By Kyle Coppola
Montverde’s Caleb Cali Makes MLB Debut for Seattle Mariners
Montverde’s Caleb Cali, who played baseball at Montverde Academy and Lake Minneola High School was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 16th round of the 2023 MLB draft with the No. 487th pick. Cali made his MLB Spring Training debut last Saturday.
After graduating from Montverde Academy, Caleb played for FSU before transferring to the College of Central Florida. He won the JUCO Player of the Year award in 2022. He then had the opportunity to play for the University of Arkansas for the 2022-2023 season before being drafted by the Seattle Mariners last year.
(Caleb Cali signing autographs for little fans. Once in these kids same shoes years ago, Caleb is the perfect example of how hard work pays off. Photo Credit- Michelle Cali)
Cali is listed as an infielder. During his high school career, he was ranked as the No. 56 prospect in Florida and the No. 6 third baseman in the state by Perfect Game. During his junior and senior seasons, he helped lead Montverde to a 25-0 record in 2018. Prior to Montverde, Cali attended Lake Minneola High School for his freshman and sophomore years, where he was named the Hawks MVP as a sophomore.
(Caleb Cali in his full Mariners uniform. Photo credit – Michelle Cali)
Caleb Cali is coming off a terrific year at the University of Arkansas. He played in 51 games with 46 starts (44 at third base, two at second base) … Slashed .308/.412/.512 with nine home runs and 37 RBI … Recorded 15 multi-hit games, including a team-leading five three-hit games … Logged 11 multi-RBI games … Recorded a season-long 13-game hitting streak and posted a season-long 18-game reached base streak … In SEC play, slashed a team-leading .340/.439/.596 with six home runs and 25 RBI over 26 games … Recorded his first hit as a Hog on a homer against Illinois State (March 1) … Two home runs and a career-high five RBI at Georgia (April 22).
This is a huge opportunity for Caleb Cali, and we are so excited for his family, friends, and coaches to see him play for the Seattle Mariners. This kid has a ton of potential, and we are excited to see how he develops as a player in the next few years. Go Caleb! Way to represent Lake County!
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.
