April 2, 2025
Carson Roden Untouchable as Eustis High Softball Team Rolls Past Tavares High 12-2
By Kyle Coppola
Carson Roden Untouchable as Eustis High Softball Team Rolls Past Tavares High 12-2
EUSTIS – The Eustis High Lady Panthers softball team put on a commanding performance Tuesday night, defeating the Tavares Bulldogs 12-2. Pitcher Carson Roden was nearly untouchable, striking out seven of the 14 batters she faced while allowing zero hits and zero earned runs.
(Emmy Luke rounds 2nd and heads for 3rd. Luke would have 3 hits and 3 RBIs on the night. She also scored twice. Photo Credit – Joe Ott Photography Fan Zone.)
At the plate, the Panthers’ offense erupted. Emmy Luke led the charge with three hits, three RBIs, and two runs scored. Brooklyn Powhida had an impressive night as well, crossing the plate three times while adding two hits and an RBI. Kendall Kemp contributed with two hits, two RBIs, and two runs. After tough matchups against University and Lake Howell last week, Eustis appears to be back in top form.
(Brooklyn Powhida added to her career stolen bases record. She stole two bases last night and now has 52 stolen bases as only a sophomore. Photo Credit – Joe Ott Photography “Fan Zone”.)
For Tavares, the lone bright spot came in the fifth inning when Emma Patee delivered a clutch double, driving in Bailey Rasmussen and Blakely Kite. However, the Bulldogs struggled against Roden, who turned in one of her best performances of the season.
(Bailey Rassmussen would get on base twice with 2 walks and score a run but the Tavares offense couldn’t find a way to get any hits off of Carson Roden. Photo Credit – Joe Ott Photography “Fan Zone”)
Brooke Mansfield came on in relief for Eustis after Roden’s stellar outing. Roden will now get a week of rest before facing Montverde Academy in a highly anticipated rematch of last year’s game of the year which Montverde won 7-6. Both those teams won the State Championships in their respective classes last year so it will be awesome to see them play against one another again. That game is April 9th at 7:00pm at the Eustis High School softball complex.
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.
