By DAN HOEHNE
daniel.hoehne@newssun.com
AVON PARK - The early part of the season can set a tone, either good or bad, for the rest of the year.
And things could have turned sour rather quickly for the Lady Panthers of South Florida State College after dropping two of three at a pre-season tournament last weekend.
But the squad rebounded with consecutive, doubleheader sweeps this week to open the regular season schedule.
Pitching was the strong suit, with SFSC hurlers giving up a grand total of three runs over four games Tuesday and Thursday.
Gennifer Raulerson got the opening win in Tuesday's 7-1 downing of Lake Sumter, while Lexi Adams also surrendered a lone run on three hits in the 2-1 nightcap win.
Thursday saw the same duo wield their magic as Adams was rolling along with a three-hit shutout into the seventh against the College of Central Florida.
But with a 4-0 lead heading into the Patriots last at bat, all the lead-off home run from Amber Hulsey was boost Adams' ERA from a possible 0.64 to a still outstanding 1.28.
After the Panthers threatened to score in the first, with Amanda Byers and Caitlyn Lytle reaching on hits, they got on the board in the second.
Kelly Brown singled up the middle to lead off the frame and when Kaitlin Conway's sacrifice bunt was mishandled, there were two on with nobody out.
Lexie Belardi looked to do some damage with a rocket-shot to left, though it was caught on a line.
The Patriot pitcher struck out the next batter, but Byers came through with a bloop single into shallow right to score both runners for a 2-0 lead.
Byers did it again in the fourth when, with one out and Belardi on second, she ripped an RBI double to left to make it a 3-0 edge.
The final run was added in the fifth when Lytle lead off with a walk and, with two outs, moved to second on a Brown single.
Conway then brought Lytle in with an insurance run that wouldn't be needed with Adams taking care of the rest.
Raulerson then got the call in the second game and was matched up in a pitchers duel extraordinaire as into the bottom of the fifth it went with nary a score on the board.
"They struggled figuring out the pitcher at the beginning," first-year assistant coach, and Avon Park grad, Heather Barnes said. "But they settled in and started having better at bats."
Which came to fruition in that bottom of the fifth.
Rayvin Vick got a hard grounder past a diving second baseman to get it started and gave way to pinch-runner Kayla Dennison, who promptly stole second.
A ground-out to short moved Dennison to third and with an 0-2 count, Belardi went the other way with an RBI double down the right-field line.
Raulerson then finished the job, scattering five hits over seven innings, walking none and striking out one, for the win.
"I always talk to them about the level of expectation that I hold them to," Barnes said. "I explain that that's why I'm so hard on them at times, because I believe in their abilities. I told them after the game that their hard work is paying off, because every game so far they are getting closer and closer to that level.
"As long as they don't get complacent with these wins and keep working hard, I see them having a very successful season."
A 4-0 start certainly is helping set the right tone.
The Panthers were back at it with a twin-bill Saturday afternoon against Seminole State College, and will host Brevard on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Sunday, February 03, 2013 - www.newssun.com/SUN-2-3-13-SFSCSoftball