West Orange baseball coach Jesse Marlo steps down | Observer Preps

WINTER GARDEN After 13 seasons as the head coach of the West Orange baseball team, Jesse Marlo has stepped down from the role.

West Orange Athletic Director Jerry Shafer confirmed January 12 that Marlo had resigned to focus on his other roles, including as a coach with the Power Baseball travel organization. He will remain on the faculty at West Orange.

“With (Marlo) resigning, we want to thank him and wish him the best of luck,” Shafer said. “He’s done a lot of great things and put West Orange baseball on the map.”

Under Marlo, the Warriors have been nationally ranked several times and have a record of 272-97 during his 13 seasons at the helm. 

Since his arrival in 2005, West Orange has won six district championships — including four consecutive titles from 2008-2011 — in addition to six Metro Conference titles and seven appearances in the regional playoffs. 

The team advanced to the FHSAA Final Four for the first time in program history in 2016.

As for alumni, more than 50 Warriors since 2005 have gone on to play college baseball and several others have played professionally in some capacity. Two former players who are currently in the minors have made it to the Major League level — Mason Williams for the New York Yankees in 2016 and Nolan Fontana for the Los Angeles Angels in 2017. 

Austin Gomber is currently on the 40-man roster for the St. Louis Cardinals entering Spring Training, and recent grads Chris Seise and Kole Enright are both in the farm system for the Texas Rangers after being drafted in the first (2017) and third rounds (2016), respectively.

Marlo chose not to comment for this story. An announcement on his successor at West Orange is expected within the next few days.

Practice for the 2018 baseball season begins Jan. 29.