By Kyle Coppola
Umatilla High School Baseball Wins 12-0 Against Tavares High
The Umatilla Bulldogs went beast mode on Tuesday evening as they were able to win 12-0 against Tavares. Wyatt Strawbridge played one of his best games of the season, pitching 5 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts and only 2 hits given up. It was a terrific performance from the junior.
(Tate Bagwell had 6 RBIs in the win against Tavares High. Bagwell also scored a run. Photo Credit – Umatilla Baseball and emmaeaton3507)
It was an incredible night for Umatilla’s Tate Bagwell, who would go on to drive in 6 runs over the course of the evening. Bagwell had 3 hits on the night, including a double that drove in a few runs. Bagwell would also score a run. Other players who had a great night include Keegan St. Amant, who is a sophomore. St. Amant drove in 3 runs and scored 2 runs himself.
(Trey Craft has been among the best catchers in central Florida this year. The Florida A&M Commit has looked fantastic behind the plate and inside the batters box. Photo Credit – Umatilla Baseball and emmaeaton3507.)
Other Umatilla athletes who contributed included Wyatt Strawbridge, who scored 2 runs, Elliot Sanders, Trey Craft, Dominick Mathe, and Jayden Rodriguez, all of whom scored runs for The Bulldogs.
(Head coach Tanner Clark stands in the background. Clark has gotten the most out of Umatilla this year. Clark is a young coach and uses that to his advantage. Photo Credit – Umatilla Baseball and emmaeaton3507.)
Unfortunately for Tavares, they just could not get anything going offensively against Wyatt Strawbridge. The game was tied going into the top of the third inning, but Umatilla scored 3 runs in the 3rd. Then in the 4th, they added a further 4 runs before a disastrous 5th inning which let in 5 runs, ultimately ending the game in the 5th inning due to FHSAA Mercy Rules.
Umatilla improves to 13-4 this season, having an impressive year. Tavares High will get another shot at Umatilla when they play on Friday night at 6:30 pm in Umatilla. Ultimately, Tavares will hope to get the bats going in Friday night’s contest. Tavares is also having a decent year at 8-9. They have been playing well recently but have a tough matchup against Eustis on Thursday and Umatilla on Friday. We will see if the Bulldogs can get back on track.
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.
