Hernando Falls to South Sumter

By PATRICK YASINSKAS

BROOKSVILLE — For five full innings Thursday night, the Hernando High baseball team looked like it was well on the way to extending an eight-game winning streak.

But, then, disaster struck. Twice. South Sumter rallied for five runs in the sixth inning and added two more in the ninth inning on the way to an 8-6 victory against the Leopards at Emerson Field.

“They’re a good team and you can’t give a good team what we gave them,” Hernando coach Tim Sims said. “We were in a gift-giving mood.”

The Leopards (8-3) were in control early behind a strong effort by starting pitcher Cadyn Williams and a two-run double off the right field wall by junior shortstop Austin Knierim in the third inning. Knierim gave Hernando a 3-0 lead when he scored on a wild pitch and junior right fielder Michael Saltsman added an RBI single to give Hernando a 4-0 lead.

That’s when South Sumter (8-2) exploded. The Raiders collected three hits and took advantage of three walks to score five runs and take a 6-4 lead. Wilkes recovered from the rough inning and struck out all three South Sumter batters in the seventh and the Leopards rallied in the bottom half of the inning to force extra innings.

Senior third baseman Mason Morgan started Hernando’s rally with a double down the left-field line. After Kaine Ellis was hit by a pitch Knierim, who also doubled in the first inning, loaded the bases with a single to right field. The Leopards cut the lead to 6-5 when Morgan scored on Palmer Looper’s ground ball to third base. After Cody Whitelaw walked to again load the bases, Landon Euler drew a walk to force in the tying run.

Hernando senior right-hander Gage Blade took over after Wilkes walked the first two batters in the eighth inning. Blade worked his way out of the jam without allowing a run. But South Sumter rallied for two runs on three hits and a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning.

“Blade did a good job and was solid even though he gets the loss,” Sims said. “We’re a young team and our inexperience showed.”

Hernando had only four seniors in the starting lineup. The Leopards continued to be without the services of senior first baseman and pitcher Eric O’Dell, who suffered a knee injury two weeks ago and may be out for another couple weeks.

“Not having Eric O’Dell really hurts us,” Sims said. “We’re playing a lot of young guys. A game like this is good experience for them, but it would have been better if we won. This is a good group, but we’re just very young. And you may see us playing even more young guys. We’re going to continue to adjust and flip some things around.”

The Leopards also lost to Lakeland, 8-0 on Friday night. After that, they’re scheduled to open play in the 2025 Farm Bureau Insurance High School Baseball Classic tournament with a home game against Hudson on Monday. Three other Hernando County teams also will participate in the 12-team tournament. Weeki Wachee opens play with a home game Monday against Tarpon Springs at 4 p.m. Nature Coast will host River Ridge at 7 p.m. Monday and Central will host Bishop McLaughlin on Monday at 7 p.m. The tournament will run through Friday when the championship game will be played at Hernando High at 7 p.m.