By Kyle Coppola
East Ridge High Softball Advances to FHSAA Class 7A Regional Semifinals
CLERMONT, Fla. — East Ridge High School is moving on in the FHSAA Class 7A Softball Playoffs after a 5-2 victory over Windermere High this past weekend.
Senior Lilly Land provided the spark for the Knights (22-5), crushing a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to give East Ridge a 3-0 lead. Her blast set the tone in what quickly became a tense pitchers’ duel between two talented young women — East Ridge’s Sariah Espada and Windermere’s Sophia Margelos.
(Veronica Peterson warming up. Photo Credit – JOE OTT Photography Fan Zone.)
Espada went the distance for the Knights, pitching all seven innings and striking out five batters. After giving up two runs in the third inning as Windermere cut the lead to 3-2, Espada and the East Ridge defense locked in and held the Wolverines scoreless the rest of the way.
Margelos recovered from her rough first inning to keep Windermere in the game, pitching six innings and limiting further damage until the Knights tacked on insurance runs late.
(Sariah Espada has been money on the mound for East Ridge High. She has pitched 98 innings and has 79 strikeouts. Photo – East Ridge High.)
Key contributions from Sydney Ralstin, Olivia Shoemaker, Veronica Peterson, Molly O’Hara, and Lelia Bolden helped East Ridge maintain control in the field and at the plate, eventually sealing the 5-2 win and punching their ticket to the regional semifinals.
The Knights will now host Sarasota High School at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday in Clermont. Sarasota is coming off a stunning upset win over Venice High School 7-8. Sarasota High is ranked #5 in the region while the Lady Knights are ranked #1. The winner will head to the FHSAA Regional Final on Thursday at 7pm. If East Ridge wins on Tuesday evening they will host the Regional Final with a shot at the State Semifinals then on the line.
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.
