Prep Baseball Report

Preseason Top 25: No. 25 Olympia



By Justin Burgess
Florida Area Scout

2016 is finally here and we are roughly one month away from the Florida high school season kicking off. 2015 was a spring that created a lot of buzz for a number of spectacular reasons: Brendan Rodgers was the top high school player in the country, nine players from Florida were drafted in the top two rounds, some teams dominated their way to a state championship, and other teams went on miracle runs to the state tournament.

This year appears to be similar in that there are dozens of loaded rosters throughout the state who all feel that they are the best team in Florida, and rightly so. Leading up to the first pitch in early February, we will be unveiling the preseason top 25 teams in the state by releasing a story on one team per day. Working backwards from number 25 down to number one, we will break down each program by how they finished in 2015, what key players they lost, the top players they have returning, and the strength of their classification and district. Many of these teams, maybe even most, will not make it to the state tournament for a number of reasons but mainly because a good amount of them play in the same region and some even in the same district.

The number 25 team is a good example of school who plays in a tough district in the 8A classification. The Olympia Titans were considered to be one of the top programs in the country a year ago as their senior class was loaded with division I arms and position players. Unfortunately for them, they lost in the regional finals to a team who had a losing record in the regular season and went on an inexplicable run to the 8A state championship game. Olympia has undoubtedly been itching to get back onto the field this year and seek revenge.

Unfortunately for the Titans they lost both their ace Juan Hillman, who was drafted in the second round by the Cleveland Indians, and their number two starter Michael Byrne who is now at the University of Florida. Offensively, they also lost a few significant pieces to their lineup as OF Cameron Montgomery is now at South Florida, OF Kirk Sidwell is at Stetson, and 1B Jake Senich is at St. Petersburg College. Those are all tremendous losses, especially the two starting pitchers.

What has become vital for Olympia is who have they have returning and the schools they play in their district. The Titans return one of the top 2017 players in the state in SS Francis Villaman, 2016 3B and Stetson commit Jordan Morrow, 2016 OF and South Florida State commit Drenis Ozuna, and 2016 C and Rollins commit Zach Mishriki. As far as their district, we do not have to look any further than their cross-town rival—West Orange. If the Titans can find a way to take down West Orange—one of the most talented teams in the state—at some point during the season or especially in their district tournament, then that will be a huge confidence booster that could catalyze a serious playoff run.