By: J. Daniel Pearson
While it is not uncommon in Osceola County for a senior-laden sports team making a deep run in the FHSAA playoffs, it’s quite a different story to build a program where you are able to repeat that success year-after-year-after-year. Osceola football and volleyball, St. Cloud weightlifting and Celebration boys soccer are a few of those schools that come to mind as perennial powers.
And while it may be too early to place Harmony baseball in that category, head coach Heath Williams appears to be building a top program with the Longhorns. In the last two years, the Longhorns have won back-to-back OBC championships and then rode the success of a 2024 District title all the way to the regional finals—where they came up one game short of a 7A Final Four appearance.
Given the immense amount of talent that graduated off of that team, starting with All-County selections Evan Christ, Iziah Santiago and major contributors Ashton Magorrian, Yathaniel Matos, and David Arroyo, it goes to reason that the Longhorns may be looking at a rebuilding year in 2025.
Not necessarily so, says Williams. “We graduated 10 seniors last season – nine of which are playing at the next level – but to tell the truth this year’s squad may be the most talented I have ever had. We had some good players move up from junior varsity, we have six defensive starters returning and we had a couple of freshmen that are going to earn early playing time. Although we had a great season last year and graduated some outstanding players and leaders, our expectations for this year have not lessened at all.”
Harmony returns some outstanding players, including Samuel Castillo – who hit .343 last season, led the county in home runs (6) and added 21 RBI, and earned some Player of the Year honors. Clayton Williams (.388) is an outstanding contact hitter and Ismeal Rivera is another all-county selection back for his senior year.
Although Harmony loses Christ and Maggorian, Alexavier LeBron is fully recovered from a late-season hand issue and should be the ace of a talented pitching staff. When not playing in the field, Rivera is also an outstanding hurler and gives Harmony a solid 1-2 at the top of the rotation. Trevin Bean and Eduardo Vasquez join the staff from junior varsity and freshmen Riley Bonini and Raul Romay are already earning innings on the varsity.
Under Williams, Harmony is off to a hot start – winning eight of their first nine.
St. Cloud could challenge their rivals for OBC honors this year. David Blackmore returns three all-county selections – including sophomore Sammy Echeverry who hit .338 as a freshman and crashed four home runs, knocked in 19 and had 11 extra-base hits. Sammy’s older brother, Sebastian, is a valuable asset at several positions and also earned all-county last year; as did outfielder Josh Bejarano (.338 batting average).
Aiden Pegauro (SS/P) and Cole Davis (1B/DH) are returning regulars and Blackmore is also high on newcomers Luis Ecarri (SS/P) and Alden Lewis (P/OF). “We have a ton of talent and a great group of kids,” Blackmore says. “If the chemistry gels we can be a formable team.”
St. Cloud has played well early, going 5-2 including a 12-0 win over arch-rival Osceola. Sammy Echeverry has been red hot at the plate – hitting .526 with 11 RBI and four extra-base hits so far.
Osceola, traditionally one of the better teams in the county, is in the middle of a youth rebuild. After averaging almost 16 wins a year from 2015-23, the Kowboys slipped to 10-12 last season. Second-year head coach Nikko Martel says patience will be required this season during the rebuild. “We are really a young squad and are also playing our typically tough schedule (Osceola’s first 10 opponents are off to a 24-11 start),” Martel says.
Martel added that he was hopeful that team captains Yamil Santiago ( C) and Josber Freitez (P/INF) can hold his team together while young talent like freshman Josh Sanchez and Jacob Ramos (OF/LHP) develop. Liberty transfer Adrian Sanchez (1B/OF) could also help stabilize the Osceola lineup.
That young team, combined with a tough schedule, has found the Kowboys at 1-5 at the beginning of the season.
Celebration coach Ed Kuzma has six returning senior starters off of last year’s 12-11-1 team. Ciro Yanez (C), Jay Berrios (OF/P), David Sevilla (P/OF) , Alejandro Moreno (OF), Jesus Cabaracas (P) and Luis Velez (1B) bring a lot of varsity experience to the Storm line-up; while Bishop Moore transfer Mike Moskovitz (1B/DH) and Elias Rodriguez (2B) could also become key contributors.
“Consistency will be our key this year,” Kuzma said. “We cannot rely on one or two players to carry us and it will have to be a total team effort. We start three sophomores in our lineup and have a relatively new pitching staff so I am hopeful that our eight senior will be able to provide leadership to the younger guys.”
Behind the hot bat of Morrero (.412), the Storm are 4-3 through two weeks of the season.
One team to keep an eye on is Tohopekaliga, under second year coach Armando Perez who posted a winning season (13-11) in his first year. He will count on senior and 2024 all-county selection Hudson Moberly (.379, 17 RBI) and Fernando Ferrer (.297) to lead his offense but will need to totally rebuild his pitching staff after losing his top three hurlers — Jackson Kook, Tyler Sheffield, and Ellian Urena – to graduation. Look for Alex Roman and Anthony Marmolejos – sophomore promotions from junior varsity – to help.
“We graduated some good players, but I believe we have maybe the most athletic team in school history,” Perez said. “We have worked extremely hard in the off-season and expect to be a contender in our district.”
Ferrer has been the leading hitter for the Eagles, batting .412 for Tohopekaliga (2-4).
Edgardo Vazqueztell continues the process of rebuilding the Gateway Panthers program. Vazqueztell says first-year pitchers Ian Colon and Malcol Santiago will upgrade his staff significantly, and he will also rely on returning starters Kaleb Bermudez (3B), Diego Vazqueztell (SS/2B/P) and Romeo Delgado (OF/RHP) to lead his team both. Up from JV squad, catcher Adrian Just was hitting .600 through the first four games as the Panthers started the season 3-1 after finishing 6-16 a year ago.
Santiago has emerged as the ace of the staff for Gateway, compiling a 2-0 record and 2-06 ERA with 31 strikeouts in just 17 innings for the 4-3 Panthers.
Poinciana coach Derek Petrangeli will look for position players Christian Dawkins (.333, ONG All-County returnee), Diego Vellajos and Miquel Feliciano; as well as pitchers Johan Morales and Joel Arroyo to help turnaround a squad that finished 2-15 last season.
Feliciano was hitting a robust .432 for the Eagles that took a 1-2 record into this week’s action.
First-year head coach Tyler Gonzalez will have his work cut out for him in his inaugural season with the Chargers. After back-to-back winning seasons in 2022-23, Liberty appeared to be moving its program forward before the FHSAA ruled over half their 2024 team ineligible for the year. That resulted in a starting lineup of almost all freshmen and sophomores resulting in a 3-19 record. Matt Conde (1B/P/OF) and Sebastian Rodriguez OF/INF/P) should provide some stability for the Chargers.
