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Osceola Head Coach Scott Birchler (center) congratulates starting catcher Edwin Melendez (15) following the Kowboys’ 5-1 win over Lake Nona on Wednesday night.
Manny Lopez and Shawn Lara combined on a three-hitter as the Osceola Kowboys climbed to within one win of a “Final Four” appearance with a 5-1 road win over Lake Nona in a FHSAA Class 7A, Region 2 semifinal on Wednesday night.
The win lifted the Kowboys to 20-7 on the season and put them in a Saturday Regional Final against Plant City Durant (21-5), a 7-0 winner against Sarasota Riverview. The winner of that game will advance to the state championship tournament in Ft. Myers, May 12-15.
The victory against Lake Nona was a far cry from the 3-0 complete game, one-hit shutout the Lions recorded against Osceola in the April 30 district final. In that game, Lake Nona ace Drew Rosenberg struck out seven and allowed just a bloop single to Danny Ramirez.
Wednesday was a different story.
Isaiah Jean Baptiste opened the game for Osceola by blasting a triple to deep center field off Rosenberg. He would score one batter later on Sabastion Burgos’ sharp single up the middle. Josean Sanchez would then reach on an error and two batters later both Burgos and Sanchez would score on Edwin Melendez’s ringing double to the right-center field gap.
“That first inning was huge for us,” Osceola Head Coach Scott Birchler said. “I felt it would be really important for us to get some runs on the board early and keep him (Rosenberg) from getting into any type of groove.”
Osceola would collect three more hits but fail to score in the second, before chasing Rosenberg from the game in the fifth. Sanchez would open the inning with a single and go to third on a perfectly executed hit and run by Jose Perez. After Perez stole second, Ramirez delivered a two-run single to make it 5-1.
For the game, Osceola pounded out 11 hits in four innings against Rosenberg. “We knew he (Rosenberg) liked to work the outer half of the plate and tonight we were patient and went with the pitches. Two weeks ago we didn’t do that, tonight we executed,” Birchler said.
While the Osceola bats were coming alive, Lopez’s effort could best be described as wildly efficient. In the first inning he allowed two hits and following a double steal uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Lake Nona’s only run to score.
Although he would then strike out the next five batters he would face, he allowed runners to reach scoring position in the third and fourth innings before walking three batters in the fifth. For the game, he allowed just three hits and struck out eight but walked five and uncorked three wild pitches.
“It really was a gutty performance by Manny, he really gave us all he had,” Birchler said. “He threw 79 pitches in our quarterfinal win over Dr. Phillips last Friday and certainly did not have his best stuff tonight. We were only looking to get four innings out of him and because he knew that he may have been trying a little too hard.”
After walking the leadoff hitter in the fifth, Lopez got Nona’s Omar Lopez to hit into a double play but then walked the next two hitters before giving way to Lara, who ended the inning by getting Cesar Chirinos to ground out.
From there, Lara retired the last six batters he faced to end the game and give Osceola their 10th win in their last 11 games.
“Once you reach this stage in the playoffs, you have no scouting reports or familiarity about your next opponent,” Birchler said. “Getting to a regional final is a stage these guys haven’t been to before but our program has. All we really can do is go out and try to do the things that we do best. If we do that then we can accept the result – win or lose.”
Photo Caption: Osceola Head Coach Scott Birchler (center) congratulates starting catcher Edwin Melendez (15) following the Kowboys’ 5-1 win over Lake Nona on Wednesday night.
