Spring Break Ends for Osceola County Schools, Full Week of Sports Action Ahead!

By: J. Daniel Pearson for Positively Osceola

With Osceola County schools on spring break last week, there was little action on the field. That changes this week as a full slate of contests is scheduled in a multitude of sports. Here are the highlights of what to look for this week from Positively Osceola!

TRACK

St. Cloud will make the five hour trip to Tallahassee this week to participate in the FSU Relays (Mar. 22-23), where more dozen Bulldog athletes have qualified to face some of the top high school talent in both Florida and the Southeast. High jumpers Jahleek Lawrence and Jonathan Rodriguez lead the list of St. Cloud qualifiers. Lawrence is undefeated in six meets this season and is ranked #1 in the state. St. Cloud’s 4 x 800 relay team of Kyla Perez, Alisson Sandoval, Jalissa Yarborough, Jada Shroyer will also compete in the meet. They are coming off a dominating performance at last week’s Kowboy Invitational, where they won the event by more than 30 seconds.

Several local teams including, including Osceola, Tohopekaliga and Harmony will be sending competitors to the Dr. Phillips Invitational on Saturday.

BASEBALL

With teams from other states on spring break, there are several intriguing games locally this week between Osceola County schools and visiting teams from out of state. Those visiting teams include Donnie Bosco Prep, who finished last season as the number one ranked team in all of New Jersey) playing games at Osceola High School on Friday night (6 p.m.) and at Tohopekaliga on Saturday evening (6 p.m.). Bosco finished its 2023 season on a 14-game winning streak to capture their second consecutive state title and finish with a 30-6 record. It will be the second high-profile game of the week for the Kowboys, who will host Oklahoma state power Owasso at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night (Mar. 20). In other action, St. Cloud will play at Gateway at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

SOFTBALL

St. Cloud (5-2) will play at single game at Davenport (7:15 p.m., Tuesday) before traveling to the Clearwater Invitational Tournament this weekend (Mar. 22-23). Some of the top teams in the state, including Hagerty (9-1), Inspirational Academy (7-2) and Bartow (9-0) are scheduled to compete in the tournament. “It should be a good test for our team,” Lady Bulldogs head coach Ray Whobrey said. “We’re certainly looking forward to the challenge of playing some top teams.”

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

After getting by perennial state power Celebration in a five-set match before spring break, Ette Singleton’s Bulldog boys volleyball team (2-0) will attempt to state undefeated when they face Lake Highland Prep at home (3/19) and travel to Harmony (3-21) two days later.

LACROSSE

In just its third season of competition, St. Cloud (7-0) girls team will look to remain undefeated when its travels to Okeechobee High School (3/21) and returns home against Lake Gibson (7 p.m.) the following day at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Bulldogs, led by juniors Brynn Fancher (19 goals) and Abby Zagorska (19 goals), have out-scored their opponents 88-40 through seven games.

In boys’ lacrosse, Celebration (0-7) meets an in-county school for the first time this week when they travel to Tohopekaliga on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. match. St. Cloud (5-6) is idle this week. St. Cloud’s Jackson McCoy (21 goals-18 assists-9 points) leads the county in scoring.

TENNIS

In advance of next week’s Orange Belt Conference Championships (Mar. 23-25 at Kissimmee Park), most local schools are playing in-county regular season matches this week. Led by senior Anaila Cooks (combined 8-2 record as number one singles and number one doubles player), Gateway (5-2) will look to remain undefeated against county opposition when they take on Osceola on Wednesday. Celebration, which has captured three straight boys titles (9 of last 12) and two straight girls titles (seven of last 9) will be among the favorites when the OBC Tournament commences next week.

FLAG FOOTBALL

Recently crowned OBC Champions Harmony, led by quarterback “Smalls” Edwards and WR/DB Kinzie James, will face a huge challenge on the road Wednesday when the Longhorns (6-1) travel to Spruce Creek (9-1) in a matchup of perennial playoff teams.

This Week in Osceola County Sports

Monday, March 18