By Kyle Coppola
Mount Dora Baseball Renames Baseball Complex to Larry Baker Field
Last week, The Mount Dora Baseball Family had the honor and privilege of celebrating the renaming of their Baseball Field to Larry Baker Field. The ceremony was attended by Baker’s family members, the Mount Dora Baseball team and coaching staff along with fans and friends. Larry Baker stands proudly in front of the podium as he accepts this incredible honor.
Larry Baker is a person who has given so much to the Mount Dora area but particularly the Mount Dora High School Baseball program. Through his contributions over the years and his time and support, Mount Dora has been able to continue to allow its players to thrive in our community. Baker has been a mentor to coaches and players as well as a model citizen of our community.
Baker has built relationships and has truly become a part of the Mount Dora Baseball family over his many years of continued support. Baker has shown us that hard work and devotion are some of the greatest characteristics a person can possess. He is a true example of what someone can do with time and effort to improve the community. They don’t make many people like Larry.
His hard work and efforts have been front and center of the changes happening in the baseball community of Lake County. From renovated fields to equipment and other needed facilities, the future of Lake County Baseball looks bright. Mount Dora baseball was quoted as saying “We are all beyond honored and privileged to play baseball on Larry Baker Field. We cannot thank him enough for being a part of our family.”
A few members who deserve to be noted include Principal Marlene Straughan for Mount Dora High School. Mayor of Mount Dora Crissy Stile, John Carr, Bill Mathias, Police Chief Mike Gibson, Superintendent Dian Kornegay, and the Lake County School Board for approving the renaming of the field. This is a high honor and much deserved for Mr. Larry Baker. We are thrilled to be attending games at Larry Baker Field going forward!
Photos Provided By:
Joe Ott Photography & Design
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.
