By: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola
Regular season for high school softball opened has opened and the new season brings a high level of optimism for one traditionally solid program, while others are in rebuild mode and one program looks to make a huge leap to respectability.
“We have a high level of expectation for this team,” veteran coach Ray Whobrey says about his St. Cloud Bulldogs program. “We had a lot of young talent on our roster last year and they responded by earning a regional bid. That team is a year older and more experienced and that is the key reason for our optimism.”
Posting a 15-10 mark last year, St. Cloud returns a veteran team that includes pitcher Addison Felblinger (6-2, 1.72) and Addisyn Todd. Senior Brooke Scott returns as does Savannah Barlow. Whobrey, who is just eight wins short of 200 for his career, is excited about newcomers Kacey Pagan (transfer) and a pair freshman — Khia Czeczeli and Sofia Soto, who he believes have the talent to not only battle for playing time but to also challenge for starting jobs.
An early season matchup with traditional state power West Orange (2/23) and games against county rivals Osceola (3/17) and Harmony (4/17) highlight the Bulldogs home schedule in 2024.
Both Harmony (10-8, District Champs in 2023) and Osceola (12-10, OBC Champions in 2023) — two traditional county powers – may find themselves in a slight rebuild mode this year but both expect to be highly competitive.
Despite graduating seven seniors from last season, the Longhorns still have some holdover talent including power-hitting sophomore Emerson Aslan (9 extra base hits), Isabella Correa-Ayala (.267), catcher Natalie Booth. Top pitcher Lindsay Green (5-4, 1.86 ERA) also returns; while junior newcomer Nicole Yi is expected to make an impact at third base.
“With such a young team and new players at many positions, we are definitely going to be in a ‘one game at a time’ mode,” Coach Kristi Mindrup said. “We are playing an extremely competitive schedule this spring, but I think that will make us a better team.”
Osceola also saw seven seniors depart, all of which were regulars in the Kowboys lineup. One returner though is pitcher Alexis Miranda. The ace of the staff, Miranda went 10-7 last year with a 3.24 ERA and was the winning pitcher in the OBC Championship game last season. Her senior leadership will be necessary as Osceola’s roster is dotted with 11 freshmen and sophomores.
Head coach Miranda Watford believes two of those freshmen, Samantha Edwards (1B/P) and Tenley Dawson (SS) have the potential to start. “Under the leadership of Alexis, it’s going to be exciting to see how this young team meshes. It’s a fun and talented group and they will bring excitement to the program,” Watford said.
Before Randy Beeken took over as coach, Poinciana softball had never experienced much success, recording a 10-101 record from 2015-21. Beeken has done a great job of turning that program around, including the first winning season in school history last year with a 14-9 mark. Still he believes that the team has the potential to be even better.
Star freshman catcher Alondra Lozada (.818 batting average) was injured early in the season and played in just five games. Although the Lozada injury was important, Beeken had a bigger issue with his pitching was a bigger problem — as the team recorded an ERA of over 11.00. “Losing Lozada hurt, but our pitching was our weak link. If we had been better there, we would have had a chance to win a few more games,” Beeken said.
Poinciana does return a solid offense, including Corymar Gotay (.517), Keyanna Stanley (.527, 25 RBI), and Neveah Peters (.439, 23 RBI). Beeken may have found a pitcher in freshman Savannah Alsen. “We’re still a work in progress,” Beeken noted. “In my opinion, Alondra is a D-1 talent and we have some talented veterans returning. If we can see improvement on the mound, I believe we can be competitive with the other county teams this year.”
Tohopekaliga is another team on the upswing. After winning just 8 of 59 games in their first four seasons, coach Chantal Schuster – a former Osceola High standout player – guided the Tigers to their first winning record in school history last year (10-9).
With nine returnees, including Jessilyn Davis (P/OF) who hit .490 as a freshman and won 10 games on the mound, Schuster is optimistic heading into this season. In addition to the returning players, she says Harmony transfer Angie Castro (3B) could also be an impact player. Freshmen Gaby Santiago (P/2B/OF) and Anaya Josue (OF) could also see significant playing time this season.
“Our program has continued to grow and improve each season and we do not expect anything to be different this year,” Schuster said. “With nine lettermen back and six promising first-year players on our roster, we could very well surprise some people this season with our play.”
Celebration (1-13 in 2023), Gateway (2-13) and Liberty (4-13) will all be seeking better seasons this year. The Storm have turned their program over to first-year coach Kelley Lewis, who will rely on returning players Mariah Isabel (1B) and Gianelyz Reyes (3B) to guide her team.
Panthers coach Sam Milien will have five junior starters back including Jaylynn Eusebio (SS/P/CF), Naomi Joseph (INF/OF), Adriana Fisch (1B), Destiny Montanez (CF/P) and returning ace Christina Diaz (RHP). In addition, he has several promising new players including juniors Haleemah Ahmad (OF) and Gabriella Zambrano (OF/INF); along with freshmen Isabella Lopez (OF), Rashiel Loreus (OF) and Mariah Schneller (1B).
“Our goal is play hard and improve throughout the season,” Milien said. “But more importantly we want our young ladies to be good students and citizens first.”
Liberty lost several talented players to graduation, including their top pitcher. Still, coach Roy Colom is full of optimism heading into the new season. That positivity stems from the return senior Yasmin Elajah, who led the team in almost every offensive category including batting average (.569), home runs 4), extra base hits (15), RBI (34), hits (29) and runs scored (25). Kailyn Mejia (.350) and Samantha Lherisson (INF) also return to provide leadership.
“It was a long offseason as we started to rebuild the program. We have a relatively young team but we have some key senior leadership to guide them and believe we have a lot of potential. Starting the year with a new pitching staff is always a challenge, one that we are up to,” Colom noted.
