Ric Flair once proclaimed, “To be the man, you have to beat the man.” When it comes to high school baseball in Osceola County for the past couple of years, Harmony has been “the man.”
Under Heath Williams, the Longhorns won the last three Orange Belt Conference tournament and gone 22-3 against county opposition.
The last two years have featured deep regional playoff runs. The question is, can the Longhorns continue on that path after graduating 20 seniors (19 of whom play college baseball) over the last two years?
If so, they will with only two returning starters: 3B/P Angel Medina and SS Jadiel Perez. With on-base percentages of .584 for Perez and .515 for Medina, those two players were the table setters for the Longhorns last season— accounting for nearly 30% of the total runs scored.
Harmony’s pitching staff was also hit hard by graduation, but LHP Trevin Bean (5-2, 2.71 ERA) returns, as does Raul Romay (3-0, 2.29 ERA), who posted those numbers as a freshman. Both averaged a strikeout per inning.
“It will be a rebuilding process,” Williams said. “Although I also would like to believe that this becomes a major opportunity for both the newcomers and the returning seniors that have had to wait their time to play. This team has the ability to compete at the highest level. A tough February schedule will test us early, so we should know fairly quickly if this is a rebuild or a reload situation for us.”
Pitching help could come from converted position players Jayden Conoman and Jay Vanyur. From 200522, Osceola was the most successful baseball program among all county schools— winning 13 Orange Belt Conference championships and numerous district crowns. Kowboy alum Jacob Grenus takes over the program to try to reverse a downturn the last two years. He returns solid starters in infielders Alejandro Martinez and Onnixxjoe Barreto left fielder Ethan Grant and pitchers Josher Freitez and Jacob Ramos.
Transfer pitcher Thomas Armus and freshman infielder Jeremiah Guerra have looked good in the early season; while Josh Palmi—the third Palmi to play for the Kowboys this decade—earned the starting catcher job as a freshman.
“The Kowboys baseball tradition is one of winning baseball with outstanding players and coaches. We want to return to that,” Grenus said. “We have a good mix of some veterans who have played a lot of baseball for us and some younger guys who I believe will play a big role for us.”
St. Cloud is coming off a successful 17-9 season that included an at-large regional bid. Although graduation and transfers out have hit hard, coach David Blackmore does have some talent returning in two-way player Bryan Wright (pitcher-infielder), Nathan Blanco (infield), who hit .389, and Alden Lewis (pitcheroutfi eld) who scored 25 runs Sophomores Samuel Quijada (catcher) and Rafael Martinez (pitcher) are projected contributors among the newcomers.
“With 12 seniors graduating, we will be relatively young,” Blackmore says. “With some key additions to our coaching staff, our players should benefit from their knowledge. We have a lot of guys with that competitive fire that will push each other to be better.”
Tohopekaliga has posted four straight winning seasons and although coach Jay Magee saw top-hitter Hudson Moberley graduate, he still has a veteran roster with 11 seniors. Top players returning include Raiden Marcano (.394, 22 runs), Dylan Arroyo (.275), and Alexis Oquendo (.326, 13 runs). Pitchers Anthony Marmoejos (20 strikeouts in just 14.1 innings) and ace Gabriel Hernandez (3.72 ERA) also return.
Gateway went from six wins in 2024 to 11 last season and head coach Edgardo Vaqueztell looks to continue that progress as he returns a veteran line-up that includes All-County infielder Diego Vazqueztell (.400 BA, 22 RBI) and pitcher Maicol Santiago (4.3, 2.16 ERA). Adrian Just (.366), Ian Colon (.277) and Jahzel Velazquez (.316) all return.
Veteran coach Ed Kuzma lost several key players via graduation from his 11-12 Celebration team. He will look for veteran leadership from first baseman Mike Moskovitz (.389, 14 extra base hits) and infielder Keiner Quintero, who hit .325. Senior Austin Bizzack and sophomore Derek Velez have the most experience among the returning hurlers. Newcomers who may factor in include Four Corners transfers Cameron Morgan (a Clarion College commit) and Favor Miethe, who both hit .350.
First-year Liberty coach Victor Castro Figueroa is essentially starting over with only two returning lettermen off of last year’s 1-11 team in Angel Reyes and Doron Brown. Two talented newcomers and brothers in Juan and Daniel Henriguez are expected to help immediately. Figueroa states his goals in his first season is to “develop strong fundamentals, build men of character and compere and win baseball games.”
Poinciana hopes to improve on last year’s 4-9 mark. Their top returners include two-way player Francisco Rodriguez (.312 BA, 15.2 IP, 4.02 ERA) and sophomore Jose Mendez (.370 BA).
The annual OBC Tournament is slated for the week of March 30.
Through Week 1, county team records included Harmony (1-2), Gateway (22), Tohopekaliga (1-1), Osceola (0-2), St. Cloud (2-0), Poinciana (1-1), Celebration (1-1) and Liberty (0-1).
