By Kyle Coppola
Student Athlete of The Week: Alijah Curry – South Lake High
Curry has a .378 batting average. He came into the season as one of the heavy favorites to do some damage at the plate. Curry has successfully delivered a terrific senior campaign that has seen him get on base more than any other player on the South Lake roster with 17 hits.
(A familiar sight with #4 Alijah Curry rounding 3rd base and headed for home. Curry leads the team in runs scored. Photo Credit – Joe Ott Photography “Fan Zone”)
Curry has also crossed the plate 18 times this season to go along with 5 RBIs and 3 doubles. He also has a triple this year. His on-base percentage (OBP) is sitting at .429, so he roughly gets on base 43% of the time, which are great numbers to have.
Curry has played on the varsity baseball team for the past 3 years. Last year was a coming-out season for Curry. He had 19 hits, 12 RBIs, and 15 runs scored. He is shattering those numbers this season as he already has scored 18 runs and is just a few hits shy of breaking his junior record of 19 hits in a season.
(Curry has been dominant at the plate this season. His senior year has been very memorable. Photo Credit – Joe Ott Photography “Fan Zone”)
Curry is not just a baseball player; he has also contributed to the basketball team as well. Over the past 3 years, Curry has been a main contributor to the team, averaging around 4.3 points per game along with 3.2 rebounds per game.
Alijah Curry is a great athlete but does not do it alone on the ball field. David Pina, who is a junior, is also having a big year. Pina is batting with a .405 average. Pina has 13 RBIs and 14 hits along with 2 home runs. He has also scored 13 runs. Senior Dawson Kirkland also has played a key role. He leads the team with 21 RBIs, 16 hits, and a .364 batting average.
(Curry gets congratulations from his teammates after scoring a run. Photo Credit – Joe Ott Photography “Fan Zone”)
South Lake might be 7-7, but they have played a tough schedule this season. We respect that; games against IMG Academy White, Winter Haven, East Ridge, and Eustis have been a great challenge to this program. But you can see it’s making the team better as the year progresses.
Alijah Curry will continue to be a fun player to watch as the season moves along. He will be counted on a lot along with his fellow teammates to make a run at the districts this year. This district is always very competitive. South Lake plays in Class 6A District 7 with Lake Minneola, Forest, East River, Edgewater, and Wekiva.”
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.
