Harmony Survives Wild Sixth Inning to Edge St. Cloud 7–6 and Claim Third Straight OBC Baseball Title

By: J. Daniel Pearson

Harmony sent 13 men to the plate in the decisive sixth inning – scoring five runs without hitting the ball out of the infield –to defeat rival St. Cloud, 7-6, in the title game of the 2025 Orange Belt Conference baseball championship on Friday night.

Holding a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth, Bulldogs’ relief pitcher Sean Gallagher appeared on cruise control when he retired his seventh straight on a pop-out to open the inning. But after Alexavier Lebron’s pop-up fell for an error, Matt Grau reached on a walk to chase Gallagher from the game. From there, the flood gates would open as Westin Thompson reached on an infield hit and reliever Bryan Wright would walk the next three batters as Harmony took a 5-4 lead.

Relief pitcher Sebastian Echeverry did not fare much better, issuing two more bases-loaded walks to force in two more Longhorn runs and extend the lead to 7-4.

Still there was no quit in the Bulldogs.

Sammy Echeverry led off the top seventh by ripping a double to dead center field. Pitcher Weston Thompson, who relieved Longhorn starter Trevin Bean in the fourth, recorded two quick strikeouts before issuing back-to-back walks to Josh Bejarano and Cole Davis to load the bases. Harmony closer Ismael Rivera relieved Thompson and promptly uncorked a wild pitch that scored Echeverry and cut the gap to 7-5.

Angel Medina’s throwing error on Aiden Peguero’s grounder to third made it a one-run game and Rivera would walk Wright on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases again. The game finally came to end when Rivera retired Aiden Lewis on a deep fly out to center, as the Longhorns held on for their third consecutive county championship.

“It was a tough call to leave Westin in at pitcher. I told him at the top of the seventh he had one batter, but after the double he got the next two hitters and I thought he was fine. But after the next walk, I was contemplating making a move but our players kept telling me he still had it,” Harmony coach Heath Williams said. “To tell you the truth, I think it was the first time in my career I let the players talk me out of making a pitching change.”

Prior to the dramatic finish, St. Cloud had the upper hand in the top of the sixth, when Lewis ripped a two-run double in the gap as the Bulldogs took a 4-2 lead. But Thompson limited the damage by striking out Sebastian Echeverry to end the inning.

Although the teams were tied 2-2 through four innings, neither team was effective on the mound. St. Cloud Logan King lasted just two and a third innings – allowing just one run but walking six batters as Harmony left two men on base in each of the first three frames. Although he allowed just the one run, King threw 65 pitches in his outing.

Starter Bean also struggled for the Longhorns. He struck out three but walked four in his 3+ innings of work, giving up an RBI single Drew Kelley in the first and was charged with a second run when the leadoff hitter in the fourth – Luis Eccari – eventually came around to score.

Overall, the two pitching staff combined to walk 24 batters with nine of the 13 runs scored in the game reaching via walk. Harmony left 11 men on base and St. Cloud stranded 10. The two teams combined to go two for 20 with runners in scoring position.

“Absolutely a strange game but I said before there is more than one way to win,” Williams said. “I thought the pitchers on both teams were making some quality pitches and they were just not getting the call. I’m not sure either team actually won the game, but we were fortunate enough to survive it.”

The win pushed Harmony to 17-6 on the year and was their fourth straight win. It also gave the Longhorns a 2-1 season lead over St. Cloud, with all three contests being decided by one run. After winning eight of their previous nine games, the Bulldogs fell to 14-6 on the season. Still, the two teams could face each other again, when district games start April 14. “There’s no question that these two teams will probably meet again,” Williams said. “St. Cloud has a really good team from top to bottom.”

In the other Friday night game, Osceola defeated Gateway, 11-6, in the third place game. On Thursday, Tohopekaliga captured fifth place in the OBC Tournament with an 11-6 win over Celebration; while Poinciana won the seventh place game, 10-0, over Liberty.

2025 OBC Baseball Tournament

Quarterfinals

Osceola 1, Celebration 0

Harmony 15, Liberty 0

St. Cloud 15, Poinciana 0

Gateway 8, Tohopekaliga 7

Semifinals and Consolations

Harmony 12, Osceola 3

St. Cloud 5, Gateway 3

Tohopekaliga 18, Poinciana 3

Celebration 15, Liberty 0

Finals