OHS defends OBC crown

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OHS defends OBC crown

Sports

Wednesday, 02 March 2011 13:15

News-Gazette Photo/Andrew Sullivan

Gateway shortstop E.J. Devarie returns to anchor an infield that is in one of the most experienced in the county.

Gateway will challenge in conference, district

By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer
Osceola is the reigning Orange Belt Conference champ and St. Cloud was the only county team a year ago to qualify for the regional playoffs, but they both will have new coaches this year.

Harmony, annually a threat for both conference and district titles, will retool after losing eight seniors. Poinciana returns to varsity play after fielding a JV team last year.
Osceola
The Kowboys won the OBC after yielding it to Harmony the year before, but Coach Nick James left for Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy, and the Kowboys welcomed back Scott Birchler, an OHS alum and their coach from 1994-2000. Birchler coached at Liberty High for the past three seasons.
“The new coaching staff has a high set of standards, but the players are working very hard on and off the field to defend the OBC and compete in a tough district,” he said. “Lake Wales has to be the team to beat and we will look to our seniors and a wealth of juniors to compete for a postseason run.”
The offense will be led by its three seniors: Edwin Rios (third base), Dylan Dillard (center field, pitcher) and the speedy Alexis Rivera (left field). Edwin Bonilla won the shortstop job last year as a freshman and returns with Herick Melendez at second. Juniors Bryce Burton and J.R. Charles and freshman Gustavo Rios will sort out the first base job, and one of the others should DH.
Travis Richardson and Akeem Francis also will play the outfield.
Dillard, senior Drew Heifner and junior Jorge Pantoja will makeup the starting rotation. Birchler should have a nice matchup bullpen, with righty Mathew Rodriguez and lefties Richardson and Brandon Woodard. Junior Peter Calilao, an effective bat and backstop last year, will catch them.
Gateway
The Panthers, 13-12 last year, also boasts something new this year, and it’s not on the coaching seat or in the lineup. Coach Rob Hammond returns, and the only glaring subtraction from the lineup is catcher Jose Cruz.
The new addition is skinny, tall and hopefully durable. Panther Field, after 25 seasons of day games, has gotten lights. Home games are scheduled for 6 p.m. as soon as Kissimmee Utility Authority runs the power to the field.
“This way we hope to be able to have more parents and fans be able to attend games instead of having to leave work early and fight traffic,” Hammond said.
His team should look good in daylight or lumen light. The No. 1 pitcher, Manny Rivera, returns, as do the starting second baseman (Juan Rivera) and shortstop (E.J. Devarie), seniors who have already inked college grants. Two starting outfielders are back, too — senior Julio Abreu in center and sophomore Randy Batista in right.
On the mound, senior Anthony Lupa and junior Lio Morales return, joined by junior Javier Diaz.
Juniors Bryan Ojeda (first) and Randall Toribio (third) will play the corners. Senior Jon Maldonado takes Cruz’s old job behind the plate. Junior Alian Hernandez will play the outfield.
Hammond said this needs to be a “come together” season for the program.
“We have high expectations,” he said. “The district (6A-6, with Vero Beach, Treasure Coast, Centennial and Bayside) is evenly matched and wide open.”
Harmony
After watching eight seniors graduate last year, Longhorns Coach Mike Fields likens this year’s team to the one in 2005, the school’s first.
“There’s not very much varsity experience, but it’s a hard working bunch,” Fields said. “We’re going to get better each and every game.”
He’s not joking about the inexperience – zero varsity innings return to the mound.
A.J. Stevens looks to have earned the No. 1 starter slot. Senior Tyler Whitney, junior Nathan Thommen and freshman P.J. Musselman also will throw.
“A.J. throws hard with a decent curveball,” Fields said. “It depends on how soon our pitching throws strikes. They need to step up their play to the varsity level.”
Wyatt Dering and Tim Helser will catch or play first base, where Stevens also will play if he’s not pitching. Sophomore Omar Villaman is at second and seniors Tyler Whitney, the most experienced returning player (.388 hitter in 2010) and Trent Fields will be at shortstop and third base.
Thommen, Tommy Lopez, Anthony Grego and Cory Boza will play the outfield. Other bats off the bench include Austin Hickey, Connor Cox, Trent Hinton and Brice Howard.
Fields said his team will have to execute the fundamentals to win.
“Anyone can beat us if we do not play well and mistake free,” he said. “Eustis has some good pitching coming back. St. Cloud will give us all we want, too.”
Poinciana
Yariel Vignau comes from Tampa Alonso High School for his first head coaching job. After the program didn’t have enough players to field a varsity squad last year, he said this year is about putting it back together.
“It will all come together when we get rid of the past experiences and believe in what the coaches are trying to build,” he said.
The pitching staff is anchored by a freshman lefty, Victor Pratts, along with seniors Scott Riley and Mike Morrisey. Freshman Kevin Cotto will catch.
Sophomores, shortstop Ariel Vargas and second baseman Richard Rochelle form a foundation up the middle to build on. Right fielder Richard Hidalgo is a solid left-handed bat and outfield glove.
“We are going to be the type of team that needs to do the little things correctly – bunt, hit and run, moving runners over – to see some positive results,” Vignau said.
St. Cloud
The Bulldogs won just five games last year, but two of them were the right ones – at the district tournament, which sent St. Cloud to the regional playoffs. The Bulldogs have a new coach in Mike McDaniel this year, and his thoughts on last year are thus:
“I’m not real sure of the record last year and it’s irrelevant to us.”
McDaniel, who comes from the Allentown, Pa. area, said that the team had a great fall season, when they got some confidence.
“Youth is on their side and they can handle the bats and run very well throughout the order, and they can pick it on defense,” McDaniel said. “Pitching and defense is the key to every good ballclub.”
On the mound the dogs have experience in seniors pitchers Danny Caballero, Tyler Jones and Edgar Velez. They will see a bulk of the innings, along with juniors Matt Ganotti and J.P. Del Valle and sophomores Christian Caballero and Abel Del Valle. They will be handled by senior catcher Kyle LaPlant.
Christian Caballero will play third, Alessio Pena is at short, and J.P. and Abel Del Valle are at first and second. Left to right, the outfield will be senior Jeff Weretka, junior C.J. Anderson, who belted a two-run walk-off homer in a 5-4 win over Liberty Feb. 19, and sophomore Angel Otero.
All-county player Jeremy Karshner is coming off a shoulder surgery and will look to contribute when healthy. Miguel Rivera or Dylan Johnson will DH.
“We believe in ourselves, but Gateway and Osceola are good and will be the teams to contend with,” McDaniel said.
Celebration
Al Brenner, a longtime coach in Toms River, N.J., was brought in to revive the Storm program. He feels like a head start has already been made.
“We changed the culture this fall. This team got 10-run ruled about 10 times last year and we’re not going to have that this year,” he said. “We’re rebuilding; there’s a lot of talent in the freshman and sophomore classes, but we will surprise some people this year. The next two years will be the telling years.”
Senior Matt Kann, in his fourth varsity year, will lead the pitching staff when he isn’t playing center field, along with senior lefties Alex Dyer and Kevin Dingee, who are back in the program after a year (or two) off.
Senior Joey Schiavo (third base) will be an offensive spark, and junior Dan Collins will anchor the infield at second. Sophomores Willie Estrada (catcher) and Noah Perez (shortstop) are a pair of impressive young players.
Liberty
With Scott Birchler back at Osceola, former Charger assistant coach Nick Philpot takes Liberty’s reins after having their best season in the school’s third year.
Righty Johnny Maslanka and lefty Brent Rhodes are in their fourth varsity seasons on the mound. Maslanka also will play first base. Seniors Victor Fermin and Nicky Rodriguez and juniors Tim Tapia and Yariel Alvarez will also climb the hill. Senior Jesse Svirdoff will catch.
“We have a loaded district, every team is pretty strong this year. There is a lot of good pitching and everyone has their fair share of good hitters,” Philpot said.
“It’s going to take us coming together and playing with our smarts. We always say around here, ‘Small ball wins big.’ We’re going to have to do the small things correctly to have the opportunities to win.”
Youth will serve in the infield, but it’s a talented group. Freshman Era Dominguez has won the second baseman job, and junior Ismael Reyes is at shortstop. Tapia will play third.
Even with the talent, Philpot said a 5A District 5 slot with Winter Haven, Lake Wales and Osceola is a tough draw.
“We have a loaded district, every team is pretty strong this year. There is a lot of good pitching and everyone has their fair share of good hitters,” he said. “It’s going to take us coming together and playing with our smarts. We’re going to have to do the small things correctly to have the opportunities to win.”
New Dimension
The Tigers are fielding a team this season under Coach Dustin Gassert. New Dimensions, Class 2A in basketball, will be an independent.