Osceola High School’s deep run into the FHSAA State High School baseball playoffs came up one game short of a Final Four appearance after dropping a 2-1 decision in the Region 2 Final at Plant’s Durant High on Saturday night.
It was the second time in six years Durant denied the Kowboys (20-8) a trip to the state championship weekend. In 2015, the Kowboys lost 5-3 in the regional final.
“Frustration is not the right word,” Osceola coach Scott Birchler said. “Heartbreak for our kids is probably a better word. At the beginning of this season, no one expected this team to get this far. We had our chances, and one more key hit in several innings may have changed the outcome.
“But this was a great high school baseball game and it was well played on both sides. Hats off to them for doing what they had to do to win, but the main thing is that they went out and won this game, we didn’t lose it.”
Durant (22-5) advances to the Class 7A semifinals and will play Spruce Creek on Friday.
Osceola senior ace Manny Lopez, who was the winning pitcher in a 5-1 win over Lake. On a last week, worked the first four innings, allowing six hits. But Durant was able to parlay those hits into a 2-0 lead as Dean Holtz knocked in a run in the first inning on a sacrifice fly and Dylan LaPoint, the eighth hitter in the lineup, added a home run in the fourth.
Meanwhile, Osceola could not break through. After a minor scoring threat in the first, the Kowboys put two on with two outs in the third against starter Alex Canney, but relief pitcher Sean Hermann came in to shut the door.
In the fifth, Osceola centerfielder Isaiah Jean-Baptiste led off with a walk but got stealing. That turned out to be huge for Durant as Sebastion
Burgos then walked and Josean Sanchez followed with a sharp single. Hermann then uncorked back-to-back wild pitches to score Burgos and put the tying run just 90 feet away. But Hermann struck out Jose Perez to end the inning.
D a n n y Ramirez came on in relief of Lopez in the fifth inning and pitched two perfect innings for the Kowboys, striking out three.
In the sixth, Osceola threatened again when Ramirez and Edwin Melendez led off with singles, but Hermann retired the final six batters to end the Kowboys’ season.
“One thing I will always remember about this team is they never quit and they all bought in to what we were trying to do,” Birchler said. “You expect each class to be together three years. Covid changed that and cost last year’s seniors their opportunity to reach the postseason.
“It also meant this year’s seniors only got to play together for one or two years. Yet they bonded together and accomplished a lot despite the difficult circumstances of the past 15 months.”
