Osceola News Gazette All-County Baseball
Senior Manny Lopez pitched his best in the biggest games of the season, leading Osceola High School to within one game of the FHSAA Final Four. His impressive season earned him the Osceola News-Gazette’s (OGN) Player of the Year for the 2021 season.
“Without question, Manny earned it,” Osceola coach Scott Birchler said. “We felt we had a chance to be good at the beginning of the season but we also knew we would need to have a great season from Manny, and he certainly gave it to us.”
Lopez posted an 8-3 record and a 1.88 ERA, including a 3-1 mark in the postseason. He pitched the Kowboys into the regional tournament with a complete-game win against Haines City and gutted out an 8-5 road win over a powerful Dr. Phillips team in the regional quarterfinals.
Returning to the bump a week later against Lake Nona, Lopez dominated in his three innings. He did not allow an earned run and struck out seven in Osceola’s 5-1 win. Even in a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat against Durant in the regional finals, Lopez was solid, allowing just two runs and six hits while striking out six.
During the postseason, Lopez compiled a 2.70 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 21 innings with seven walks.
Other highlights this season included a great game against county rival Harmony, in which he pitched eight innings of four-hit shutout ball with no walks and nine strikeouts in a no-decision; a complete-game three-hit 5-0 shutout over Bartow; and a 5-1 win over arch-rival St. Cloud in which he allowed just three hits and struck out four.
Here is the 25-member ONG All-County Team:
Pitching Staff (7): Lopez (Osceola), Sean Lara (Osceola), Pablo Torres (Harmony), Caden Scarborough (Harmony), Clayton Boroski (St. Cloud), Jose Maltalvo (Gateway), Nick Wessling (Celebration).
Junior Shawn Lara was a solid number for the Kowboys, going 5-2 with a 2.60 ERA. He pitched solid in relief of Lopez to help Osceola get past Lake Nona in the regional semifinals. The resurgent Harmony Longhorns enjoyed an outstanding 19-7-1 season behind the work of underclassmen pitchers Caden Scarborough and Pablo Torres. Scarborough had a breakout sophomore season, going 3-3 with a 2.26 ERA and 50 strikeouts in just 40.1 innings. Torres, a junior, was 3-0 with a miniscule 0.43 ERA. Boroski pitched much better than his 1-4 record would indicate. He struck out 39 in 33.2 innings and had a solid 2.29 ERA. Wessling was 3-5 with a 3.05 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 32 innings for Celebration (11-10). Just a sophomore, Maltalvo was the ace of the Gateway Panthers staff, going 3-3 with a 2.93 ERA.
Pitcher/Hybrid (3): Danny Ramirez (Osceola), Chris Palmi (St. Cloud), Nick Palmi (St. Cloud).
As is often the case, good high school pitchers can be found playing other positions when they are not on the mound. Ramirez was a designed hitter, played some infield and pitched in relief for the Kowboys. As a pitcher, he did not allow an earned run in 11.1 innings of postseason relief. He hit .324 (24 of 94) in the regular season, mainly as the Kowboys’ DH. Junior Chris Palmi was one of the leading hitters in the county with a .308 batting average and a .440 on-base percentage. His younger brother, Nick – just a freshman – won the starting shortstop job and hit .224 with four extra-base hits and eight stolen bases, all while playing solid defense. On the mound, he had a 4-0 record and a 0.67 ERA. He struck out 24 and allowed just 16 hits and two runs in 21 innings.
Infielders (8): Josean Sanchez (Osceola), Javarius MaGee (Tohopekaliga), Jose Perez (Osceola), Jeremy Garcia (Harmony), Delvin Holbrook (St. Cloud), JC Santos (Liberty), Josh Jacobs (St. Cloud), Jeremy Cardona (Harmony).
Perez (.348, 18 RBI, 16 SB) and Sanchez (.325, 21 RBI, 7 SB) are a pair of seniors that formed the left side of the Osceola infield and posted nearly identical numbers. Garcia (.350) led Harmony in hits (28), stolen bases (18) and runs (22); while Cardona hit .306 and was solid at second base. Jacobs hit .323 for St. Cloud while stealing eight bases and Holbrook batted .281 for the Bulldogs. Santos batted .326 for Liberty.
Outfielders (5): Coy Moore (Harmony), Justin Frias (Celebration), Gabriel Cadet (Poinciana), Jackson Joseph (Harmony), Bryan Avila (Osceola).
Moore had a huge year for the Longhorns, hitting .342 with a team-high 11 extra-base hits – including four home runs. His outfield partner, Jackson Joseph, was just as impressive, hitting .342 with a team-leading 20 RBI. Avila led the Kowboys’ regulars with a .373 batting average. Frias led the Storm in batting (.347), runs (18), hits (25) and RBI (16). Cadet hit .459 for the Eagles.
Catchers (2): Yeremay Moreno (Celebration), Edwin Melendez (Osceola).
Moreno was one of the leading hitters on the Storm, batting .364 with 16 RBI. Melendez hit .275, with 12 RBI and nine extra-base hits while leading the Kowboys in putouts.
