By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

Heritage Christian baseball and softball players will be busy over the next week competing at the Florida Christian Conference playoffs.

The baseball team, 10-2, takes on Providence Christian Friday at 3 p.m. at the South Orange complex in the FCC state semifinal round.

The winner advances to the state championship game May 5 at Winter Springs. Grace Christian is favored in the other semifinal.

Coach Jeremy Beaver and assistant coach Hal Epperson have put together a solid team that is capable of winning the championship, Epperson said.

“Over the past three years, we’ve been building the program and we’ve reached the point where we can say that we are pretty good,” he said.

The roster includes seniors Yamil Calderon, Trey Epperson and Moises Robles. Sophomores Sean Gonzalez, Chris Herrador and Davielle Justiniano are joined by freshmen Dominick Maldonado, Christian  Munoz and Alex Tirado.

The team includes eighth graders Dallas Beaver and A. J. Uriarte; seventh graders Matt Herrador, Lemuel Mora and Matthew Smith.

The softball team, 5-3 and seeded No. 2, begins it’s playoff journey Monday at the South Orange Little League complex when it takes on No. 3 Altamonte Christian in the semifinal round of a four-team playoff. Top-seed Eastland Christian will play the No. 4 seed, which was determined Tuesday. The winners will play for the FCC championship May 5 at Winter Springs.

Coach Mike Cool, in his first season, said his team has won five of its last six games after a slow start.

“We’ve got a great mix of kids. We’ve got sixth graders who are playing for the first time and juniors and seniors who are going great things for us,” Cool, the former assistant baseball coach at Heritage, said. “The great thing about them is their willingness to learn.”

Katie Kleinhans, an eighth-grader, and sixth-grader Brooke Beaver have handled most of the pitching chores. Kleinhans also plays short.

Senior Megan Lima has developed into a good first baseman, Cool said, and senior Bethany Jarrell shifted to catcher early in the season to anchor that position.

Elizabeth Shorey has anchored center field.

The team suffered a loss last week when junior Yrelle De Vera suffered a dislocated finger that may keep her out for the balance of the season.

“Yrelle was having a fantastic season for us. We moved her from catcher to third after our first two games and she did a great job there,” Cool said.

Cool said assistant coach Ryan Grohous has played a key role in the players’ development.

Also contributing to the Eagles lineup are juniors Shawna Welter and Paula Mejia, sophomores Sara Bedoya, Kelly Riascos and Ke’Afia Hilbert, eighth grader Taylor Suarez and seventh graders Syanne Rowe, Rosarnie Perez and Velis Rivera.

See the entire newspaper here… (http://sunpubnews.com/digital/ONG/ONGAsection042612/) The article can be found on page 10 and continued on page 12.