April 11, 2025
Eustis High School Baseball Celebrates Senior Night, Looking Ahead to District Tournament
By Kyle Coppola
Eustis High School Baseball Celebrates Senior Night, Looking Ahead to District Tournament
EUSTIS, Fla. — Eustis High School honored its senior baseball players Monday night with a heartfelt Senior Night celebration, marking the final regular-season home game for 11 dedicated student-athletes. While the Panthers ultimately fell to visiting Leesburg High School, the evening was filled with pride, emotion, and community spirit.
(Eustis Mayor Willie Hawkins throws out the first pitch.)
Eustis Mayor Willie Hawkins threw out the ceremonial first pitch, setting the tone for an evening filled with appreciation. In a touching moment, the fathers of each senior player were given the opportunity to take the mound and pitch to their sons. This is always a special moment. There is nothing like a father playing catch with his son. This is always a beautiful moment and many schools do this.
The Panthers recognized 11 seniors: Couper Gatch, Dallas Rasmussen, Wyatt Cumbie, Andrew Walker, Jacob Lucroy, Israel Green, Bryson Tomé, Nathan Garcia, Derick Del Toro, Sean Griffin, and Chris Bullion. They have all put in a lot of work this season and continue to help push Eustis High School in an upward direction under second year head coach Tony Thomas.
(Eustis senior night was a wonderful evening for everyone. Eustis will now attempt to qualify for the FHSAA Post Season and enters the district tournament as the #3 seed.)
Eustis enters the postseason with a 12-11 record and their eyes set on the district title. The Panthers will host Jones High School on Monday at 7:00 p.m. in the opening round of the district tournament. A win would propel them into the semifinal round against Mount Dora High School on Tuesday, also scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Anything can and will happen in that game against Mount Dora High School. That should be among one of the best games of the year. Eustis first has to win against Jones High School though on Monday. Bishop Moore is the #1 seed and will play either Tavares or Pine Ridge on Tuesday in the top half of the bracket.
Photo Credit – Jamie Langord and Byron Faudie
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.
