It was another stellar season of prep baseball throughout Hernando County, as the Nature Coast Sharks were the last County team left standing making it to the state semifinals. From the start of the season back in February all the way to the Class 4A state semifinals, there were plenty of individual performances that should be recognized. We compiled a list of the top baseball players from this past season with the Hernando Sun’s All-Hernando Baseball Team.
P – Justin Montanez, Senior, Nature Coast Technical: He was instrumental in the Sharks’ run to the Class 4A state semifinals. Rodriguez had a 1.21 ERA, 7-0 record and struck out 59 of the batters he faced.
P – Riley Fisher, Junior, Hernando: He went 9-1 with a 1.58 ERA, with 83 strikeouts and 12 earned runs through 18 appearances. He only walked 22 batters amongst the 181 batters faced. He also had six home runs.
C – Collin Nelson, Senior, Nature Coast Technical: He committed zero errors while hitting .378 with 18 runs and three homers.
INF – Zeth Rodriguez, Senior, Nature Coast Technical: The senior was instrumental all season long as he batted .333, drove in 26 runs and belted six home runs.
INF – Dylan DuPhily, Senior, Hernando: DuPhily had one of the top seasons of all infielders in Hernando County, as the senior batted a team-high .387 with 36 hits, 34 runs batted in, nine doubles and six home runs.
INF – Gabe Tafelski, Junior, Hernando: He hit .312 and had 24 hits, three home runs while playing solid in the infield for the Leopards.
INF – Justin Gay, Senior, Central: The senior infielder/pitcher was the top player for the Bears, batting a team-high .425 with 31 hits, 16 runs batted in, 12 doubles and two home runs.
OF – Levi Haines, Senior, Weeki Wachee: He scored 12 runs, 20 hits and nine RBIs to go along with a .339 batting average.
OF – Quinn Lemanon, Sophomore, Springstead: Lemanon was a big part of Springstead’s outfield and batted .367 with 18 hits, 11 runs batted in and two triples.
OF – Dominic Gattinella, Junior, Nature Coast Technical: The outfielder had one of the best batting averages for outfielders in the county at .367 and scored 15 runs. He also had 27 hits on the season.
UTL – Jordan Laing, Senior, Hernando: Laing was stellar on the mound for the Leopards, as he had a 2.45 ERA with a 7-0 record and 49 strikeouts.
Andy Villamarzo can be reached at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @avillamarzo.
