The first week of the baseball/softball season has come and gone with all of the Hernando County teams taking part in games during the last week of February. With all five of the public high schools in action, let’s take a look at the first week of games and rank the county teams 1 through 5.
BASEBALL
1. Hernando (3-0): It’s been a hot start for the Hernando Leopards coming in with three straight wins. Hernando has outscored opponents 35-3 in three games. Watch out for the Leopards this season.
2. Nature Coast (3-0): Another hot club besides Hernando, this season, would have to be Nature Coast. NTC has rolled out a 3-0 start behind wins over Central and Bishop McLaughlin. The Sharks pitching has been dominant, only allowing two runs thus far.
3. Springstead (1-1): After beating Lecanto handily 11-1 in the start of the 2022 campaign, the Eagles laid an egg in the second of their back-to-back games and fell 4-0. Springstead will face Nature Coast and Countryside before spring break.
4. Weeki Wachee (0-2): The Hornets were the other team besides Central to start off win-less, as Weeki Wachee dropped its first two games against Inverness Citrus. Now Weeki Wachee hopes to get back on track heading into the break.
5. Central (0-2): It wasn’t a great beginning for the Bears, as they lost a back-to-back game with Nature Coast and were out scored 15-1. The Bears look to bounce back as they get ready for spring break.
SOFTBALL
1. Hernando (2-0): Starting off with a bang with back to back 17-0 wins over Central and Springstead. The always tough Leopards have the Leopard Slam coming up and that should be a good barometer for this club.
2. Nature Coast (2-0): A pair of wins over Weeki Wachee and Lecanto have the Sharks undefeated, but the season schedule gets tougher with Hernando on the slate, among others.
3. Springstead (1-1): It all seemed to be going good opening night when the Eagles narrowly edged out Inverness Citrus 9-8. The second game against Hernando brought the team back down to earth when they lost 17-0.
4. Central (1-1): A 15-0 win over Bishop McLaughlin gave Central a boost heading into the second week, after they lost its opener. Watch out for this Bears group, as they look to compete.
5. Weeki Wachee (1-2): A 12-5 win over Hernando Christian is the Hornets’ one bright spot early on in this 2022 campaign. Weeki Wachee lost to Nature Coast and Citrus otherwise and now have games coming up versus Hernando, Fivay and Lecanto.
Andy Villamarzo can be reached at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @avillamarzo.
