FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Florida SouthWestern State College baseball team picked up several postseason honors and they placed one player on the All-State team and five players on Suncoast Conference All-Conference teams.
JD Dutka earned a spot on the second team All-State team as well as first team All-Suncoast Conference, while John O’Connor and Davie Inman were named first team All-Suncoast Conference and Jett Swetland and Carter Smith earned spots on the All-Suncoast Conference second team.
Dutka, a sophomore from Suwanee, Ga., played in 53 games for the Bucs. He led the team in batting average (.362), RBIs (36), hits (72) and stolen bases (14). Dutka also added three home runs and scored 33 runs on the season.
O’Connor appeared in 51 games and hit .317 with a homer, four doubles, 20 RBIs and nine stolen bases. In conference games, the Boca Raton, Fla. native hit .318, scored 16 runs and drove in 13.
Inman, a freshman from Terra Haute, Ind., appeared in 15 games (12 starts), finished with a 6-2 record and pitched 74.1 innings, which were the second most on the team. He also finished the regular season with 99 strikeouts and a 3.15 ERA. In conference games, Inman made nine appearances (7 starts) and finished with a 3-2 record, 57 Ks and a 3.66 ERA.
A native of Marengo, Ohio, Swetland hit .333 with 12 doubles a pair of triples and three home runs on the season. The third baseman had a .274 batting average in conference play, adding nine doubles and 15 RBIs during league play.
Freshman Carter Smith played in 40 games and hit .315 with 13 RBIs and 25 runs scored. The Fort Myers native also hit .279 in conference play with three doubles and eight RBIs.
The Buccaneers wrapped up the 2017 season with a 23-31 overall record and went 9-21 in Suncoast Conference games.
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FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN
The Florida SouthWestern State College athletic program is a member of the Florida College System Athletic Association (FCSAA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Buccaneers are one of 25 schools in the NJCAA Region 8 and are one of six schools in the Suncoast Conference. Florida SouthWestern State College currently supports four intercollegiate athletic programs (Baseball, Softball, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball), with Volleyball coming in the fall of 2017.
Baseball and Softball began their regular season competition in 2016 at the City of Palms Park in Fort Myers. Located on the Thomas Edison (Lee) Campus in Fort Myers will be the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena (completed in fall 2016), where FSW’s men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams will compete.
THE NJCAA
The movement to form a unique sports association dedicated to America’s two-year colleges arose in 1937 when several track and field coaches gathered in Fresno, California. A year later, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rejected a petition from 13 two-year colleges in California to grant their teams and athletes permission to compete at the NCAA Track & Field Championships.
In the spring of 1938, following the NCAA’s rejection, those same 13 two-year colleges gathered again in Fresno to organize and form an association that would promote and supervise a national athletics program exclusively for junior and community colleges…and the rest is history.
On May 14, 1938, the first constitution of the National Junior College Athletic Association was accepted by its charter members and the organization held its first national championship event a year later in May 1939.
The NJCAA has played a vital role in collegiate athletics for the past eight decades and continues to be the leader in championing academic and athletic opportunities for student-athletes. This section of the association's website is dedicated to celebrating the NJCAA's rich history and tradition as the national governing body of two-year college athletics.
For more information on the NJCAA log on to www.NJCAA.org.
THE FCSAA
The Florida College System Activities Association, Incorporated (FCSAA) is a statewide non‑profit corporation regulating, coordinating, and promoting intercollegiate activities in: Athletics, Brain Bowl, Forensics, Music, Student Government, Student Publications, and Theatre.
Membership in the Florida College System Activities Association is open to any of the 28 colleges in the Florida College System. Each member institution is represented in the policy‑making deliberations of the Association through that institution's President or other designated representative. The institutional representatives constitute the FCSAA Presidents Assembly, the ultimate authority in FCSAA.
For more information on the FCSAA log on to www.TheFCSAA.com.
NJCAA REGION 8, THE SUNCOAST CONFERENCE & THE SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Member colleges of the NJCAA are allotted to a specific NJCAA Region upon membership to the association. Unlike other collegiate organizations that defer to conference affiliation, the NJCAA guarantees each member college's membership within the regional structure of the association. In most cases, region assignment is based upon geographic location of the college.
The region structure of the NJCAA is the primary method used by all sponsored sports of the association in determining qualification for national championship tournaments. In certain sports, two or more regions are partnered to form a competition 'district', which is then used for national championship qualification. The organization of districts varies per sport and is formulated every two years under the authority of the association's board of directors.
FSW is in Region 8 and is joined by ASA College Miami (Region 8 only; non-FCSAA member), Broward College, Chipola College, College of Central Florida, Daytona State College, Eastern Florida State College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Gulf Coast State College, Hillsborough Community College, Indian River State College, Lake-Sumter State College, Miami Dade College, Northwest Florida State College, Palm Beach State College, Pasco-Hernando State College, Pensacola State College, Polk State College, Santa Fe College, Seminole State College of Florida, South Florida State College, St. Johns River State College, St. Petersburg College, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota and Tallahassee Community College.
The Bucs are also in the Suncoast Conference with Hillsborough Community College, Polk State College, South Florida State College, St. Petersburg College and State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota.
The women’s basketball program is Southern Conference with Broward College, Eastern Florida State College, Indian River State College, Miami Dade College and Palm Beach State College.
For more information on Region 8 log on to www.TheFCSAASports.com.