BROOKSVILLE- Don’t look now, but the Hernando Leopards’ softball team is preparing for another run at a district championship and this club has all the tools in the box to make it happen this spring.
Sitting undefeated within the district in Class 3A, District 6, the Leopards are currently 13-4 and have won four games in a row. That can only spell good things on the horizon for the Leopards, who have played a tough slate of games when it comes to the 2022 campaign.
Hernando started off the season reeling seven wins in a row before losing three straight, with multiple losses to Clearwater Calvary Christian back to back and a loss to Sickles. The only other loss Hernando has suffered this season was to Orange City University. The last games of the season for the Leopards will come against Citrus, Lecanto, Mitchell, Cypress Creek, and River Ridge.
Junior Hannah Taylor has been one of Hernando’s top players all season long and the catcher has had a sensational campaign so far. Taylor is batting .500 at the plate with 25 hits, 27 runs
batted in, seven doubles, four triples, and three home runs. In 17 games played, Taylor has yet to record an error per the team’s stats on MaxPreps.com.
What has also been impressive for the Leopards is the pitching by junior Savannah Ellis and sophomore Ava Braswell. Ellis boasts a record of 6-2 on the season and has a 2.47 earned run average and struck out 49 batters. Braswell has been equally as good as her fellow teammate, with a record of 7-2, earned run average of 1.39, and has struck out 57.
Hernando, who has scored 175 runs and only yielded 24, is currently ranked just outside the top 10 rankings by MaxPreps and is No. 13 in Class 3A. The only other Hernando County team that is within a top 25 ranking is Springstead, who sits at No. 15 in the Class 5A poll.
For the Leopards to make a deep playoff run, they’ll need to come out of 3A-6 that includes Weeki Wachee, Bushnell South Sumter, and Central. The Raiders look to be the Leopards’ top contender when it comes down to a district championship and could be the eventual showdown in a couple of weeks.
Andy Villamarzo can be reached at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @avillamarzo.
