Asher Gibbons
Sports Editor
As the spring sports are coming to a close, it’s important to remember that Mocs baseball still has nearly two months of play left and the team is gearing up for a playoff run. With a record of 30-8 and four series left to play their high ranking in division II warrants a closer look at the season.
Since March 28, the Mocs have only lost two affairs, most importantly handing the Tampa University Spartans their first and only series loss of the season. In the three games, FSC outscored Tampa by a total score of 20-15.
Shortstop Jevin Relaford said that winning that series has been his favorite moment of the season so far. That series proved to the team that they belonged in the conversation of top Division II teams. Previous to this season Relaford had never beaten Tampa in the six times he faced them.
The record books are poised to add this 2024-2025 team to school immortality as the Mocs have already broken the school record for stolen bases in 38 games with 171. The previous record was set by the 1998 Mocs team with 167 in a span of 58 games. The three key contributors have been Relaford, Mikey Scott and Grant Thoroman.
Individually, Relaford has 45 bags this season, just four stolen bases away from the school record, while Thoroman and Scott sit at 38 and 36 respectively. Even though Relaford leads the three, they’re all in a friendly competition to break the record.
“I think we also kind of said a thing of, we’re all trying to be at the top, so it would be like 1, 2, 3,” Relaford said.
Relaford and O’Dette both cited assistant coach Tony Caldwell as a big factor for the baserunners this season.
“And you know Tony has done a great job of getting those guys to understand that we’re gonna run We’re gonna we’re not just gonna run carelessly. We’re gonna run with a purpose,” O’Dette said.
“Tony Caldwell, TC, was very big on being aggressive and not being scared and being, like, fearing getting thrown out or anything like that, and we have some great knowledge on the bases,” Relaford said.
The tight knit squad got close during fall break, where they all stayed on campus to get to know each other better and improve the chemistry in the locker room.
“Everyone stays in the locker room. Everyone loves to stay in the locker room. There’s ping pong going on. We got a switch in there. We play Smash Bros all the time. Just, there’s always something going on in there, and I think having that connection with everyone in there has definitely helped the team out,” Relaford said.
“They’ve done a really good job of pushing each other to be good teammates and people and players,” O’Dette said.
While they do have their fun on and off the field, their mindset for the games never change. The repeated phrase from both player and coach was “play every day like it’s the national championship.”
“I would say we just have a certain standard, uh, on the team, and, um, OD [O’Dette] has kind of brainwashed us into thinking about it, like, no job is complete without a sweep,” Relaford said.
If Florida Southern does make the playoffs, it’s eight total teams for regional play; two four team tournaments, double elimination. After that would be the next phase of playoffs.
Four series remain for the Mocs, two home and two away. They don’t return to Henley Field until after finals on May 1, so make sure to track their progress on fscmocs.com and all their games on the SSC Digital Network.
