Hawks

The Hagerstown Community College baseball team has been living on a diet of cookies and orange juice lately. For the last week, the Hawks have been giving blood - and lots of it. The latest donation came on Thursday, as Frederick Community College came up with one big inning in each game of a doubleheader in a 7-1, 14-10 Maryland JuCo Conference sweep of the Hawks, pushing HCC's losing streak to six games. “For the last six games, one inning comes up and kills us,” said HCC coach Scott Jennings.

The Hagerstown Community College men's basketball team experienced the long and the short of championship basketball. It was a long trip and a short stay for the Hawks. HCC had a 1,300-mile trip and a quick turnaround on Monday as Lee College (Texas) held off three comeback bids by the Hawks to take a 104-97 victory in the first round of the NJCAA national tournament. But the real problem for HCC (29-5), the 12th seed in the 24-team single-elimination tournament, was it spent only a short time in the lead and a long time playing catchup.

Timing has been everything for the Hagerstown Community College men's basketball team. The Hawks put a closing burst through three tournaments to earn a spot in the NJCAA Division I national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. The time was right for HCC after nearly a 20-year wait. HCC, seeded 12th in the 24-team field, faces Lee College of Baytown, Texas, on Monday evening at 5:30 in the first round of the revamped tournament. It used to be a 16-team double-elimination format. Now it's single elimination.

There is more to Donte Thomas than meets the eye. He has multiple personalities on the basketball court. There is more to him than he shows. The Hagerstown Community College guard has changed his identity over the course of the year as his game evolved and the Hawks' needs revolved. And because of it, Thomas and HCC are out to change the perspective of Mid-Atlantic basketball. Thomas was known as a scorer coming out of high school, but now he's a leading assist man in junior college basketball.

Kervin Rameau would never be confused with Tom Hanks, but he knows a thing or two about the concept of “Big.” But while Hanks played a 12-year-old who uses a quarter in a arcade machine to size up in a grownups' world, Rameau used a different approach. It was a devastating windmill dunk against ASA College in Hagerstown Community College's 93-84 victory in last Saturday's NJCAA District 3 playoff game. The move not only changed momentum in a tight game, it has become the Hawks' calling card as they enter a Big world.

Monday, March 11, 2013 COLLEGE BASEBALL HCC 7, Ontario Blue Jays 6 VERO BEACH, Fla. - Drew Deshong scored the game-winning run on an RBI single by Eric Schanzenbacher in the bottom of the ninth to lift Hagerstown Community College to a win over the Ontario Blue Jays on Monday. Schanzenbacher had three hits and three RBIs and Dylan Dunn had two hits and two RBIs for the Hawks (10-3). Jordan Nicewarner and C.J. Owings had two hits each and Devin Schaeffer had two RBIs.

Antonio Jenifer lives a life of extremes as a member of the Hagerstown Community College men's basketball team. His existence falls somewhere between being the Incredible Hulk and Kermit the Frog. There are times when the long and lean 6-foot-8 forward is supposed to turn into the Hawks' superhero and tear opponents to shreds. And other times, well, it's not easy being green. Jenifer ran the whole gamut of emotions and identities on Saturday during HCC's 93-84 victory over ASA College for the NJCAA District 3 title and a ticket to next week's 24-team national tournament.

When it counted most, the Hagerstown Community College men's basketball team was like dynamite. That's because Donte Thomas provided the spark, Kervin Rameau lit the fuse and Antonio Jenifer blew up. The Hawks exploded with two quick runs and dominated the final 10 minutes of the game on Saturday to ignite a 93-84 victory over ASA College, win the NJCAA District III playoff and earn their first appearance in the national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.,...

The Hagerstown Community College athletic complex will be hosting a surprise party Saturday night. For much of the season, many were holding out hope that the Hawks would be hosting the NJCAA District III championship game against Monroe (Bronx) this weekend. The party starts with HCC (28-4) playing for a trip to Hutchinson, Kan., for the 24-team national tournament Saturday at 7 p.m. It's the Hawks' third straight appearance in the district final, having lost to Monroe in the previous two. The surprise?

After Saturday, life may never be the same for Antonio Jenifer. Right now, it's pretty good, but it may only get better. Jenifer and the Hagerstown Community College men's basketball team will face ASA College in the NJCAA District III playoff Saturday at 7 p.m. at the HCC athletic complex. At stake is a trip to the national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan. That puts Jenifer on the doorstep to meet the world - especially if the Hawks win. “It is a big part of my life,” the 6-foot-8 sophomore said.