On Friday, March 31, 2023, in the warm afternoon at Tom Varn Park, varsity softball players occupied the fields surrounding the central area that is under construction, all taking part in the Leopard Slam Tournament. Food and drinks were available for players and fans, and excitement was in the air around the park. Hernando Leopards and Nature Coast Sharks took to the field ready to play.
Top 1
Nature Coast Sharks pitcher #14 Sr. McKenna Carr on the mound. Leopard #3 Sr. Aryanna Eliopoulos stepped up to the plate, hit down the first base line, and got the first out. Next up, #00 Sr. Hannah Taylor walked to first base. With Taylor on first, #5 Jr. Carollann Mclelland hit a shot past shortstop to left field. Taylor is now on second, and Mclelland is on first #11 Sr. Savannah Ellis hit to shortstop, shortstop threw to second Mclelland out on second, making two outs. Next up is #19 Jf. Samantha Thompson shot to the pitcher and was thrown out on first base, out Three for the Leopards.
Bottom 1
Hernando pitcher #6 Jr. Ava Braswell is going up to the mound as Nature Coast lefty #7 Jr. Ahlynn Sentner steps up to the plate. Sentner strikes out. Out one for Nature Coast, lefty #1 Sr. Kamryn Baker is up to bat hits and is safe on first. Baker on first Shark #10 Sr. Izzy LaRoche hit a fly ball to the right and caught out two. #12 Sr. Wren Anhalt up and strikes out, making it three outs for Nature Coast.
Top 2
Nature Coast Sharks pitcher #14 Sr. McKenna Carr on the mound. Leopard #9 Sr. Sydney Cline steps up to the plate and slams a shot down third base just over the head of the third base player and gets on first. With two strikes, #6 Jr. Ava Braswell goes for a high pitch and strikes out, leaving Cline on first. #13 Jr. Carmen Edwards hits the ball to the pitcher and is thrown out on first, making two outs for the Leopards. With Cline on second base, lefty #2 Fr. Ariana Covell gets up and strikes out, making three outs for the Leopards.
Bottom 2
Hernando, pitcher #6, Jr. Ava Braswell is on the mound. Sharks #14 Sr. Mckenna Carr hits a drive shot down center and makes a double. With Carr on second #8, Jr. Carlee Anselmo hits a shot out to the right field, makes a double, and Braswell comes in home base. One run for the Sharks with Anselmo on second base. Shark #9 Jr. Gianna Villari is next up to bat, hits a fly out to the right field, and is first out for Sharks. Lefty #11 Jr. Kenzie Eland hit to the second baseman, and Eland was out on first, out two for the Sharks. With Anselmo on third, Shark #6 strikes out, making three outs for the Sharks.
Top 3
Nature Coast Sharks pitcher #14 Sr. McKenna Carr is on the mound. Leopards #3 Sr. Aryanna Eliopoulos hit a fly ball out to the right field, dropped, and Eliopoulos is on first base. #00 Sr. Hannah Taylor is up next, hits a ground ball to shortstop, Eliopoulos goes to second, and Taylor is on first. #5 Jr. Carollann Mclelland ball pitched, and Eliopoulos steals third base. Mclelland walked to the first base, and now the bases are loaded. #11 Sr. Savannah Ellis hit down center field, and Eliopoulos ran home, making Leopards’ first run. #19 Jr. Samantha Thompson struck out with Taylor on three and Mclelland on second. Lefty #9 Sr. Sydney Cline hit the ball between third and shortstop, bringing Taylor home for run two. #6 Jr. Ava Braswell hits a shot to shortstop; the shortstop throws Cline out on second. Runner switched in for Braswell to #14 So. Shyann Lynch is on first base, with Mclelland on third base. Next, up #13, Jr. Carmen Edwards’s pitch is thrown while Lynch steals second. Edwards walked to first base. Bases loaded again for the Leopards. Ellis on third, Lynch on second, and Edwards on third. With two outs, lefty #2 Fr. Ariana Covell.
Covell hit down the third base, but the third baseman missed picked up by the shortstop and threw Lynch out on third. Leopard three outs.
Bottom 3
Now on the mound for Hernando is pitcher #11, Sr. Savannah Ellis. Shark lefty #7 Jr. Ashlynn Sentner steps up and strikes out. First out for the Sharks. Lefty #1 Sr. Kamryn Baker, Baker bunted to the pitcher and was thrown out on first for the second out. With two outs against the Sharks, #10 Sr. Izzy LaRoche hits a fly out to the right field and gets a double. #12 Sr. Wren Anhalt up next hits a shot to shortstop, and with the error, now LaRoche is on third and Anhalt on first. Pitcher Ellis tried to pick off Anhalt at first but was safe. #14 Sr. McKennan Carr hits grounder and is thrown out on first for the third out for the Sharks.
Top 4
Nature Coast Sharks pitcher #14 Sr. McKenna Carr is on the mound. Leopards #3 Sr. Aryanna Eliopoulos slams the ball down the center field and gets on first. #00 Sr. Hannah Taylor hit a fly out to the center field and caught first out for the Leopards. Center field tried to pick off Eliopoulos stealing second, but Eliopoulos was safe. #5 Jr. Carollann
Mclelland hits out between left and center field and gets a double. Eliopoulos came in with the fourth run for the Leopards. #11 Sr. Savannah Ellis pops one right over the third baseman’s head, and Mclelland goes to second. #14 Carr switched with Ellis as a runner. #19 Jr. Samantha Thompson pops one out right over second base and is now on first. Mclelland comes home, making it five runs with Carr on third. Sharks have a change-up on pitchers; now on the mound for the Sharks is #12, Sr. Wren Anhalt. Anhault warms up with a few pitches while Leopard #9 Sr. Sydney Cline comes up to bat. Cline hits a ball to second and is taken out on first. Leopard #6 Jr. Ava Braswell hits the right field with a home run. The Leopards have eight runs. #13 hits to shortstop and is thrown out on first, making the third out.
Bottom 4
On the mound for Hernando is pitcher #11, Sr. Savannah Ellis. Sharks #8 Jr. Carlee Anselmo hits the ball to the right field, and it’s caught for the first out. Next up, #9 Jr. Gianna Villari shoots a grounder to the second baseman making it two outs for the Sharks. Lefty #11 Jr. Kenie Eland, another grounder to second and thrown out of first, makes the third out.
Top 5
Nature Coast pitcher #12, Sr. Wren Anhalt, goes up to the mound. Lefty #2, Fr. Ariana Covell, first up for the Leopards. Covell walked to first base. #3 Sr. Aryanna Eliopouloss pops one up to second baseman, and it’s out one for the Leopards. #00 Sr. Hannah Taylor pops up right field out two. Covell is on second. #5 Jr. Carollann Mclelland hits to left field, and Covell comes into home base, making it nine runs. #11 Sr. Savannah Ellis hits a shot to shortstop, which is caught, making three outs.
Bottom 5
On the mound for Hernando is pitcher #11, Sr. Savannah Ellis. Up first for the Sharks #3 So. Haley Keane struck out. Hernando changes up the pitcher from Ellis back to #6 Braswell. Lefty #17 Jr. Zoe Garcia struck out, making second out for the Sharks. #1 Sr. Kamryn Baker hits a pop and gets on first. #10 Sr. Izzy LaRoche walked to first base with Baker on second. #12 Sr. Wren Anhalt hit down first base and was put out at first third out.
Top 6
Nature Coast pitcher #12, Sr. Wren Anhalt, is on the mound. #19 Jr. Samantha Thompson is first up for the Leopards. Thompson makes a single with a fly out to the right field. Lefty #9 Sr Sydney Cline hits a shot to second baseman, but with an error, Thompson is now on second and Cline on first base. #6 Jr. Ava Braswell walked to first base; Leopards
have loaded bases. #13 Jr. Carmen Edwards hit the ground with a bounce to third base; Thompson came home and made it ten runs for the Leopards. #2 Fr. Ariana Covell hit a shot just over the third baseman. Bases loaded: #14 So. Shyann Lynch switched as a runner on third, Cline on second, and Covell on first. #3 Sr. Aryanna Eliopoulos and #00 Sr. Hannah Taylor put two outs on the board for the Leopards with loaded bases. #5 Jr. Carollann Mclelland comes up
to bat with two outs and slams the ball out to left field over the fence Home Run. The Leopards are now up to fourteen runs against the Sharks. #11 Sr. Savannah Ellis steps up and hits a fly out to center field out three for the Leopards.
Bottom 6
Leopards #6 Jr. Ava Braswell is on the mound. First Shark up #14 Sr. McKenna Carr, Carr hits a fly out to the center field, and the ball was caught, first out for the Sharks. #2 Fr. Athena Brown strikes out, out two.
#15 Fr. Reagan Wilkie hits a shot to center field and is on first base. Next up, #5 Fr. Caitlin Corrigan hits a grounder and is thrown out on first, making the Sharks three outs.
Hernando Leopards Win the game 14 – 1
