By Kyle Coppola
MDCA Competes In 2nd Annual Coach K. Bayly Memorial Tournament
The Mount Dora Christian Academy Bulldogs competed in the 2nd Annual Coach K. Bayly Memorial Tournament. The annual tournament pays tribute to Kayly Bayly, who was tragically lost a few years ago due to early-onset Alzheimer’s, which is a form of dementia that affects people younger than age 65.
The tournament had its first event last year to great success, and this year’s tournament was even more successful. The annual softball tournament had MDCA compete alongside Pinellas Park, Indian Rocks Christian, and Canterbury.
(The MDCA Lady Bulldogs pose for a team photo after sweeping all three games of the Coach K. Bayly Memorial Tournament.)
MDCA would go on to dominate the tournament, securing 3 wins. The Bulldogs would pick up a dominating 12-1 win against Pinellas Park on Friday. On Saturday, it was a double-header, and the MDCA Lady Bulldogs came out on fire! They would beat Indian Rocks Christian 16-4 and later that same day would beat Canterbury 12-2.
MDCA outscored their opponents 40-7 during the two-day stretch of games. That kind of performance bodes well for the 2024 season and is exactly the kind of performance that Coach Bayly would come to expect from this girls’ program. Head coach James Bayly, who is the brother of the late Kaylyn Bayly, was so proud of his team’s effort and of the tournament.
“I just wanted to thank Shane Demartino, Jody Moore, Erin Jankiewicz, and Julie Bayly for their help and support. Thank you to all the donors who made this tournament such a success for these amazing athletes,” said Coach Bayly.
There were also four recipients of the Coach K. Bayly Scholarship award. Madison Winther from Pinellas Park, Baylee Rano from Indian Rocks Christian, Tay Moore from Canterbury, and Valerie Bolano from MDCA as the recipients of the scholarship award.
(Madison Winther from Pinellas Park, one of four scholarship recipients.)
(Baylee Rano from Indian Rocks Christian one of four players to be awarded with a scholarship.)
(Tay Moore from Canterbury one of four athletes to be awarded a scholarship.)
(Valerie Bolano from Mount Dora Christian Academy one of four players to be awarded a scholarship.)
Coach K. Bayly was an amazing person. She was a leader in every sense of the word. From her coaching on the field to her passion and dedication to her student-athletes off the field, she was everything a coach should be. While we still mourn her loss, she is giving back in a new way. Although she is not with us, her memory is, and she continues to have an impact on student-athletes’ lives with this great tournament held in her honor.
Congratulations to the scholarship recipients and thank you for everyone for their continued support of this great tournament.
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.
