Nayeli Hernandez drove in two runs and scored two others, and Alexis Miranda pitched a complete game as the Osceola Lady Kowboys upended host St. Cloud, 8-3, to capture the Orange Belt Conference championship Friday.
The Kowboys (11-8) claimed their second OBC crown in three years. St. Cloud, who came into the tournament as the top seed, is 13-8.
Osceola jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first two innings, taking advantage of some timely hitting and some uncharacteristic lapses in the St. Cloud defense. Hernandez opened the first inning with a single and went to third when St. Cloud threw away Jodee Matos’ sacrifice bunt. With runners on second and third, Gabriella Avila and Kayley Jones delivered back-to-back sacrifice flies to make it 2-0.
Veronica Fernandez reached on an error to open the second and Eylany Laboy followed with a single. Allyson Giuliano sacrificed them up a base and one out later Hernandez delivered a two-run single to make it 4-0.
All four runs that came off St. Cloud freshman starter Addison Felbinger were unearned. “She (Addison) had some really good stuff tonight, but we made some mistakes behind her and Osceola took advantage of them,” St. Cloud coach Ray Whobrey said. “When you start a young team with four freshman and two sophomores in the lineup those things are going to happen.”
St. Cloud countered with two runs in the bottom of the second, including a long solo home run by sophomore Gracelyn Watford, but Osceola came right back with two of it own in the top of the fourth on a double by Hernandez, a triple by Matos and a wild pitch.
“That was a big inning for us,” Osceola coach Miranda Watford said. “Being able to answer and get those two runs back seemed to relax us.”
After giving up the two runs in the second, Miranda settled into a grove. She retired 14 of the next 16 batters – recording just one strikeout in the process.
“Alexis was not overpowering, but she pitched to contact and the defense behind her was just fantastic,” Watford said.
Miranda allowed seven hits, three walks and two hit batters, but recorded 18 of the 21 outs in the infield, including 14 on ground ball outs and two strikeouts.
“Give her (Miranda) some credit, she did a great job of keeping us off balance at the plate,” Whobrey said. “But we need to be a little more disciplined on our approach. Again, it’s something that can be attributed to the youth of this team.”
Any hopes of a St. Cloud comeback were dashed in the top of the seventh when Matos led off with a walk and Gabriella Avila launched a massive home run over the left centerfield wall to make it 8-2. St. Cloud tacked on a run in their half of the seventh on doubles by Olivia Lameau and Jenalyn Hewett.
Osceola’s win gave them a split on the season with the Bulldogs, as they lost to St. Cloud in nine innings on March 21. The Kowboys and Bulldogs are both in Class 7A, but are in different districts and could meet in regional play if they advance out of districts.
“We sort of had a lull in the middle of the season, but we have played better of late,” Watford said of her team that has now won four in a row and six of their last eight. “Hopefully we can use this tournament as a spring board to gain some momentum going into the final two weeks of the regular season.”
The Kowboys return to action next Wednesday at Lyman; St. Cloud has a pair of home games against East River and Lake Howell Wednesday and Friday.
