Leopards Rally in Final At-Bat to Win Regional Quarterfinal Series

BROOKSVILLE – In the long history of Hernando High baseball, Thursday night’s game won’t go down as the cleanest performance. But it turned out to be one of the most memorable.

Two outs away from elimination, the Leopards rallied from two runs down for the second time in the decisive Game 3 of a Region 3A-2 quarterfinal series with North Marion. They overcame numerous self-inflicted wounds to survive and advance, scoring three times in the bottom of the seventh for a 6-5 walk-off victory at Emerson Field.

“It was a long series. The two games up there, they were tough. To come back home and win was great,” said Hernando third baseman Mason Morgan, whose groundball to second base ended up scoring the tying and winning runs. “Just put it in play (in the last inning), make them make a mistake. Just play our game.”

The visiting Colts (16-13) did indeed make mistakes in the end. Morgan’s groundball in the hole between first and second came with the bases loaded and one out, and would have driven in the tying run even if the second baseman hadn’t booted it while ranging to his left.

That error opened the door for Eric O’Dell to round third and head for home. The second baseman regrouped and made a throw that had O’Dell beat, but the catcher dropped the ball to allow O’Dell to score and set off a wild celebration on the field.

“Just try to stay through the ball, work the other way, don’t get too big. Just stay in the moment, be competitive. That’s all,” Morgan said. “I was just glad to see it kicked up a little bit and get the winning run in.

“… We’re tough. We’re going to grind it out and try to get the win.”

Many twists and turns took place before these two teams reached that point, going back to Game 1 of the series on Monday up in Citra. This is the first year that the FHSAA will decide each round of regionals by best-of-3 series rather than single elimination, with higher seeds hosting the first two games.

The seventh-seeded Leopards (16-13) pulled off an upset in beating the second-seeded Colts. They took Game 1 4-2, with Kaine Ellis going 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI, and Cody Whitelaw and Nino Urso also driving in runs. Cadyn Williams pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up one run while striking out eight.

North Marion evened the series on Tuesday, winning 4-3 in Game 2. Ellis again had a double and an RBI, while Morgan and Brody Hedick plated the other runs. Gage Blade permitted two runs, though only one earned, in five innings.

So the series shifted to Brooksville for Game 3 and the Colts got off to a strong start with Troy Guynn and Trenton Ramsey each singling to begin the top of the first. Rowan Quartararo followed with a groundball that got past the second baseman and rolled deep into the right-center field gap. It ended up as a three-base error, making it 2-0.

Starter Austin Knierim was able to strand Quartararo at third with two strikeouts and then tossed four scoreless innings. Meanwhile, the Leopards managed to come back and take a 3-2 advantage.

They would load the bases with two outs in the bottom of the third, and Urso scored on a balk. Palmer Looper singled through the left side to bring in Kaleb Russell and tie the game at 2.

Then the lefty swinging Ellis, who had already singled twice, hit a home run down the line in right field in the fifth.

“Just kind of threw it in my good spot, and just dropped the barrel on it and was able to put one out,” Ellis said. “Just getting that momentum and getting everybody up meant everything, and being able to keep it going.”

But misplays and walks sparked the Colts in the top of the sixth. Quartararo led off with a ball to deep right that went over the right fielder’s head for a double, then Tucker Jones hit a comebacker to the mound but the throw to first was mishandled for an error.

Back-to-back free passes, the last to Ayden Gonzalez, brought in the tying run. After a strikeout, John Collins worked a second bases-loaded walk to make it 4-3 in favor of North Marion. A walk and a hit batter led to a tack-on run in the seventh on C.J. Sayler’s single.

With the season on the brink, Ellis got on base with a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh to go along with a 3-for-3 day at the plate for the junior catcher.

“Just the same approach it’s been all game, not changing anything,” Ellis said. “Just being able to get on, get something started, looking for the pitch I want to hit, and just being able to barrel the ball and do what I can.”

Knierim singled and O’Dell walked to load the bases. Looper was hit by a pitch to bring in one run, setting the stage for Morgan’s fateful at-bat.

“I told them the last inning, ‘Y’all get the tying run up here, we’re going to walk them off.’ You’ve got to have that type confidence,” Hernando head coach Tim Sims said. “We knew the guy pretty much comes right at you with fastball and throws strikes. And that if you don’t chase the curveball and you foul off the good pitches, which O’Dell had the best at-bat of the year to work that walk. That’s pretty much what we told them. We just had that confidence, if we get the tying run up there we’re going to do it.”

Next up, Hernando will face The Villages in a best-of-3 regional semifinal series starting the following Monday. But first Sims gave praise to the Colts and their head coach Dale Hall, who he has known since their days playing against each other in summer ball in the 1980s.

“We beat a very, very well-coached program, probably one of the top-coached programs in the state with 3-4 very good pitchers,” Sims said. “I’m proud of my guys. Listen, that’s pretty good for our guys. It’s a good series win, to get to the next round.

“… We’re getting hot at the right time with a solid group. When we pound the zone and we handle the rock, and I said this early in the year, we can play with anybody in the state when we pound the zone and handle the rock. When we don’t, we can get beat by anybody in the state. And that’s pretty much the team I have this year, which is a predominantly young team.”