By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.
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BROOKSVILLE – As soon as Austin Knierim connected with the pitch, he knew. The junior stood for a moment to watch as the ball hurdled through the dark sky toward the gym in the distance beyond the right field fence.
He flipped his bat high in the air and then quickly trotted around the bases to rejoin his Hernando High teammates at home plate in a raucous celebration. A few minutes later, he was signing a ball for a young fan.
It was that kind of game, that kind of performance, that kind of series for Knierim. A night after pitching a complete game shutout to force a decisive Game 3 of the Region 3A-2 semifinal series with The Villages, Knierim’s walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning completed a five-run comeback for the Leopards, saving their season
and sending them into the regional finals with an 11-8 victory.
“I still can’t believe it,” Knierim said. “I knew when I was at the plate, I was the guy. I was going to do everything for my team. Just pass the torch to the next guy.
“… It was the best feeling I ever felt in my life.”
Knierim was certainly the star of the series for Hernando (18-14). In Game 1 on Tuesday at The Villages (23-8), he went 3 for 3 with a double, a home run, two runs scored and three RBI in a 6-5 loss. Kaine Ellis was also 3 for 3 with a double and Eric O’Dell drove in a run.
“I just put faith in my team that they were going to do their job behind me,” Knierim said. “When you have faith in the guy behind you, it makes it easier for you.”
In Game 3, he ended up 2 for 4 with two homers, three runs and six RBI. Two errors in the top of the first helped The Villages take a 2-0 lead, but the lefty-swinging Knierim erased that in the bottom of the frame on a two-run bomb to right field.
The Buffaloes went back up 4-2 on a single lined to left field by Lincoln Gagne in the second. The Leopards got one back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double into the right-center field gap by Euler.
Joe Killpatrick plated two on a single up the middle in the top of the fourth. In the fifth, Landon Howell drove in a run on a double, then scored on a bad throw when Logan Godwin stole second to make it 8-3.
From there Hernando inched closer little by little. O’Dell homered to left field leading off the bottom of the fifth. In the sixth, Ellis doubled with one out followed by walks to Knierim and O’ Dell to load the bases. Palmer Looper hit a blooper up the middle that the shortstop fielded, took to second for a force and then airmailed the throw to first, allowing two to score.
At that point the attrition of a three-game series played in three days due to a rainout on Monday seemed to impact the Buffaloes. Forced to use a pitcher who had only thrown 10 innings on the season and had not made a mound appearance since April 7, The Villages struggled to close things out.
Meanwhile, Hernando turned to junior Reagan Wilkes. The tall right-hander had a couple of rough outings in the regional quarterfinal series against North Marion but tossed the only 1-2-3 inning of the game in the sixth. He then fanned the first two batters in the seventh before an error allowed a runner who was thrown out on the play trying to
take third.
“Last two appearances on the mound haven’t been great,” Wilkes said. “So kind of just flushing that out and not really thinking, just thinking get the ball there. That’s really it.”
Hernando head coach Tim Sims said saving Wilkes until end of the game was the gameplan all along.
“Wilkes was good for us early,” Sims said. “A little arm issue here or there; kind of mechanically because he’s so big and loosey, goosey. But had some rest here since last week at North Marion pitching and felt good, and finally came in and just said, ‘Hey, here you go, hit it.’ If he pounds the zone like that, he’s tough.”
Given the opportunity by Wilkes, the offense took advantage down 8-6 heading into its final turn. A week to the day after completing a two-run rally on the same field in the bottom of the seventh to win Game 3 of the regional quarterfinal series, Hernando seemed at ease.
Brody Hedick absorbed a hit by pitch leading off and Euler lined a single to left, making him 3 for 4 on the night.
Cody Whitelaw popped a bunt toward second base, over the pitcher for an infield single that loaded the bases.
Ellis was hit by a pitch to plate one run and bring up Knierim, who launched the ball into the night.
“He’s one of those guys, he’s a junior and kind of off the radar,” Sims said. “But his consistency now in pitching and hitting, he’s maturing right before our eyes. He’s a good player.”
Sims admitted his team got exactly what it wanted in the seventh with Ellis and Knierim coming to the plate with the bases full.
“We swung the bats tonight in key situations, but guys also got on base with their patience in key situations for us to be able to do that,” Sims said. “We had gotten the tying run up there when it was 6-3, and then I said, ‘Listen, they got to go to their ’pen, guys. Let’s just keep chipping away. There’s nine outs to go,’ when I got them together in
fifth.
“And then scoring the two to make it 8-6, huge. Because then we’re going to the seventh and then it was just, hey, we’ve got to flip the lineup, get our guys and let’s see what happens.”
Next up, another best-of-3 series against Umatilla for the regional title and a spot in the Final Four. As the higher seed, Umatilla will host the first two games on Monday and Tuesday.
“We are surviving and advancing,” Sims said. “I hear congratulations are in order for Umatilla. That’s going to be a great series too because they’re scrapping and getting after it like we will.”
