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Osceola senior Nick Palmi pitched and hit his way to a Kowboy’s leadership role. SUBMITTED PHOTO
Osceola senior Nick Palmi pitched and hit his way to a Kowboy’s leadership role. SUBMITTED PHOTO -
Harmony’s Sam Castillo turned his game up in the playoffs, hitting .388. PHOTO/KATIE WILLIAMS
Harmony’s Sam Castillo turned his game up in the playoffs, hitting .388. PHOTO/KATIE WILLIAMS
One player piled up huge individual numbers, while the other used his bat, glove and throwing arm to propel his team to unprecedented success in the state tournament.
Osceola’s Nick Palmi and Harmony’s Samuel Castillo are this year’s Osceola News-Gazette Baseball Co-Players of the Year.
“I think it’s a good decision,” Harmony coach Heath Williams said. “Nick is a really terrific player and has been for a long time. On the other hand, especially with the number of injuries we’ve had this season, there is no way Harmony wins Orange Belt Conference championship, a district title, and advances to a regional final without Samuel. His defense, his ability to hold runners from scoring on hits to center, his bat and his leadership were great all season. He definitely he was our MVP and certainly deserving of Player of the Year honors.”
Playing shortstop and pitching, Palmi had another outstanding season for the Kowboys. He hit .435, slugged .691 and led the team with 12 extra base hits. Seeing action as a spot starter and reliever, he recorded a 3.96 ERA with 50 strikeouts, and was a leader for an incredibly young team.
“We had a lot of first time starters. J (Jason Ramos) and I were the only really experienced returning starters, so we had to take on a leadership role,” Palmi said. “We didn’t win as much as we would have liked, but given the inexperience of our team, it was a satisfying year in a lot of ways. Individually, I think I grew as a player. I was more patient at the plate and that made me better.”
A three-year starter with Osceola (Palmi played his freshman year at St. Cloud), he finished his Kowboys career with a .347 average with nine home runs and 62 RBI. He has committed to play at College of Central Florida in Ocala, one of the top junior colleges in the county that saw eight of its alumni play in NCAA Division I regionals this past year. He is projected as a shortstop.
“It’s a great school with great facilities, coaching and a rich baseball tradition,” Palmi said of CCF. “I am really excited about continuing by baseball career there.”
Castillo had a big bat for the Longhorns, hitting .333 with five home runs and 19 RBI. He was among the team leaders in stolen bases (5) was solid defensively in centerfield (50 put outs) and base runners rarely challenged his arm. With Castillo next in the lineup, he made it difficult for opponents to pitch around Isaiah Santiago, who enjoyed his best season at the plate. Castillo hit .388 in five postseason games–scoring five runs in helping the Longhorns to a district championship and upsets over Treasure Coast and Jupiter in the regional playoffs.
“This season was a lot of fun,” Castillo said. “Our team faced a lot of adversity with injuries and other things and we struggled early. But midway through the season, we just quit worrying about those things and decided to just have fun and play hard.”
Castillo said his improvement from his sophomore year to his junior year was because of the mental adjustments and not the physical ones he made.
“When I had an error or struck out my sophomore year, I’d really let it bother me. It would get in my head and effect how I played the rest of the game. I finally realized that I should not let past mistakes influence future play.”
Harmony, which played all or parts of the year without four injured projected starters, finished the season with an 1812 record–including wins in 15 of their final 20 games. The Longhorns led all county teams with five selections to the Osceola News Gazette’s All-County squad Joining Castillo was Santiago, Evan Christ, Ismael Rivera and Clayton Williams. Santiago hit .346 with a team-leading 29 RBI. He also picked up three pitching wins with and recorded a 1.31 ERA. Christ, one of the players who missed time with an arm injury late in the season, had a 2.86 ERA. Rivera recorded a 3.23 ERA while seeing action as a starter, long reliever and stopper. Williams hit .393, drove in 14 runs, and picked up four wins as a pitcher.
OBC Runner-up St. Cloud placed three on the All-County team including Freshman of the Year Sebastian Echeverry, who hit .430 in his first season, with a team-leading 11 extra base hits and 24 RBI.
Ramos joins Palmi as the Kowboys had two total selections. The hard-hitting third baseman finished his senior year with a .359 batting average with four home runs and 24 RBI. Rounding out the ONG All-County team was Liberty’s Mathew Sosa (.394 Batting Average, 3.96 ERA) and Poinciana’s Christian Dawkins (.327 batting average).
Williams is the pick as Coach of the Year.
2024 All-County Baseball
Players of the Year: Nick Palmi, Osceola, SS/P, Sr; Samuel Castillo, Harmony, OF, Jr.
All-County Team:
St. Cloud: Josh Bejarano, Jr., OF; Sammy Echeverry, Fr., C/P; Sean Gallagher, Jr., P
Celebration: Cody Bergeron, Sr., P/1B; Sebastian Rivera, Jr., P/OF/C; Alejandro Hernandez, Sr.,OF
Harmony: Evan Christ, Sr., P; Ismeal Rivera, Jr., P; Iziah Santiago, Sr., INF/P; Clayton Williams, Jr.,1B/P
Poinciana: Christian Dawkins, Jr., OF
Tohopekaliga: Hudson Moberly, Jr., INF; Douglas Pena, Sr., OF; Ellian Urena, Sr., P
Osceola: Jason Ramos, Sr., 3B
Liberty: Matt Sosa, Sr., P/INF
Four Corners Charter: Nick Infante, OF; Cameron Morgan, P
