April 7, 2025
Mount Dora High Baseball Team Eye 10th Straight Victory as Districts Approach
By Kyle Coppola
Mount Dora High Baseball Team Eye 10th Straight Victory as Districts Approach
MOUNT DORA, Fla. — The Mount Dora High School baseball team is riding a red-hot streak and shows no signs of slowing down.
Winners of nine straight games, the Hurricanes (15-6) are set to chase their 10th consecutive victory tonight against Leesburg High School. This year’s team has been fueled by a powerful mix of senior leadership, rising young talent, and dominant pitching.
Senior Preston Rhodes has been a steady force at the plate, sporting a .310 batting average. His 22 hits include a team-best 16 RBIs and 13 runs scored, proving pivotal in Mount Dora’s recent surge.
Preston Rhodes at the plate against Umatilla High. Rhodes has been among the most consistant batters in the Mount Dora High Lineup. Photo Credit: JOE OTT PHOTOGRAPHY “FAN ZONE”)
Meanwhile, fellow senior Ryan Crow continues to swing a hot bat, hitting .383 on the season. Crow has 23 hits, including five doubles, and has added nine RBIs to the Hurricanes’ cause. His consistency in the lineup has been a major asset during the team’s winning streak.
Sophomore Noah Macinness is making waves as one of the most electric players on the field. He leads Mount Dora in both runs scored (21) and stolen bases (6), bringing speed and energy that has kept opposing defenses on their heels all year long.
All eyes have been on Jacob James who is one of Lake County’s top pitchers. Photo Credit JOE OTT PHOTOGRAPHY “FAN ZONE”)
On the mound, Mount Dora boasts one of the area’s most dominant pitchers in Jacob James. The ace has compiled a 79 strikeouts over 52 innings pitched, paired with an eye-popping 0.81 ERA. James has allowed just six earned runs all season, making him a nightmare matchup for hitters and a reliable arm every time he steps on the rubber.
While it’s been a challenging year for the Leesburg High Yellow Jackets, don’t look past this team. They are coming off a victory against Eustis High School 6-5 last week in a big upset. Should be a great night of action as Leesburg would love nothing more than to stop the Mount Dora High winning streak.
Mount Dora’s final regular season games conclude this week with Leesburg High tonight at 6:30pm, Bishop Moore on Wednesday at 6:30pm and Atlantic High School on Thursday at 6:30pm.
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.
