By Kyle Coppola
Eustis Softball Nearly Pulls Off Win Against Montverde Academy
There is a reason Eustis and Montverde are ranked in the Top 10 teams in Florida; they showed why on Friday evening. In a matchup that was sure to be one of the most anticipated softball games of the year, it did not disappoint by a long shot.
Eustis and Montverde were basically even as f ar as the strength of teams and schedules go coming into this one! The Montverde Academy softball program attracts some of the top talent in the USA to play for them. Eustis High, meanwhile, has built its program into one of the top softball programs in the state of Florida that now rivals Montverde Academy.
The game started off with both teams taking a 0-0 game into the top of the 3rd. That’s where Montverde took a 1-0 lead. Eustis would add a run in the top of the 4th, tying the game. But a massive 5th inning saw the Panthers score 5 runs to make it a 6-1 game! Ciera Maple was a star, scoring 2 RBIs and a run off of 1 hit. Meanwhile, Skylar Cloud, Brook Powhida, and others opened up a huge gap for Eustis.
Just when it looked like Eustis High might come away with the victory, Montverde began an offensive onslaught in the bottom of the 7th inning. At that point, Eustis led 6-2; however, Montverde’s Leila Susaia had 3 RBIs and a hit while Colby Reish also contributed along with Luna Toboas. Montverde would score 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th for a shocking comeback win against Eustis.
While the loss was a tough one for the Lady Panthers, they still remain a top 10 team as of this writing in the state of Florida. It was the perfect game played by Eustis until the last inning. Two games remain on the schedule for Eustis. They have Mount Dora on Tuesday evening at home and finish the year against Lake Minneola on Thursday in a primer for the district championship games next week.
Eustis still remains the #1 team in all of Florida Class 4A. These girls are beginning to set their eyes on winning a district championship and then going on a run in the FHSAA Playoffs.”
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.
