Nature Coast Earns 3A-7 Title With Extra-Inning Victory

The 2026 District 3A-7 champion Nature Coast Sharks. *Photo from @NatureCoastTechnicalHighSchool.

With the stakes at their highest and holding a slim lead, the Nature Coast Sharks had the right man on the mound. Senior Bryce Hewell did what he has all season in securing the final crucial outs for victory, as Nature Coast held on in extra innings for a 5-3 win over the Hernando Leopards in the District 3A-7 championship on Wednesday.

Hewell faced a bases-loaded jam that had the winning run on base, after Jayden Allen singled, Rhett Williams walked and Sammy Novick reached on a bunt single in the bottom of the eighth. But Hewell responded with a swinging strikeout, followed by an infield grounder that closed out the win and earned his team the district trophy.

It is the first district title in two years for the Sharks (22-3), and their fifth overall in the past ten seasons. The team has also won two regional titles to make two runs to the state Final Four over that time.

Nature Coast had also managed to load the bases in their frame of work in extra innings, as Will Wilkie and Beckett Monroe were both hit by a pitch and Cashis Williams worked a walk to begin the top of the eighth. Paul Kymer then earned an RBI walk to push across courtesy-runner Esteban Vasquez with the winning run, and Williams later scored off a wild pitch for a valuable insurance run.

The Sharks had led most of the way, after scoring in each of the first three innings to narrowly go ahead 3-2 in the third. But Billy Ward’s RBI single in the bottom of the sixth plated courtesy-runner Kaleb Russell for the tying run for the Leopards (20-5).

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