Liberty leadoff hitter set plate for success

By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

As Liberty High left fielder Landin Diaz went, so went the Chargers.

He hit .450 from the leadoff spot, and scored 27 runs in 24 games. So Liberty did well, and went far.

For the first time in the program’s three years, the Chargers were a force in the Orange Belt Conference (tying for the top spot), and won a game in the district tournament, when they topped rival Osceola, 4-2.

With Diaz setting the table, Liberty had its best record ever, at 15-9, and got everybody’s best game, including a district that included state powers Lake Wales (advanced to the 5A Region 2 final) and Winter Haven.

“When he struggled, so did we,” former LHS Coach Scott Birchler, who recently took the Osceola High job, said.

But those times were the exception, and the school’s all-time run scoring leader despite just two years in the program is this year’s Osceola News-Gazette Baseball Player of the Year.

Last year as a junior, Diaz hit .418 from the top of the lineup and proceeded to embellish on that this season, as the catalyst of an offense that scored over seven runs per game.

“This year was great,” he said. “Coach told me what to do from the leadoff spot, and how important it is to start the offense and get the pitcher to show what he has.

“I was a patient hitter this year, I took a lot of pitches and worked a lot of counts. I just tried to get on base any way I could.”

Birchler said that by the end of the season, Diaz had developed all the tools of a prototypical leadoff hitter.

“He’s got a lot of weapons now, he’s a tough out. He can put down a bunt, he can do the Ichiro swing, and he can hit gap to gap,” he said. “When he gets on base, he makes things happen and makes our game plan work.”

When Diaz wasn’t the guy wheeling around the bases, he was driving them in at the plate. His 18 RBIs were second on the team.

“He had a good supporting cast, too, given that the 7-8-9 spots in the order got on, from him to drive them in,” Birchler said. “He was a scary guy to face in all facets of the game.”

The Chargers had many highlights this season, such as the win over Osceola in the postseason and a win over Lake Wales, who was nationally-ranked at the time. Individually, Diaz figured most prominently in a 10-9 win over Harmony in an OBC game that Liberty trailed in, 8-0 after four innings.

“We had two big rallies in that one, and Landin started them both, to get us back in the game,” Birchler said. “Then he had the walk-off hit to end it.”

Said Diaz: “The Lake Wales win, we were struggling going into that one, and that got us back going again.”

Diaz had a pair of triples in the district semifinals against Winter Haven, one of the top-ranked teams in Class 4A, and he scored Liberty’s only run in a 5-1 loss.

He led off the game with a three-bagger for the Chargers, but was left stranded at third.

With a place in college ball yet to be secured – a handful of schools are interested, both player and coach said – Diaz’s work is not over even though the season is.

“I’m still out there working,” he said. “I have to improve my conditioning, and get better arm strength and make better throws. But since I’ve been here, I’ve gotten stronger and drive the ball better now. The coaches here have taught me a lot of things, and it’s been a great experience.”

Birchler said his continued work made him just as valuable to the Liberty program as his physical tools.

“That kind of thing rubs off on the younger kids,” Birchler said.

ALL COUNTY BASEBALL

Player of the Year: Landin Diaz (Sr., LHS).
All-county team: Osceola: Peter Calilao (Soph.), Dylan Dillard (Jr.).
Liberty: Patrick Hernandez (Sr.), Jared Murphy (Sr.), Johnny Maslanka (Jr.).
St. Cloud: Dylan Myers (Sr.), Nick Arscott (Sr.). Gateway: Jose Cruz (Sr.), Juan Rivera (Jr.). Harmony: Rich Tilford (Sr.), Jorge Chavarria (Sr.), Matt Storm (Sr.), Tyler Lesch (Sr.), Austin Paroz (Sr.).
Honorable mention: Osceola: Ramon Cedeno (Sr.). Matt Rodriguez (Soph.), Alexis Rivera (Soph.). Liberty: Johnny Caraballo (Sr.). St. Cloud: Jeremy Kershner (Soph.). Gateway: Manny Rivera (Jr.), E.J. Devarie (Jr.), Jose Baez (Sr.). Harmony:  Tyler Whitney (Jr.), Ryan Brohlman (Sr.). Celebration: Matt Kann (Jr.), Joey Schiavo (Jr.).