By Kyle Coppola
Leesburg Girls Softball Team Score 91 Runs in First 5 Games!
The Leesburg Lady Yellow Jackets have unoficially broken a record held by Mount Dora Christian Academy since 2009 as the first team to score 90+ runs in the first five games of the regular season! The 2009 MDCA Bulldogs scored 89 total runs. They eventually would score 98 runs by their 6th game and 100 runs by their 7th game. MDCA still holds the record for the fastest team to reach 100 runs in a season during the modern digital stat-keeping records on Max Preps, so Leesburg will look to break that record tonight.
(Photo Credit – shotbytj_)
This record, of course, is unofficial as I have only been able to research up until 2007 when Max Preps became the online statistic keeper. So, as far as the modern/digital era circa 2007 when things went from paper to digital, this is the first time in the modern era that I can find a team in Lake County accomplishing this feat.
Last night’s 21-0 win against Meadowbrook Academy brought the total number of runs scored by the Lady Yellow Jackets to 91. That is just 9 runs short of the record which they could break tonight if they score 10 runs against First Academy Leesburg. If the Lady Jackets score more than 10 runs, they will become the fastest team in Lake County history to reach 100 runs scored in the modern/digital era.
(Photo Credit – shotbytj_)
“It is amazing to see the program having the success they are. That is due to head coach Amber Prescott and her husband Thomas Prescott who we brought in this year to reinvigorate our softball program. They have done an incredible job of getting the girls to believe and have pride in the program again,” says Athletic Director Spencer Hey.
“From the moment we met coach Prescott, her vision and ideas for the program met our expectations and she has not disappointed. From cleaning up our softball complex to taking care of equipment, it has been such a terrific start to the season. Coach Prescott refined the schedule this year, and that has allowed our girls to experience the thrill of winning. Her ideas have aligned with the vision for our program, and that is why it’s flourishing,” says Spencer.
While the competition has not been fierce, this is great news for the program, which has averaged around 4 wins per season since the early 2000s. The Leesburg High School Softball program has not been relevant in years. So why now is Leesburg putting so much effort into the program?
(Photo Credit – shotbytj_)
“We had a goal at the start of the year that we were going to focus on rebuilding our girls’ basketball program. But another goal was to rebuild our Softball program this season, and you are seeing the fruits of the labor first hand. To be winning games by 20+ runs is something special. The girls have the belief they can win, and they are proud to represent Leesburg High School Softball,” says Spencer.
While Leesburg still has a long way to go to rival teams like Eustis, The Villages, MDCA, East Ridge High, and others, this is a major step in the right direction. The buzz is back within the Yellow Jacket softball locker room. Congratulations to everyone who is having such a big impact on this program, and we look forward to great things in the next few months.
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.
