Sports News
South Mountain Community College has become known as one of the Valley of the Sun’s most successful community college athletic programs since it began intercollegiate sports competition in 1981.
SMCC fields competitive teams each year in baseball, basketball, softball, volleyball, golf and soccer. With our very affordable ticket prices, the SMCC Cougars are one of the best sports buys in town. Our student athletes carry a long tradition of excelling both on the playing field and in the classroom, and deserve your support!
Get the latest news here about the players and teams that make South Mountain Community College one of the toughest teams to beat in Arizona’s community college ranks.
Region Semi-Final Wrap-up
The Cougars (#4 seed) knocked off Central Arizona College (#1 seed) in a series sweep to clinch a berth in the Region 1 Division Championship series. South Mountain received strong pitching performances from Scot Hoffman, Matt Loeffler, Jared Mattera, and Vinny Lujan in not allowing an earned run in the 4-2 and 4-0 wins. Freshman Garret Gandolfo had five hits and two runs batted in. Sophomores Lane Doty and Jordan Frabasilio added three hits each. The Cougars will tacke on Cochise College (#2 seed) in Douglas, AZ this weekend, Thursday thru Saturday.
Six Cougars named to 2013 All-Conference Baseball Team
Sophomores TC Mark (Catcher), Colton Frabasilio (Catcher), and DW Warner (Infield) were named 1st Team All-Conference for their performance in the 2013 season. Sophomore Jordan Frabasilio (Infield), freshman Justin Behnke (Outfield), and sophomore Chris Freudenberg (Pitcher) were named 2nd team All-Conference. The total of six baseball players matches the largest number of All-Conference recipients in the history of South Mountain CC.
Week 14 Baseball Wrap-Up
The Cougars clinched a berth in the Region 1 Division Playoffs last week by splitting road two road series, at Yavapai College and Pima Community College. On Tuesday, South Mountain traveled to Yavapai, needing two wins or a combination of two Arizona Western College losses to qualify for the post-season. The Cougars dropped the first game by a 9-1 score, but Arizona Western was defeated by Pima CC in the first game of their series. Therefore, South Mountain needed just one win. The Cougar bats came alive in the second game, while pitchers Jared Mattera and Chris Freudenberg kept the Roughriders at bay. Sophomore TC Mark’s grand slam in the 7th inning seasled the 14-4 run-rule victory for South Mountain sending the Cougars to the playoffs. On Saturday, the Cougars split a double-header with Pima CC, losing 7-4 and winning 12-9 to wrap up the regular season. Freshman Justin Behnke had 6 hits on the day.
Cougar Volleyballer Makes History!
For the first time in the history of South Mountain, a Cougar student-athlete will be transferring and competing next year as an sand volleyball athlete. Brandy Grant has been selected to compete for Grand Canyon University in the Spring of 2014! While Brandy was an indoor volleyball athlete only here at South Mountain for two years, she will now take her talents to the sand and don the purple of the Antelopes!
With college sand volleyball becoming an NCAA sport in the spring of 2011, universities are starting to add 
sand programs and increase the opportunities for women athletes to play past their high school and club years. This year saw the number of official NCAA programs grow from a handful in 2011 to 32 , and next year will see almost double that number. A small number of schools participating is normal in newly accepted NCAA sports, so we are very happy that Brandy will be one of the pioneers in this increasingly popular sport.
Week 13 Baseball Wrap-Up
The Cougars were swept by Central Arizona College early in the week, but rebounded by sweeping Mesa CC on the weekend to go 2-2 on the week. South Mountain was defeated by the scores of 6-4 and 6-5 by CAC on Tuesday and Wednesday. Despite a solid outing from freshman Jared Mattera (6 innings and 2 runs), the Cougars let a 5-2 lead slip away on Wednesday. Sophomore Vinny Lujan and freshman David Renteria both picked up wins on the mound versus MCC. Freshman Eddie Villa reached base in 9 of 10 plate appearances against the Thunderbirds on Friday and Saturday. Saturday’s victory marked the 11th Cougar win in their final at-bat and 14th time the Cougars have come from behind in the final three innings of a game. In the final week of the regular season, the Cougars will head to Yavapai College on Tuesday and to Pima CC on Saturday for ACCAC double-headers.
Week 12 Baseball Wrap-Up
The Cougars split two tough ACCAC series with Cochise College and Arizona Western College. On Tuesday, Cochise was able to shut down the Cougar offense in the first game, manufacturing just one run on 6 hits in the 6-1 loss. In the 2nd game, the Cougars broke a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the 8th inning on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Danny Lawrence. Sophomore Matt Loeffler threw 3 1/3 innings of relief without allowing an earned run to pick up the win for South Mountain. On Saturday, behind starter Scot Hoffman, the Cougars shut out Arizona Western College in the first game of the double-header by an 8-0 score. Freshman Justin Behnke had three hits for the Cougars. In the second game of the day, the Cougars had a 4-0 lead, behind 4 runs batted in from sophomore TC Mark, but the lead dissipated with a 6 run inning from Arizona Western in the 4th. AWC went on to win the game by a 9-8 score. Next week, the Cougars will take on Central Arizona on Tuesday and Wednesday, then Mesa CC on Friday and Saturday.
Week 11 Baseball Wrap-Up
South Mountain finishes the week with a 2-2 record by dropping two games at Arizona Western and sweeping a doubleheader at Eastern Arizona. The Cougars were only able to score one run in 16 innings against at Arizona Western on Tuesday. This marks only the second time this season the Cougars have been swept in a two-game series. South Mountain responded with two come-from-behind wins on Saturday at Eastern Arizona College. South Mountain trailed by two runs in their final at-bat in the 1st game and 3 runs in their final at-bat of the 2nd game, but rallied to win both by the scores of 9-5 and 11-7 in extra innings. Sophomores Colton Frabasilio and DW Warner each had 4 hits in the double-header. The Cougars will play all four ACCAC games at home this coming week with a Tuesday double-header against Cochise College and Saturday against Arizona Western College.
Week 10 Baseball Wrap-Up
The Cougars won 3 of 4 games last week against ACCAC Division 2 competition. On Tuesday and Wednesday, South Mountain completed a two-game sweep of Division 2 leader Scottsdale CC. On Tuesday, the Cougars scored 4 runs in the 9th inning to come back from a 5-2 deficit. In the series, sophomores Jordan Frabasilio (5 hits) and DW Warner (4 hits) led the offense. Daniel Akmon and Chris Freudenberg both picked up wins on the mound. On the weekend, the Cougars split a series with Gateway CC, losing 8-1 at Gateway on Friday and winning 2-1 at SMCC on Saturday. On Saturday, sophomore Colton Frabasilio drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th inning. The Cougars will head to Arizona Western on Tuesday of this week and to Eastern Arizona on Saturday for ACCAC double-headers.
Cougars ranked #19 in NJCAA Division 1 Poll
South Mountain CC remains in the NJCAA Division 1 baseball poll for the 6th straight week. The Cougars dropped from #14 to #19 in the recent poll. SMCC has 20 games remaining in their push toward the ACCAC Division 1 playoffs.
Week 9 Baseball Wrap-Up
The Cougars posted their second straight 2-2 week of ACCAC play. Early in the week, South Mountain dropped both games of a two-game series against Central Arizona College, 10-5 and 8-3. The two losses dropped the Cougars back into a tie for 2nd place with Cochise College. South Mountain rebounded at the end of the week with two come-from-behind victories over Glendale CC on Friday and Saturday, overcoming a 6-run deficit on Friday and a 3-run deficit on Saturday. On the week, sophomore Jordan Frabasilio led the Cougars with 8 hits, while freshman Garrett Gandolfo was the key run-producer, driving in 8 runs on the week. The Cougars received solid relief outings on the mound from freshman Daniel Akmon on Friday (6 innings and no earned runs) and sophomore Matt Loeffler on Saturday (6 2/3 innings and no runs allowed) to allow the Cougar offense the ability to come back. Next week, the Cougars will take on Scottsdale CC on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by Gateway CC on Friday and Saturday.
