Hernando baseball hoping to go even further in 2023

Summer experience with Dixie Youth League Majors U19 has the Leopards primed

BROOKSVILLE, FlORIDA – Officially, the 2022 Hernando High baseball season ended with a loss to Dunedin in the regional round of the state tournament last May. Officially, the 2023 season started with a victory against Inverness Citrus on Tuesday night.

But maybe it’s best to not get too technical as the Leopards, who went 20-9 and won the Class 4A District 6 championship a year ago, play their home opener Friday night when Citrus comes to Emerson Field.

Maybe it’s best to view the gap between the two seasons as one big blur that might be a huge positive for Hernando going forward. Somewhere in between came another very important season filled with big-game experience.

Photo courtesy of Hernando Baseball Twitter

The Hernando Dixie Youth League Majors 19-Under team that won the Florida state championship and participated in the Dixie Youth League World Series in Nashville, Tenn., last summer was made up of a large part of the current Hernando High roster.

“It was a great experience,’’ Hernando coach Tim Sims said.

For the players and their coach. Let’s touch briefly with the coach, who doesn’t like to be the center of attention. While in Nashville, Sims was enshrined into the Dixie Youth League Hall of Fame for his success as a player and a coach.

With that out of the way, let’s move onto something Sims is much more comfortable talking about – his team.

“A lot of the teams we played against were filled with college players,’’ Sims said. “We were a junior-heavy team as a high school team last year, so we had to grow up in a hurry last summer.’’

The growth process was helped by the fact that Hernando treated the trip as a bonding experience, complete with team meals and outings.

“Most of our kids have been playing together for a long time,’’ Sims said. “But that made them even closer and that can only help us.’’

Sims didn’t hesitate a bit when asked about the strengths of this year’s team.

Hernando baseball coach Tim Sims says his team will rely on its strong pitching

“Pitching,’’ Sims said. “We definitely have some pitching.’’

Senior Michael Savarese is Hernando’s top returning pitcher. He went 8-2 with a 0.75 ERA while striking out 102 batters last season. Senior Carlos Gonzalez also returns. He went 5-1 last season and is 9-1 with a 3.34 ERA since first breaking into the rotation has a freshman. Junior Dominique Janssens, 3-3 last year, also returns and the pitching staff should also get a boost with the return of senior Patrick Green, who made only three appearances due to an injury last season.

Offensively, Janssens and senior outfielder Anthony Talpa will lead the Leopards. Janssens led the Leopards with a .413 batting average last season. Talpa hit .400 with three home runs and 24 RBI last season. William Taylor, who hit .288 with 11 RBI last season, also could become a big part of the offense. Savarese, who had five home runs and 21 RBI last year, also brings power to the lineup.

Hernando has the talent – and the experience – to make a deep run in the state playoffs. Sims admits that, but said the Leopards won’t have much room for error.

“Every team in our district is good,’’ Sims said. “I mean, you could just flip a coin. The team you think is going to win it might finish last and the team you think will finish last could win it.’’