Hernando's Michael Savarese no-hits Satellite in playoff opener

BROOKSVILLE, FLORIDA – Essentially, Tuesday night’s Class 4-Region 2 playoff baseball opener between Satellite and Hernando could have been played without bats.

That’s mainly because Hernando’s Michael Savarese pitched what the senior right-hander and his coach agreed was the best game of his life. Savarese (8-1) came up only a seventh-inning walk short of a perfect game in a 6-0 Hernando victory.

It’s hard to say what was more impressive – Savarese’s no-hitter or his 18 strikeouts.

“That was absolutely vintage Savarese,’’ Hernando coach Tim Sims said. “Playoff baseball is another level and he took it to another level tonight. This is just the beginning. He’s just going to keep getting better and better as he gets bigger and stronger.’’

Savarese, who has committed to Pasco-Hernando State College, came into the game leading all Florida high school pitchers with 132 strikeouts in 61-1/3 innings. So, it’s pretty safe to say he still leads the state unless some other pitcher had a truly ridiculous night.

With 149 strikeouts on the season, another start would put Savarese within easy striking distance of the Hernando record for strikeouts in a season. That’s 154 and it’s shared by former major league pitcher Mike Walker and former minor leaguer Landon Hessler.

Savarese does owe a favor to senior shortstop Drew Vanalstine for preventing the only thing close to a Satellite hit. Vanalstine fielded a slow hopper up in the middle and got his throw to first base just in time to nail Brandon Reiter in the fourth inning.

Savarese and Sims both admitted the pitcher didn’t have his best stuff in his last two outings, but found it as the Leopards (23-4) earned the right to play in the Regional Semifinal at Sparr North Marion on Friday night.

“I just felt more rested tonight,’’ Savarese said. “I took a good nap when I got home from school. Actually, I took two naps.’’

Hernando didn’t even need to hit the ball to take control of the game. Reiter, a sophomore left-hander, looked like he might give the Leopards trouble with his curveball. He did allow a single to Kaine Ellis, but that didn’t result in any runs by Hernando.

Where Reiter did run into trouble was when his control problems started in the second inning as the Scorpions ended their season at 15-8. After Hernando’s Patrick Green reached on an error, he advance to second and third and scored when Reiter put pitches in the dirt at the front of home plate.

It was more of the same in the third inning as Vanalstine walked and stole second. He then moved to third on a wild pitch and gave the Leopards a 2-0 lead as he scored on another wild pitch.

At that point, Hernando had recorded only one hit, but it was obvious the Leopards were poised to advance. Anybody watching the game could see that Savarese was in control and wasn’t going to be touched.

Savarese helped himself out with his bat with a single up the middle in the fourth inning and that’s when Tyson Morgan came up with Hernando’s third – and final hit -- of the night. Morgan stroked a two-run single to right to give Hernando a 4-0 lead.

Hernando scored its final two runs on a slew of walks, wild pitches, hit batters and a fielder’s choice to close out the game.

Hernando is the No. 4 seed in the Region and Sims said he hasn’t decided who will pitch against top-seeded North Marion. He has plenty of good options with Colten Cloud, Carlos Gonzalez and Patrick Green rested and available.

“Who knows? We might even put Savarese out there left-handed,’’ Sims joked.