On April 10, 2013, the Hillsborough Community College Hawks hosted their annual Community Baseball Night at George Steinbrenner Field. HCC took the field against the Pasco Hernando Community College Conquistadors for their last meeting of their two game series of the season. Their first meeting of the season resulted in an 8-3 loss for the Hawks away from home.

  The game was free to all spectators who wanted to attend and the Student Government Association offered free food and handed out free “Terrible Towels” with the HCC Hawks logo on it; along with HCC blankets, and “Crazy Bird” sunglasses. The total number of spectators was around 300 people, which is considered to be a great outing for this size of an event.

  The lower section of the stands was littered with HCC supporters that had turned out to support the team during their run for the playoffs. Students were showing their school spirit, with body paint and HCC themed shirts. The spectators enjoyed danced to the walk-up music, cheered for their friends on the field, and even raced each other for foul balls.

  HCC came out with their bats swinging and took an early 3-0 lead by the second inning that was highlighted by a 2 RBI double by Omar Williams. Later in game, Tyler Sanchez put the Hawks out of reach of PHCC with a 3 RBI in-park homerun. The game ended in an 8-3 victory for HCC and put the Hawks one game closer to their goal of the state playoffs.

  The Hawks have been struggling this season this season, only posting a 17-21-1 record. PHCC on the other hand has thrived this season, winning 29 games before tonight and is now eligible for playoff contention. Even with the Hawk’s mediocre record, they are still second in the Suncoast Conference with a 10-9 record and still hold on to their playoff hopes.

  With only eight games left in the season, the Hawks have a small window of opportunity to take over State College of Florida in the Suncoast Conference for the conference champion spot. Four of the eight games remaining for the Hawks are against State College of Florida, with two of the games being played at home (Community Field at Steinbrenner Field). The two teams have not had an opportunity to play against each other before except for one game that had to be forfeited by HCC.

  The state tournament championship will be held at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida, from May 10-14.

  Both the conference champion and runner-up from each conference will be eligible to compete in the tournament. The past two years the Hawks have had to watch the tournament play out without them in the competition, but look to break that skid this year and hope to leave an impression with the other teams in the tournament.