November 12, 2024
Mount Dora High Baseball Players Jacob James and Ryan Crowe Sign with Lake-Sumter State College
By Kyle Coppola
Mount Dora High Baseball Players Jacob James and Ryan Crowe Sign with Lake-Sumter State College
Mount Dora, FL — Seniors Jacob James and Ryan Crow, two top baseball players from Mount Dora High School, signed letters of intent to join Lake-Sumter State College’s baseball program, bringing their talents to the Lakehawks and staying local in the area.
Jacob James, a talented pitcher, demonstrated his abilities on the mound last season with a strong performance. In 36.1 innings pitched, he recorded an impressive 50 strikeouts while allowing just 14 earned runs. Known for his dual abilities, James also contributed significantly at the plate, batting .321 with 18 hits and 15 RBIs.
Ryan Crow, meanwhile, stood out as an elite fielder, achieving a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage—the highest on his team. Playing over 20 games without a single error, Crowe was recognized as the top defensive player in all of Class 4A District 7 last season. Offensively, he contributed with a .269 batting average, 14 hits, and 9 RBIs. This kid is really something special in the field and Lake-Sumter State college is getting a fantastic student-athlete.
We are very excited for both these young men who will no doubt help the Lakehawks in many ways. It’s also great that we will continue to see them develop locally at the collegiate level. Lake-Sumter State College is located in Lake County.
Congratulations to both of them and their family, coaches, friends and teammates. We can’t wait to see what they have in store in the spring of 2025 as Mount Dora baseball is looking for big things this upcoming year.
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
