Advertisement

District baseball: Nature Coast 13, Hernando 8

 
Published April 23, 2016

BROOKSVILLE — After a six-year absence from the playoffs, Nature Coast is back and looking like it could do some damage. The Sharks won the school's first district championship in baseball, riding a nine-run second inning to a 13-8 defeat of host Hernando on Friday for the Class 5A, District 7 trophy.

Brandon Riera went 3-for-4, homering and doubling in the second inning alone. The top-seeded Sharks were 11-1 in regular-season district play and Friday's win made it 12 straight against district opponents.

Hernando (17-11) clawed back to within 9-7, scoring five in the fifth despite just two balls leaving the infield. After a pair of bases-loaded walks prompted a pitching change, Ryan Lotito came on for a big strikeout to keep the Sharks on top, and went on to strike out five in 2 1/3 for the save. Nature Coast (20-4) got four in the bottom of the sixth to extend the lead to 13-7.

NCT (20-4) gets to host a region quarterfinal Wednesday while Hernando heads to Orlando to play the 5A-8 champ, either Bishop Moore or Lake Highland Prep. That game was postponed to a Saturday 5 p.m. start.

The wet weather in Brooksville delayed Friday's action by 93 minutes and the last pitch, with a fairly thick fog having settled in, was recorded at 11:42 p.m. Hernando, game host but on-field visitors as the second seed, scored twice in the first. Cameron Price's infield single and an error on a hit-and-run, which would have resulted in a double play, set up Andres Cabrera's two-run single.

But the wheels came off for Hernando in the bottom of the second. Riera led it off with a double, then an error and a walk loaded the bases. Brandon Frangione's four-pitch walk made it 2-1, then pitcher/No. 9 hitter Brandon Santiago aided his own cause with a two-run double.

Zach Funkhouser blasted a ball to the warning track that was dropped, making it 5-2, and Riera's three-run homer, his fourth of the season, capped off the frame. Matt Myers, Frangione and Hunter Rhineberger all reached base twice in the inning.

Riera looked certain for a 4-for-4 night but Hernando leftfielder Trevor Vendrone ran down a smash near the wall in the sixth. Santiago came through later in the inning with a two-run single, giving him a four-RBI night to go with the victory on the mound.

Cabrera, who leads the Leopards with 26 RBIs, added one of two run-scoring hits in the fifth, Tyler Skipper getting the other on an infield single. Skipper finished 3-for-4 with two RBI.

Hernando committed seven errors, Funkhouser reaching on three himself, while walking eight batters. Kyle Bonak, who entered in relief during the second, did allow the Riera homer but only gave up one hit across his final 3 2/3 innings.

With ace and .507 pitcher Jonathan Gates already committed to the University of Miami as a sophomore, Nature Coast looks poised to improve upon its overall playoff record of 1-4. Gates secured this postseason berth with a shutout of Central in Wednesday's semifinals and will certainly get the call come regionals. Central had given the Sharks their only district defeat, back in the season's second game.

Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene

Subscribe to our free Sports Today newsletter

We’ll send you news and analysis on the Bucs, Lightning, Rays and Florida’s college football teams every day.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

Before first pitch Friday a moment of silence was held for Gerald Johnson, a popular Brooksville baseball coach who unexpectedly died at his home Monday. He coached in the Hernando Youth League for nearly 20 years. Johnson was 58.