Hernando baseball jumps early, cruises past Umatilla in playoffs

Hernando High did not need late-inning heroics to move on Friday at Emerson Field. The Leopards struck first, scored three times in the opening inning and rode a complete game from Austin Knierim to a 6-1 win over Umatilla in a Region 3A-2 quarterfinal in Brooksville.

The No. 3 seed improved to 21-5 and advanced to the Sweet 16, while No. 6 Umatilla finished 15-13. The victory carried extra weight because it came against the same program Hernando beat in the 2025 regional final series, when the Leopards won the Region 2 championship and kept their postseason run alive with a similar early push.

This time, Umatilla briefly threatened in the top of the first with a leadoff walk and a single, but Hernando erased the start with an inning-ending double play. The Leopards answered immediately. Brody Hedick reached on an error, Kaine Ellis singled home the first run, Austin Knierim added an RBI double, and Hernando had three runs before the first inning was over. That kind of start matched the formula Tim Sims has leaned on before: get in front early and keep pressure on the opponent.

Knierim did the rest from the mound. The junior threw a complete game and allowed only three hits, keeping Umatilla from finding any momentum after the first inning. He also remained one of Hernando’s most important offensive pieces this season, leading the team with seven home runs. Ellis, meanwhile, continued to anchor the lineup with a .463 batting average and a .608 on-base percentage, while Jayden Allen led the Leopards with five stolen bases and Michael Saltsman owned a 0.61 ERA.

The win also underscored how deep Hernando County baseball has been this spring. Nature Coast Tech reached a historic 20-win mark earlier in April, and Hernando’s latest playoff result added another strong postseason showing for a county that has stayed relevant deep into the bracket. MaxPreps listed Hernando as having won 15 of its last 18 games entering the next round, with a matchup against The Villages Charter scheduled for May 1. For Hernando, the message was clear: this was not just another playoff win, but another sign the Leopards are built for a long run.