Bulldogs Shut Down Kowboys Behind Martinez’s 12 Strikeouts, Advance to OBC Baseball Title Clash with Harmony

By: J. Daniel Pearson

Sophomore Rafael Martinez worked six shutout innings and struck out a career-high 12 batters to lead St. Cloud (16-4) to a convincing 6-0 win over rival Osceola in the semifinals of the 2026 Orange Baseball Championships on Wednesday night.

The win moves the Bulldogs into Friday night’s championship game against three-time defending champion Harmony, an 8-2 winner Wednesday against Tohopekaliga. The game is a neutral-site contest scheduled for 7 p.m. at Celebration High.

Osceola started the game off strong, opening with back-to-back singles by Jeremiah Guerra and Jacob Ramos; with both runners moving into scoring position on a pass ball. But Martinez got Josh Feliciano to hit into a 3-U-2 double play, with Ramos being tagged out at home. Martinez would retire Daniel Quintero on a strikeout to get out of the inning unscathed.

St. Cloud would score all their runs in the bottom of the first, sending 10 men to the plate. A combination of timely hitting and two misplayed balls led to the big inning. Sam Quijada and Adrian Carradero had run scoring doubles and when Osceola outfielders lost track of Hudson Gowan’s fly ball to left-center, it fell for a two-run double and Bulldogs led 5-0. Gowan would later come around to score on a throwing error.

From there, Martinez was dominating.

He struck out the side in both the second and fourth innings. In the fifth he fanned the first two batters he faced to make it six strikeouts in row and he finished his night with back-to-back K’s in the sixth.

“Rafael always seems to start out slow and tonight it looked like more of the same when the first two-hitters reached,” St. Cloud coach David Blackmore said. “But we executed that double play and from there, Rafael just seemed to go on cruise control.”

“I was able to locate my fastball tonight and my change up was the best it has been all season,” Martinez said. “It was huge when my guys behind me turned the double play but they have been playing great defense all season.”

In addition to his 12 strikeouts, Martinez allowed just four singles and walked just one. LC Alcarez worked the final inning for St. Cloud, retiring all three batters he faced, two by strikeout. Osceola had just four batters reach second and went zero for three with runners in scoring position.

In beating Osceola for the third time this year, Blackmore reminded his players to keep their eye on the prize. “We were fortunate to beat a rival three times this season, but I told our guys after the game that we could not afford to be get too high on the win. Our goal was to win the OBC Tournament and we know Harmony will be ready for the challenge. Coach Williams (Harmony coach Heath Williams) does a great job with that team and you know they will be ready to defend.”

Since losing to St. Cloud, 3-2, back on Mar. 6, the Longhorns (12-8) have won six of their last eight including the win over Tohopekaliga in the semifinals. Thursday night will see OBC placement games with Osceola traveling to Tohopekaliga in the third place game; Gateway at Celebration for fifth place and Liberty traveling to Poinciana for seventh place with; with games starting at 7 p.m.

2026 Orange Belt Conference Baseball Championship

Monday Quarterfinals

Osceola 10, Gateway 5

St. Cloud 16, Liberty 1

Tohopekaliga 13, Celebration3

Harmony 17, Poinciana 2

Wednesday, Second Round

Placement Games

Celebration 8, Poinciana 5

Gateway 13, Liberty 0

Semifinals

St. Cloud 6, Osceola 0