Article and Photography by Cheryl Clanton
Lovely evening under the lights at Hernando High School as Bishop McLaughlin took on the Hernando Leopards baseball game tonight, Wednesday, March 31, 2023.
Play by Play
Top 1st inning: Bishop is up to bat first, and Hernando Leopard’s pitcher #10, Sr. Michael Savarese, takes the mound. Bishops #16 Sr. Logan McGann steps up to the plate; Mcgann hits to shortstop and is out at first. Second up #8 So. Christopher Rodriguez fouled right and struck out, making it two outs. Bishop #22 Jr. Jiovanni Castellano’s fouled right has a 3-2 count against him with two outs, and Leopard #10 Sr. Michael Savarese struck Costellano out, making three outs.
Bottom 1st: Bishop pitcher #19 Sr. Travis Mabin takes the mound against the Leopards. First, up for Hernando is #4 Sr. Cason Williamson made a shot down third with an error, and Williamson is on first. Next up is #11, Sr. William Taylor pops up to shortstop; that will make the first out. Leopard #17 Sr. Anthony Talpa fouls out. Talpa was struck out by Mabin, making it two outs. Lefty #9 Sr. Anton Grooms steps up, a wild pitch catcher scrabbles, and #4 Williamson steals second. Grooms hit a shot out to the center field and was caught, making the third out for the Leopards.
Top 2: Leopard pitcher #10 Sr. Michael Savarese is going back up to the mound as Bishop #1 Jr. TJ Savararese steps up first to bat. TJ hits a drive out of bounds to the right field, hits a shot to shortstop, and is thrown out at first. #6 Fr. Matt Altman gets up and swings, and a miss makes the second out. #18 Jr. Logan Gannon fouls right, with a full count, tips the ball to hold on but strikes out, and it’s three outs for Bishop.
Bottom 2: Bishop pitcher #19 Sr. Travis Mabin takes the mound while Leopard batter #20 Sr. Patrick Green steps up to the plate. Green hits a shot out to left field and gets on first. #22 Sr. Andrew Vanalstine pops up a foul and strikes out for Leopard’s first out. Lefty #23 Sr. Tyson Morgan steps up, the ball is pitched, and Green steals second. Morgan hits out to the left field and throws to shortstop w/error. Green makes a run, and Morgan is on first. The leopards have one run. #10 Michael Savarese pops up second base player catches and throws to first, but Morgan is safe on first. #5 Jr. Colten Cloud struck out, making it three out, leaving Morgan on first.
Top 3: Leopard pitcher #10 Michael Savarese is on the mound. Bishop #33 So. Tyler Pizzo is up to bat and strikes out. First out for Bishop at the top of the third inning. #2 So. Keith Jacobs hits the ball right in front of home plate; the catcher throughs Jacobs on first and makes it second out. Lefty #4 So. Dominic Zito struck out, making it 1 2 3 out.
Bottom 3: Bishop pitcher #19, Sr. Travis Mabin, is on the mound. Walking up to the plate is #4. Sr. Cason Williamson hit a shot to right field and caught one out. Next up, #11 Sr. William Taylor hit a fly out to the left field; it is caught, and it’s the second out for the Leopards.#17 Sr. Anthony Talpa made the third out for the Leopards with a strikeout.
Top 4: Leopard pitcher #10 Michael Savarese is back on the mound. Up to the plate is #16 Sr. Logan McGann hit a ground ball toward first base, was caught, and McGann was out on first. Next up is #8 So. Christopher Rodrigues strikes out, making it the second out for Bishop. #22 Jr. Jiovanni Castellano stepped up and walked to first base. #1 Jr. TJ Savararese also strikes out and leaves Jiovanni on base.
Bottom 4: Bishop pitcher #19, Sr. Travis Mabin, is on the mound. Lefty #8 Fr. Kaine Ellis was walked and went to first base. #20 Sr. Patrick Green swings and misses the Bishop catcher’s throws to first to pick off Ellis on first; Ellis was safe. Bishop Catcher again throws to first to pick off Ellis, Green walks to first base, and Ellis advances to second. Time out called for leopards, and the coach talks with #22 Sr. Andrew Vanalstine, which is now up to bat. Valnalstine Strikes out, making the first out this inning for the Leopards. Lefty #23 Sr. Tyson Morgan is up to bat; Morgan has 2 & 2 tips balls. Bishop catcher talks with Mabin. Morgan with a 3 & 2 now, Mabin throws a ball, and Morgan walks to first, loading up the bases. #10 Sr. Michael Savarese steps up and hits an infield fly caught by second base making two outs for the Leopards with bases loaded. #5 Jr. Colten Cloud came up to back and went down swinging, making third out with bases loaded.
Top 5: Leopard pitcher #10 Michael Savarese is on the mound. #6 Fr. Matt Altman had two strikes and reached for pitch misses making the third strike. First out for Bishop. #18 Jr. Logan Gannon strikes out, making it two outs. #33 Fr. Tyler Pizzo tipped ball catcher picks up ball and tags Pizzo for the thirds out.
Bottom 5: Bishop pitcher #19, Sr. Travis Mabin, is on the mound. #4 Sr. Cason Williamson is first up to bat. Williamson hits a drive down the third base and is taken out on first. #11 Sr. William Taylor went down swinging for the second out for the Leopards. #17 Sr. Anthony Talpa had two strikes against him, fouls out to the right field, and strikes out for the third out at the bottom of the fifth inning.
Top 6: Leopard pitcher #10 Michael Savarese is on the mound with #2 So. Keith Jacobs is up to bat. Jacobs hits a big bounce over the pitcher caught by the second base player and w/error safe on first. Pitcher Savarese attempts twice to pick off Jacobs on first; the second time is missed, and Jacob advances to second. Lefty #4 So. Dominic Zito strikes out. With one out against Bishop with Jacobs on second base. #16 Sr. Logan McGann up to bat and strikes out, making it out two. #8 So. Christopher Rodrigues strikes out, leaving Jacobs on second.
Bottom 6: Bishop switches pitcher with #18 Jr. Logan Gannon with Leopard #8 Fr. Kaine Ellis walks up to the plate. Ellis strikes out, first out of the inning. #20 Sr. Patrick Green, Green hits a line drive down first base and gets a double. #22 Sr. Andrew Vanalstine hits a drive out to right field ball dropped and is now on first base. So Leopards have Green second and Vanalstine on first with one out. #23 Sr. Tyson Morgan up to bat, pitcher Gannon attempts to pick off Vanalstine on first. Morgan walked to first base, Vanalstine went to second, and Green went to third base, bases loaded. #10 Michael Savarese popped up, caught, and threw to second and got Vanalstine out, making it three outs.
Top 7: Leopard pitcher #10 Michael Savarese is on the mound. First to step up to the plate is #22 Jr. Jiovanni Castellano strikes out. Next, up, #1, Jr. TJ Savararese hit down the center, the second base player caught, and Castellano was out on first. #6 Fr. Matt Altman Strikes out—three up, three down. The game was over, with Hernando Leopards taking the win 1 – 0.
