By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

Gateway last won the Orange Belt Conference baseball title in 2004.

The Panthers also claimed their last district title that year, so karma bodes well for them.

The Panthers, 17-7, who beat St. Cloud Monday to clinch the conference title, play Palm Bay Bayside Monday at 4 p.m. at the 6A-6 district tournament at Vero Beach. A win pits them against top-seed St. Lucie West Centennial Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Thursday’s championship game is at 7 p.m.

The Panthers won Monday, 14-2, after a wild, 12-run first inning. Manny Rivera homered in the inning, and so did Jon Maldonado — twice.

“Have I ever had a player do that? That’s a good question,” Coach Rob Hammond said. “I don’t think so, though it wouldn’t surprise me if someone did it to us.”

The teams rematched Thursday at Gateway, and St. Cloud won, 4-1.

“I felt like we were due for a clunker after winning 12 in a row,” Hammond said. “I knew they were really going to want to beat us after Monday.”

Hammond said the team’s solid play of late is encouraging entering what will be a free-for-all next week.

“We’ve been playing well going into the tournament, but there isn’t any one team you look at and worry about,” he said. “Anyone can win. We can win, and we can be out on Monday.”

Osceola (14-9) locked up second place in the OBC with an 11-0 win over Harmony  Monday, the Kowboys’ first win over the Longhorns in three years. Edwin Rios homered and drove in four runs, and Dylan Dillard added three RBIs.

The Kowboys, who broke out of a five-game losing streak with Monday’s win and a conference win over Celebration on Saturday, are the fourth seed in the 5A-5 tournament at Sebring, where they will play Liberty Monday at 5 p.m.

“We tried to move our first round game to a local site but the district host would not let us,” OHS Coach Scott Birchler said.

The winner will take on top-seeded Winter Haven Wednesday at 5 p.m. The Kowboys beat the Blue Devils in March.

“We are playing better and have our work cut out for us, but I believe any team in the district could take the title,” Birchler said. “It is a strong district and the team that gets hot will have a chance.”

The championship game is Thursday at 7 p.m.

The only tournament taking place in Osceola County is the 4A-6 event at St. Cloud. Harmony (14-8) is the highest local seed at No. 2. It plays  Tuesday’s Tavares-Oak Ridge winner Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Winning Wednesday puts Harmony into the regional playoffs for the second time in school history with what Mike Fields considered a very young team at the start of the year.

“I guess we’ve got a shot, don’t we?” Fields said. “We’ve only been shut out twice this year (counting Monday). They hit the ball very well, and we certainly did not pitch or hit well enough to win. I am still very proud of the improvement our kids have had this year. Sometimes with young kids, everything does not work out as you plan it.”

Celebration and St. Cloud play Tuesday at 7 p.m., with the winner meeting top-seeded Eustis on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The championship game is Friday at 7 p.m.