around that group," Eastern Florida State College softball coach Shelby Petik said.

Joining the experienced group is a talented group of freshmen that have coach Petik excited for the start of the season.

"I am really excited about this freshman class, there is a lot of pure athleticism on this team which will be fun to watch," Petik said.

Eastern Florida State College will open at home Thursday, Feb. 2 against No. 12 College of Central Florida for a doubleheader that begins at 3 p.m. at the Titan Softball Complex. Admission is free to softball games and you can watch the doubleheader on the EFSC Titans YouTube page.