Two ninth-grade pitchers sparkle early

Two freshman pitchers tossed nohitters last week.

Harmony’s Taylor Barrett used her curve ball and rise ball to set a school record with 19 strikeouts in a 5-0 win over Sebastian River.

Mount Dora Christian’s Ari Miller struck out 13 in a 6-0 win over Crescent City.

A throwing error by Harmony (4-1) in the sixth inning derailed Barrett’s bid for a perfect game.

“The one thing about Taylor is that that stuff doesn’t bother her,” Harmony coach Jeff Fiorelli said.

Aleshia “Lele” Ocasio struck out 17 in a game for Harmony in 2014. The current University of Florida junior finished her four-year prep career with a school-record 492 strikeouts.

Barrett entered the season with a long-term goal of chasing Ocasio’s career mark. Both players have trained under the guidance of pitching coach Jody Bayles in Clermont.

Miller has made an immediate impact at Mount Dora Christian (3-2) after passing up the chance to play alongside her older sister, Hannah, at Apopka.

Two errors in the middle of the infield against Crescent City led to the game’s lone baserunners.

West Orange (4-2) was ranked No. 1 in the first Miracle Sports state ranking opf the season on Tuesday, but the Warriors promplty suffered their second loss of the season 2-1 to Ocoee.

Class 9A, No. 4 Timber Creek blanked West Orange 1-0 in a season opener. Orange City University and Hagerty are also included in the top 10 for the large class.

In the other classifications, St. Cloud is No. 5 in 8A; Deltona is No. 4 in 7A; Eustis is No. 5 in 5A; and Montverde Academy is third in 4A.