Clark’s Grand Slam Lifts Leopards Over Sharks in District Semifinal

BROOKSVILLE – The Leopards are heading to the district championship.

On Wednesday night, the Hernando Leopards (14-9-1) used a late grand slam to chomp the Nature Coast Tech Sharks (11-13) on the road in the 3A District 6 Semifinal. After seeing their multi-score lead evaporate in the bottom of the sixth inning, Junior LeAnna Clark’s grand slam gave Hernando the 8-4 lead in the final frame.

“She came out late in the season,” Coach Steven Gonzalez said after the game. “She has been putting in the work. She has spent a lot of time after practice, before practice in the cages working on shoring up the swing and getting back to where she was. For her, it is just getting the reps and having fun.”

The junior has quite literally been getting back into the swing of things as the softball schedule has been winding down. Coming into this year, her coach noted that she had put “a lot of pressure” on herself and her play. This left her not wanting to start heading into her penultimate season.

As the year wore on, however, she approached Coach Gonzalez about not only coming back for the end of this season but for her senior year as well. He was happy to get her back on the squad, especially so on Wednesday night.

His message to her? “Don’t put pressure on yourself.”

The Leopards’ victory was not because of a single play. It was about the ebb and flow of the entire evening, and they had to weather a late storm at the Shark Tank.

The visitors started off strong with back-to-back doubles on their second and third at bats of the game as Freshman Aubrey Knierim ran Freshman Addisyn Slocum home for the early lead. Then, Nature Coast briefly tied things up in the bottom of the third when Junior Athena Brown’s hit advanced Junior Maddy DePetrillo across home plate.

That was short lived, though, as Hernando built a 3-1 lead thanks to Junior Ariana Covell’s double bringing home two runners with bases loaded in the very next inning. In the top of the fifth frame, the Leopards loaded the bases again before a walk forced Sophomore Murphi Blade across the plate for the three-score lead.

In the bottom of the same frame, they put two more on the board thanks to RBIs by Sophomore Pitcher Kamryn Ross and Junior Catcher Caitlin Corrigan and knotted the game at four-all with a single by Brown in the bottom of the sixth.

“We have kind of had them on the ropes twice now,” said Coach Gonzalez. “We have let them creep back in the game just making little mistakes overplaying balls, not understanding where runners are […] I think if we just calm down, we make the routine plays routine, I think it is a different game.”

It nearly became a different game in a bad way for the Leopards as Clark faced down Ross with two strikes and two outs. A single whiff would have sent the Sharks into the bottom of the final frame needing a solitary score to take the victory.

That would not happen, though. Clark may have been the only player without a named jersey, but she made sure her name would not be forgotten after belting the game winner past the left field fence on Wednesday. She was later named the Hernando Player of the Game for her efforts.

“They definitely battled,” Coach Gonzalez said of his whole crew. “I think seven of our losses have been by two or three runs, and most of them have been one or two mistakes, usually by younger players. So, we are a young team.”

Looking ahead, the Leopards will face off against Crystal River in the district championship on Thursday. Coach Gonzalez will hope to see his girls stay aggressive at the plate against the top-seeded Pirates.

“Hitting has been kind of our catalyst all season,” the head coach said. “If we can out hit the team, typically we will win the game.”