By Kyle Coppola
Eustis High Softball Rebounds with 8-6 Victory Over South Sumter High
BUSHNELL, Fla. — After suffering their first loss in nearly a year, Eustis High School’s softball team bounced back in a big way, defeating South Sumter 8-6 in a high-scoring affair Thursday night.
The defending state champions saw their 18-game winning streak snapped in a 4-0 loss to Wakulla, their first defeat since April 19th, 2024. But against South Sumter, Eustis once again was able to show patience, overcoming an early 3-1 deficit to secure the win.
South Sumter (8-4) jumped out to an early lead behind the bats of Raven Parker and Hailey Hickman, but Eustis (10-1) responded, chipping away before taking a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning.
(Ella Fleming hit two home runs during last night to go along with 3 RBI’s. Photo Credit – Eustis Lady Softball.)
Ella Fleming led the charge for Eustis with a dominant performance at the plate, blasting two home runs and driving in three RBIs. She also added a double to her outstanding night. Adrianna Covino matched Fleming’s RBI total with three of her own, while Kendall Kemp crossed the plate twice to contribute to the Panthers total. It was a hard fought victory between Lake & Sumter County rivals. South Sumter was very impressive and this is one of the top South Sumter softball teams we have seen in recent years.
On the mound, Carson Roden struck out 10 batters while allowing six runs, holding off a late South Sumter rally in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win. South Sumter’s Raven Parker, who also recorded six strikeouts, allowed six earned runs. This was an all-out slugfest at the plate. For South Sumter they have to be encouraged by the work they put in and led a Top-20 team in the state. The Lady Raiders will now get set to play Vanguard and Forest next week along with George Jenkins, Merritt Island and West Port in a tournament next weekend.
Eustis will look to build momentum as they continue their title defense, while South Sumter aims to regroup ahead of the postseason push. Eustis will have games against Lake Howell and University next week before a rivalry game against Tavares High School on April 1st.
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.
