On Thursday night at Emerson Field in Brooksville, Bishop McLaughlin Catholic High School’s Brandon Savarese hit a bases-loaded double to break open a tie game and propel the Hurricanes to a 9-6 victory over Hernando High in extra innings.
The game, which took place at 6:30 PM on Thursday, saw Bishop McLaughlin (11-10) emerge victorious over Hernando County’s powerhouse baseball program, Hernando High (16-4). This marks the second time this season that Bishop McLaughlin has knocked off a Hernando County power. Earlier this year, the Hurricanes defeated Nature Coast, 7-1, in the opening round of the Farm Bureau Insurance High School Baseball Classic on March 17. Thursday night’s victory snapped Hernando’s four-game winning streak.
“We’ve been up and down,” Bishop McLaughlin coach Rob Ducey said. “But Hernando and Nature Coast are both very good teams and to win against them is big.” Against Hernando, Bishop McLaughlin did it in dramatic fashion. After Hernando scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game (6-6) and force extra innings, the Hurricanes loaded the bases in the top of the eighth inning on two walks and a Hernando error. That brought Savarese, a junior catcher and Bishop McLaughlin’s cleanup hitter, to the plate. Savarese then smacked a double off the fence in right-center field to drive in three runs.
“Brandon got a fastball out over the plate and he just drove it,” Ducey said. Bishop McLaughlin sophomore right-hander Connor McGuire then struck out the Hernando side in the bottom of the eighth inning to end the game. “That was a roller-coaster of a game,” Hernando coach Tim Sims said. “It was speed up and slow down for both teams. Bishop McLaughlin is a good team that’s been playing well lately.”
Originally reported by Hernando Sun
Sources: Hernando Sun
