Seminole State College of Florida lost an uncharacteristic 23 games last year, but somehow the Raiders found themselves one hit away from advancing to the NJCAA tournament.

Flashing back to the 2016 Florida State Championships, Seminole State lost a 3-2 game to Florida Southwestern in the loser bracket finals. Had the Raiders won that game, they would have earned a spot at nationals -- a goal head coach Courtney Miller said is definitely on her players' minds this season.

"I think the freshmen who played an important part in our success last year dedicated themselves to really working hard this year to meet our goal of getting to the national tournament," Miller said. "We have tried to keep it real simple by just executing the fundamentals and being consistent in our defense, hitting, and pitching areas, and it seems to be working for us."



"Working for us" may be an understatement. Through this past weekend, eighth-ranked Seminole State has compiled a 32-3 record. And -- as Miller stated -- the Raiders have accomplished it by being consistently excellent in all phases of the game.

After 35 games, Seminole State is hitting .398 as a team. The Raiders' offense centers around leadoff hitter Jordan Davis, a sophomore outfielder who is hitting a blistering .588 this season and leads the Seminole State in average, on-base percentage (.595), hits (70), runs (43), and stolen bases (35).  

Untimely Injury

Miller said she was somewhat concerned when her team lost Kate Kelly (.416, 49 stolen bases in 2016) to a season-ending injury in the fall, but sophomore Cameryn Strother (.519, 10 SB this season) has stepped in to fill the second spot in the lineup.   

"You can't lose a .400 hitter who stole close to 50 bases out of the No. 2 hole and not be concerned," Miller said.  "But with Cameryn, we haven't missed a beat. With those two at the top of the lineup, we have the ability to score a lot of runs."

Led by Davis and Strother, the Raiders use both their a high batting average and speed on the basepaths to put pressure on opposing defenses. Seminole State has stolen 73 bases on the season and has been caught just three times.  

Although the team has not shown a lot of power (19 home runs), freshman catcher and designed player Alyssa Oaks has shown some pop with the bat with 13 doubles, four home runs, and 40 RBIs, while Whitney Foyer leads the team with six home runs and has added 34 RBIs.



Averaging almost seven runs a game, the Seminole State offense has taken a lot of pressure off the team's pitchers. Melanie Murphy is the ace of the staff with a 17-1 record and 1.89 ERA, but Miller is not afraid to use Kyra Gipson (11-1, 1.62 ERA) and Caitlyn Jones (7-0, 2.64 ERA) on a regular basis.

"We are fortunate to have three solid starters," Miller said. "There have been a few games where the starting pitcher struggled and had to be pulled, but whoever came in finished the job and got us the win. Murphy is our No. 1 and being a lefty, seems to give opponents a tough time.

"Gipson has really come along her last few starts. ... Jones doesn't have as many innings, but throws harder than the other two, so she has a lot of potential to become our closer as the season moves along."

Closing strong

Miller says she approaches the season by dividing it into thirds. The first third of the season revolves around non-conference games, a time she says she uses to "experiment with lineups and to see how things fit together."  

Seminole State just started its conference schedule, which Miller said is the most enjoyable time for her players.  

"They get to compete against players they are familiar with from high school, and they also know how important those games are because we have to finish in the top four in the conference to qualify for the state tournament," Miller said.

But it is during the final third of the season that things get serious.  

The state championship, which is also the NJCAA Region 8 Tournament, brings the best Division I junior college teams in the state together for a 16-team double-elimination tournament, in which only the top two teams advance to nationals.

According to the latest NJCAA national poll, six of the nation's top 20 teams reside in Region 8, including No. 2 Chipola (39-2), No. 3 Florida Southwestern State (40-3), No. 5 Central Florida (34-7), No. 8 Seminole State, No. 11 Daytona State (23-7), and No. 14 Northwest Florida State (29-9).

"Winning games in our conference is difficult but advancing out of our region is even harder," Miller said. "Anyone is capable beating anyone else on a given day and you see that time and again in this conference and region. We try to stay focused on one team at a time, and no matter if a game doesn't go our way, this team has a short memory so I know they will bounce back."