Hornets Come Back to Beat Panthers in Season Opener

WEEKI WACHEE – The Weeki Wachee Hornets (1-0) opened the season with a 5-4 victory over the Lecanto Panthers (0-1) on Tuesday night. The Green and Black persevered through an early dry spell before mounting a comeback in later innings at home.

Hornets Head Coach Patrick McHugh noted that his squad started off “sort of sleepwalking” alongside the Panthers’ pitcher “throwing a great game.” That would not be the end, though, and the home team got things turned around.

“We forced them into a situation where they made one mistake and we made it be the difference in the game,” Coach McHugh added. “I tip my hat to them. We have been on the other side of that plenty of times and it is more fun to be on this side of it.”

The Hornets fell behind in the top of the third inning following a double by Panthers Sophomore David Logue. A wild pitch in the top of the fifth on Logue’s next at bat would run Lecanto Freshman Ryder Pollard home for the 2-0 advantage over the home team.

Despite falling behind, Weeki Wachee’s pitching staff successfully managed the damage so as to not let these scoring situations balloon into more. “Pitching was great,” said Coach McHugh. Though starter JD Sammons “got hurt in a couple key spots,” his coach noted that he “threw well.”

Weeki’s bats would wait until the penultimate inning to officially heat up. Down 2-0 with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, the Hornets found themselves with bases loaded after Christian Zahora was hit by a pitch. With the end of the game rapidly approaching, it was now or never.

Instead of the frame ending with a 2-0 lead, the visitors were now down 3-2 in the blink of an eye. Pitcher Brayton Crews was next up to the plate for the Hornets, and a wild pitch on his at bat would lead to another Weeki score. Freshman Pitcher Jayden Allen would finish the scoring for the home team with a double to the leftfield fence.

After Crews was brought in and pitched admirably for an inning-plus, Allen got the nod to finish the seventh and final frame strong for the Hornets. Lecanto tacked on two late scores to bring the game to within a point, but the freshman pitcher would get it done once he took the mound.

Tasked with producing the lone final out, Allen’s pitch was popped up by Lecanto’s Pitcher Brayden Aungst and swiftly caught in the outfield. Game over. Though he is a freshman in year, Allen’s head coach noted that he is “not a freshman in baseball” and will be in “big leverage situations” moving forward.

Coach McHugh was pleased to see his young team bounce back during the game and noted that it was a testament to the “resiliency that we have been preaching.” The Hornets’ leader hopes to see his squad get off to a faster start when they rematch the Panthers on the road on Friday.