April 23, 2025
Eustis High Forces Game 3 with Clutch Bats in Class 4A Quarterfinal Win Over Mulberry
By Kyle Coppola
Eustis High Forces Game 3 with Clutch Bats in Class 4A Quarterfinal Win Over Mulberry
EUSTIS, Fla. — With their season on the line, Eustis High School turned to their bats—and they delivered in a big way.
Backed into a corner after a narrow 3-2 loss in Game 1 on Monday, the Panthers roared back on Tuesday night with an 8-6 victory over Mulberry High School to even the best-of-three FHSAA Class 4A State Quarterfinals series at one game apiece.
(Dallas Rasmussen extended his high school baseball career last night crossing the plate as Eustis will look to now make the State Regional Semifinals tonight.)
Eustis wasted no time setting the tone. Starting pitcher Couper Gatch helped his team jump out to an early lead, and the offense did its part, plating five runs in the first three innings. It was a total team effort from the Panthers, highlighted by Andrew Walker’s key triple, RBI, and run scored. Freshman Ethan Jackson also shined under pressure, recording a hit and scoring two runs.
Braeden Barnes, Dallas Rasmussen, and Bryson Phillips all crossed the plate in a game where every contribution mattered.
Mulberry responded with a three-run third inning to get back in the game, and added two more in the fourth to knot the score at 5-5, putting the pressure squarely back on Eustis. But in the top of the seventh, the Panthers answered the call once again. A three-run frame gave Eustis the cushion it needed to hold off a late push by the Panthers of Mulberry, who scored once more in the bottom of the inning but couldn’t complete the comeback.
With the win, Eustis has staved off elimination and will now host a decisive Game 3 on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Eustis High Baseball Complex.
The winner will advance to the FHSAA Class 4A State Regional Semifinals where the winner will play Pine Ridge High who incredibly upset Vanguard High School last night and have moved onto the Regional Semifinals.
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.
