In the 2022 season, Osceola High’s Danny Ramirez hit and pitched the Kowboys baseball team to the Orange Belt Conference and district championships and that is why he is the Osceola News-Gazette Baseball Player of the Year.
Ramirez edges out Harmony sophomore Cade Walter, who was another strong contender for the honor. Ramirez and Walter — who earlier in the year was named Player of the Year by the Orange Belt Conference — headline the 18-member All-County Team.
A senior, the 6-3 lefthanded Ramirez finished the season with a 6-0 record and a 0.99 ERA. Giving up just seven earned runs in 49.2 innings, Ramirez allowed just 32 hits while striking out 63, and averaged less than one hit or walk (0.857) surrendered per inning.
Considered Osceola’s ace, Ramirez was on the mound for many of the Kowboys’ biggest games — including a 5-0, fourhit, complete-game shutout win over Lake Nona in the District 7A-6 title game.
When not pitching, Ramirez was playing first and was one of the top offensive players in the county. He hit .364 on the season, leading Osceola in at-bats (88), hits (32), RBI (25) and extra-base hits (12).
After getting just three varsity at-bats as a freshman, Walter blossomed into not one of the best hitters in the county but also one of the best in the region and state as a sophomore. He led the Longhorns in runs (18), hits (18), extra-base hits (10) and walks (13), while recording a .515 batting average. Walter had a .598 on-base percentage to go with a .735 slugging percentage and a 1.333 OPS — all tops in the county.
“That young man (Cade) is a tremendous hitter and an outstanding baseball player and was certainly deserving of OBC Player of the Year and I would have had no issues if you also named him the Player of the Year,” Osceola Coach Scott Birchler said. “But I am equally glad to recognize Danny. He had a tremendous year for us and there’s no way we win 20 games and the district championship without his contributions.”
The Kowboys, which finished the season at 21-6, led all county schools with five selections to the All-ONG Baseball team. Joining Ramirez were senior OF/P/INF Blake Birchler, senior INF/P Chris Palmi, junior pitcher Carlos Negron, and senior C Edwin Melendez.
Blake Birchler was a jack-of-all-trades in the outfield, first base and on the mound. He hit .370, with six doubles to go with a 2-0 record, one save and a 0.62 ERA in seven pitching outings on the mound. Palmi, who has signed to play at Lake Sumter State College, was 6-0 with a 1.43 ERA in 11 mound appearances.
Melendez was OHS’ rock behind the dish while hitting .339. Although his final record was just 1-2, Negron was Osceola’s solid No. 2 starter. In nine games he had a 2.27 ERA and averaged more than a strikeout per inning.
Harmony, upstart Liberty and Tohopekaliga had three players each named to the Gazette’s All-County team.
Joining Walter from the Longhorns was Jaxon Junilla and pitcher Caden Scarborough. An outstanding defensive catcher, Junilla hit .283 in his senior season. Scarborough missed a month of the season after injuring his arm against First Academy on March 22. He would return later in the season to throw four innings of one hit ball while striking out seven in a 2-1 extra-inning win over Tohopekaliga. He finished the season with 25 strikeouts in just 14.2 innings. An opposing coach said of Scarborough, “It’s a shame that Caden hurt his arm because when healthy he was certainly would have been one of the most dominating pitchers in the county.”
Liberty last posted a winning season in 2012 but second-year coach Zach Tayes – our Coach of the Year—led the Chargers to a 15-11 mark and saw catcher Edwardo Diaz, shortstop JC Santos and third baseman Yandy Gonzalez earn All-County honors.
Diaz hit a team-leading .413 for the Chargers and also led the team with 12 stolen bases. Santos (.333) and Gonzalez (.318) each had outstanding seasons at the plate; while anchoring the left side of the Liberty infield.
Tohopekaliga placed infielders Javarius Magee (.410) and Justin Diaz (.485) and hurler Moises Hernandez (1.40 ERA) on the team. Those three played a key role in leading the Tigers to their first winning season (10-9) in school history.
Rounding out All-County were St. Cloud outfielder Benji Segura and infielder Ethan Sanborn, Celebration infielder Francisco Rodriguez and Gateway’s Anthony Segarra. Segura led the Bulldogs in batting (.339), hits (19), RBI (11) and stolen bases (11). Segarra was Gateway’s leading hitter at .383.
