By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor

It’s early in the high school baseball season, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t be intense when St. Cloud visits Osceola today at 7 p.m. for an Orange Belt Conference showdown.

The Kowboys, 3-3, slapped district rival Lake Minneola Friday, 9-2, to improve to 2-1 in 7A District 5.

The Bulldogs are 2-4 but 1-0 in 7A District 6. Osceola is 0-1 in the conference after a loss at Gateway last week, while the Bulldogs were 1-0 prior to Wednesday’s game at Liberty.

Osceola’s Travis Richardson pitched five innings and struck out six to earn the win against Lake Minneola. J.R. Charles and Edwin Rios each homered while Peter Calilao and Edwin Bonilla had two hits apiece.

Kowboys Coach Scott Birchler said his team is off to a slow start, but it has played well in spurts, including a win over Cypress Creek.

St. Cloud Coach Mike McDaniel said his team has had early-season ups and downs, as well.

“We are playing good defense, and we are having competitive at-bats, but (we) struggle to get two-out hits with runners in scoring position,” he said.

Gateway is perched at 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the 7A-5 and OBC races.

Gateway, at 4-1, is 2-0 in 7A-5 and the OBC.

Coach Rob Hammond has been getting big production from Bryan Ojeda, 9-for-19 with 10 RBIs, and Randall Toribio, who is batting .500. The Panthers host Florida Air today at 7 p.m. for a non-district contest.

Harmony, 4-0, will host Lake Nona today at 7 p.m. for another non-district contest. The Longhorns are 1-0 in 7A-6 after a 13-2 decision at Celebration last week where pitcher A.J. Stevens stretched his record to 3-0. The Longhorns have blanked three of their four regular season opponents.

Coach Mike Fields has seen Wyatt Dering start the season with a bang at the plate, going 8-for-14 with three extra base hits and 9 RBIs. Leadoff hitter Omar Villaman has done his job, batting 7-for-14 and scoring 10 runs.

Stevens is 5-for-7 at the plate with 5 RBIs, and Nate Thommen is 5-for-9 with 4 RBIs. Thommen also has the team’s other victory on the mound.

Fields said he isn’t sure how good his team is, yet.

“After we start our three-game weeks, we will have a better idea how good or bad we really are,” Fields said.

Celebration, which will travel to Harmony Friday, is 3-2 overall, 1-2 in the conference and 0-1 in 7A-6.

Coach Dan Caughman said he sees improvement in his squad.

“Harmony got us pretty good, but it was 3-2 after four innings,” he said. “We still have to get better on the mound and more disciplined at the plate.”

Caughman said his team would be tested this weekend with games at Harmony Friday at 7 p.m. and against South Lake Saturday.

Liberty is 1-1 in the OBC and 7A-5 after a 7-5 loss against East Ridge Friday.

Coach Nick Philpot was not disappointed.

“We’re playing well. We lost to East Ridge, but it was a heck of a game,” he said. “We will go as far as our pitching will take us. We have a lot of seniors that will carry this team, and my sophomores are playing like veterans.”

The Chargers host Gateway Friday at 6 p.m.

Poinciana was 0-5 prior to Wednesday’s game at Oak Ridge.

The Eagles visit Lake Minneola Friday.