Regional playoffs start tonight
In one busy night, the Osceola Kowboys avenged three regular season losses to Harmony to win the District 9 baseball crown, the Longhorns returned the favor and knocked off Osceola in the District 10 softball championship and Celebration continued its domination of the county boys volleyball scene with a straight-set win over Tohopekaliga to earn the District 10 title Thursday.
“I felt it was going to be a tough, hard-fought game and it certainly did not disappoint,” Osceola baseball Coach Scott Birchler said of his team’s narrow 3-2 win over the Longhorns. “They are a tough, well-coached team and Cayden Scarborough is a terrific pitcher. I knew we were going to have to play a solid fundamental game to win and fortunately we did.”
The game started as a pitching duel between Scarborough and Osceola junior Nick Palmi. Osceola used a single, a couple of walks and a groundout to forge a 1-0 lead in the second, but Harmony answered with two runs in the third to take a 2-1 lead. The score remained that way until the top of the fourth, when Raul Ramirez tied it for the Kowboys with a solo home run.
A little controversy erupted in the top of fifth when Luis Vargas’ bases loaded shot down the line was ruled fair, cleared the bases and put Osceola on top 5-2. The umpires got together, however, and changed the call to foul. Vargas would strike out and Harmony would keep the lead.
“When something like that happens, you’re always afraid that it will become a huge momentum shift in the opponent’s favor,” Birchler said.
In the bottom of the sixth, John Rodriguez doubled to open the inning and was sacrificed to third. Jansel Nieves delivered an RBI sacrifice fly, and Negron shut the door in the seventh as Osceola held on for the win.
“After the craziness of the inning before, I pulled the guys together and told them we needed one run and three outs to win the game,” Birchler added. “We were able to do just that. We got the big hit, moved the runner over and got the sacrifice fly and then Carlos finished it off in the seventh. When we are able to execute the little things well, we can be a pretty good team.”
Osceola (15-9) host Wellington on Thursday at 6 p.m. in a Region 7A-3 quarterfinal.
Harmony, ranked seventh in their region, earned an at-large bid and plays at Jupiter on Thursday.
In softball, Harmony captured the district title with a 6-1 win over the Lady Kowboys, a reverse of a 11-4 Osceola win in the Orange Belt Conference Tournament semifinals.
The Longhorn trio of Amanda Whelan (2-for-4, 2 RBI, triple), Ireland Sibbitt (2-for 4, 2 runs), and Shayne Dumford (1for-3, RBI) did the damage, and sophomore pitcher Lindsay Green allowed just two singles while striking out eight.
As district champions, No. 7 seed Harmony hosts second-seeded atlarge team Jupiter in a regional quarterfinal on Thursday. St. Cloud also earned an at-large spot, and will play at Port St. Lucie Centennial in the Class 6A playoffs.
Just as they did against county opposition in the regular season, Celebration boys’ volleyball dominated in the district playoffs – including a 25-16, 25-14, 25-13 win over Tohopekaliga in the finals.
The Storm was never threatened in any of the games – winning each one by at least nine points. The senior trio of Darion Graham (16 kills), Victor Binet (6 kills, 2 blocks) and Julio Tovar (6 kills, 2 aces) led the way for the Storm; while sophomore Oliver Binet had 35 assists.
Celebration (189) took a five-match winning streak into regionals Tuesday against Windermere. A win would have put them in Friday’s semifinals. Tohopekaliga, 17-9, earned at at-large bid to regional and traveled to Horizon Tuesday for a spot in Friday’s second round.
“We didn’t play very well against Celebration, but we still had a record-breaking year and I’m happy these guys will get a chance to play in regionals,” Tigers Coach Eric Capestany said. “We got a pretty favorable first round draw, so we’ll see if we can make a run.”
