The high school baseball season has already reached the end of its first month, and a freshman from Weeki Wachee provided one of the top individual performances thus far last Thursday night.
Jayden Allen dominated in a home game against Seven Rivers Christian, tossing a no-hitter for the Hornets in a 2-0 victory. In seven shutout innings, he struck out 11 Warriors against just one walk and a hit batter.
That outing was the highlight for Weeki Wachee (4-6) last week, which included two losses to Central. The Bears won 8-2 at the Hornets’ field on March 4, with Jayden Warren going 3 for 4 with two doubles, a triple, three runs and three RBI, while Talyn Poole and Tristan King both finished 2 for 4 with a run and two RBI. Ryan Engley was 2 for 4 with an RBI, but even better on the mound striking out 13 in seven innings and giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks.
On Friday, the Bears (6-4) beat the Hornets at home 1-0. Noah Sanchez doubled and drove in a run to support Korbin Baskind, who threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings allowing one hit and three walks while striking out nine. Two days earlier, Central thumped Hudson 22-7 as Poole went 2 for 3 with a double, two runs and four RBI.
Nature Coast (7-3) pounded Fivay on Friday night in an astounding 30-0 victory that only lasted 3 1/2 innings. Bryce Hewell went 3 for 4 with a double, a triple, four runs scored and five RBI. Paul Kymer also had a double and drove in five while scoring three times. Jake Loeffler and Hewell combined for four perfect innings, with Loeffler striking out seven in three innings and Hewell fanning all three batters in the final frame.
Springstead went 3-0 last week to improve to 9-2 overall. Two of those wins came against Citrus, 7-3 on March 4 and 11-7 on Friday. In that last game, Andrew Ward and Nathaniel Sabino were 3 for 5 with a double and three RBI. The previous day, Ward went 3 for 4 with a double, a home run and two RBI in a 5-1 victory at Mitchell.
Hernando went 2-0 against Lecanto last week and has won eight in a row to move to 8-2. On March 5, the Leopards won 5-4 in a walk-off at Emerson Field, getting two hits from Kaine Ellis including a game-tying double. Palmer Looper collected four hits and Cody Whitelaw had three in Friday’s 12-4 victory at Lecanto.
Meanwhile, a former Leopard is having a big year on the college level. Michael Savarese, now with Pasco-Hernando State College, was once again named the FCSAA D2 Baseball Pitcher of the Week. The sophomore right-hander from Brooksville got the win by throwing a complete game shutout in an 8-0 victory over Lake-Sumter State on Feb. 28. He allowed three hits and two walks while striking out eight.
In softball, Springstead sophomore Alivia Miller threw seven shutout innings, striking out 17 while only giving up two hits in a 4-0 win over Gulf on March 3, while her sister Ava Miller was 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI.
The next night Ava Miller struck out 10 in five shutout innings, giving up one hit and walking three in a 13-0 victory against Central. The senior was also 2 for 3 with a double, two runs and two RBI. Kaylana Lyons had two doubles and drove in two, while Audrina Savarese doubled and had two RBI.
Nature Coast had a 15-2 win over Weeki Wachee on March 4. Izzy Miller, Athena Brown and Kassie Figueroa each had two hits and two RBI, while Kamryn Ross went 3 for 4 and got the win on the mound giving up one earned run in five innings.
The Sharks finished the week 5-3, as did Hernando with Thursday’s 15-1 pounding of Fivay. Lily Jernigan led the way going 2 for 2 with a double and four RBI, and she pitched all five innings giving up a run on four hits and two walks while striking out seven. Ariana Covell went 2 for 4 with a run and two RBI, and Mya Smith drove in two.
Nature Coast improved to 5-0 in flag football and has yet to give up any points. The Shark won 18-0 over Central on March 4, as Madelyn DePetrillo completed 13 of 25 passes for 163 yards with touchdowns to Gia Valenti and Gabriella Dross. DePetrillo also scored a touchdown and intercepted a pass, while Abby Asteasuainzarra had two picks.
The next day the Sharks downed River Ridge 34-0. DePetrillo completed 21 of 33 passes for 244 yards with four touchdowns against one interception. Dross caught two touchdowns.
Springstead was 4-0 following a 7-0 win over Lecanto on March 4. J’Ziyah Munford completed 18 of 28 passes for 115 yards with a touchdown toss to Addisson Osborne. The Eagles suffered their first loss the next night, falling in double OT to Hernando 33-27.
In that win over the Eagles, Carlie Grant completed 14 of 18 passes for 153 yards and threw for five touchdowns to pace the Leopards (3-1). Alexis Sway caught four of those scores, and Kenderlyn Hart had seven receptions for 102 yards and hauled in one touchdown. Osborne caught two touchdowns for Springstead.
On March 3, Weeki Wachee handed Hernando its first loss, as the Hornets won 13-6.
Hernando remained unbeaten early in the beach volleyball season, going 4-0 with a 5-0 victory over Central on March 4.
