Baseball Recap: Umatilla Takes Down Hernando in a Playoff Battle

With a playoff win on the line, Umatilla rose to the challenge on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged out the Hernando Leopards 3-1. This was a revenge game for the Bulldogs: when they faced off against the Leopards on Monday, they had to take a 11-1 loss.

Wyatt Strawbridge

Batters Struck Out

05/06/25 vs Hernando	8
04/30/25 @ South Sumter	6
04/24/25 vs Nature Coast Tech	11
04/15/25 vs The Villages Charter	9
04/10/25 vs Mount Dora Christian Academy	8
+ 5 more games

Wyatt Strawbridge spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on five hits and racked up eight Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in ten consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, Umatilla's win was truly a team effort as three different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Gavin Touchton, who got on base in all three of his plate appearances with one run and one double.

Umatilla hit smart and finished the game with only two strikeouts. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Hernando struck out eight times.

Umatilla has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 19-15 record this season. They've had to fight for that success though, as they only beat their opponents by an average of 1.67 runs across that stretch. As for Hernando, the defeat snapped their winning streak at three games and leaves them with a 19-15 record.

Umatilla will have a chance to go back-to-back against the Leopards: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.