PHSC Baseball Season Preview

NEW PORT RICHEY — If the Pasco-Hernando State College baseball team’s pitching rotation sounds a little bit like what Hernando High put on the mound in recent years, that’s only because it does.

As the Bobcats head into the 2025 season this week, they’ll be counting on a pair of former Hernando pitchers. “We’ll be relying on the locals quite a bit,” Pasco-Hernando State coach Lyndon Coleman said. “There is a lot of baseball talent in this area and we’re benefitting from it.”

More specifically, Coleman has big plans for Hernando products Michael Savarese and Riley Fisher. Savarese may be the bigger name after a stellar high school career with the Leopards ended in 2023. Savarese chose PHSC over other opportunities and it appears as if that was the right choice.

As a PHSC freshman, Savarese went 9-2 with a 2.96 earned-run average. In 82 innings, he struck out 104 batters (an average of 11.41 strikeouts per nine innings). When the season ended, Savarese was selected as a second-team National Junior College Athletic Association All-American. That performance was enough to capture the attention of the University of Pittsburgh, a Division I program, which plays in the elite Atlanta Coast Conference. Savarese has committed to a scholarship offer to join the Panthers in the fall of 2025.

But, first, there’s a little unfinished business at PHSC for the 6-foot-3, 220-pound right-hander. Unlike last season, when Savarese came into the season as a bit of an unknown, he enters this season as the Bobcats’ unquestioned No. 1 starter and it’s at least possible he could be selected in this summer’s Major League Baseball Draft.

“We’re looking for a big season out of Michael,” Coleman said. “His velocity is up a tick or two from last year (Coleman said Savarese’s fastball now tops out at about 93 or 94 miles per hour) and that’s kind of what we expected as he got bigger, stronger and there’s room for it to go even higher. But, just as importantly, his off-speed stuff has really gotten a lot better. He’s a much more well-rounded pitcher than he was when he got here. Michael is going to be our ace and our leader on the mound and we’re very excited to have him back for another year.”

But Savarese isn’t the only former Hernando pitcher Coleman and the Bobcats are excited about. Riley Fisher, a 2021 Hernando grad, also figures into Coleman’s plans, although his role isn’t quite as clear as Savarese’s — at least at the moment.

Fisher, a 6-foot-2, 208-pound left-handed redshirt sophomore, started his college career at NAIA Thomas University in Thomasville, GA. He came closer to home last year when he transferred to PHSC. But last season lasted only two games for Fisher before he tore a tendon in his left elbow in a game against Polk State College. Fisher was granted another year of eligibility because of the injury and he underwent Tommy John elbow surgery.

“Last season was heartbreaking for Riley because he was pitching very well before the injury,” Coleman said. “But he worked very hard through his rehab and we’re very excited to see what he can do. I don’t want to lock into a role for him right now. We’ll just let that role develop as we get into the season and see what happens. We have a lot of horses this year and we’re going to ride them all. We have 14 arms on our roster and 13 of them are throwing at least 90 miles per hour.”

The Bobcats, who went 33-22 last season and earned the right to host the Region 8 National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament at this New Port Richey campus, have more than the strong pitching of Savarese and Fisher to look forward to this year. The squad will feature a nice mix of players from the Greater Tampa Bay area and beyond. Coleman said the Bobcats will be made up of 12 players who commute to school and 16 living in apartments near campus.

Although pitching certainly is a strength, Coleman said he expects this year’s team to be very balanced. The Bobcats lost first-team NJCAA All-American and National Two-Way Player of the Year Chris Arroyo, who went on to the University of Virginia. But Coleman said this year’s team will be built on strength in numbers.

“The last three seasons, we really lacked depth as far as left-handed hitting,” said Coleman, a former PHSC college player. “But we have some strong left-handed bats this year and that’s going to help us a lot.”

Sophomore infielder Daniel Castillo, from Hialeah, in South Florida, is one of the top returning offensive threats. He batted .311 last year and was second on the team with 16 stolen bases. Sophomore Anthony Cole, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound outfielder from Orlando, is the top returning power hitter. Cole hit seven home runs and drove in 30 runs last season. Sophomore infielder Bryce Habuda, from Fort Myers, also is expected to play a prominent part in this year’s offense.

The Bobcats are scheduled to play 54 regular-season games and play in the Sun Lakes Conference.