A roundup of Lee and Collier County high school sports for March 2-7, 2026:
FRIDAY
Boys lacrosse
Immokalee 14, Riverside 2: Cherlin Michel led the Indians with four goals.
Softball
Riverdale 11, Naples 1: Adrianna Manetta allowed 2 hits with 11 strikeouts. and had two hits at the plate.
SFCA 13, Cypress Lake 1: Madison Hartsgrove and Adelyn Emery led the King’s with three hits each. Aubrey Reilly also contributed two hits and reached base in all her at bats. Braelyn Davis was the winning pitcher for SFCA. She had 13 strikeouts and two hits allowed in five innings.
THURSDAY
Softball
Bishop Verot 15, ECS 1: Bishop Verot wanted that Private 8 softball trophy back, and they got it in a big way. The Vikings used composed pitching, timely hitting, and opportunistic baserunning to beat Evangelical Christian 15-1 in a five-inning game.
But both team’s coaches were quick to remind their teams that though a trophy was awarded, the season itself is still in its infancy.
“We were the better team today, right? I don’t know if it’s a shift or not,” Bishop Verot coach John Breadmore said. “I guess that remains to be seen so early in the season.”
University of Pittsburgh commit Paige Betterman looked every bit the Division I pitcher that she will be in two years, striking out 11 Sentinels and walking one in a two-hitter. She threw just 74 pitches, and the only ECS run was unearned.
“She very much handled her business,” Breadmore said. “Don’t know if it’s 15-1 or 1 to nothing. That’s the mentality, that’s the demeanor we want out of our pitchers this year.”
For the Sentinels, especially those who were on the 2024 and 2025 state champion teams, the game was a shock, but not a cause for panic.
“All you can do is take some of these games and learn from them, get better from them,” ECS coach Johnny Manetta said. “You know you can’t run and hide. You have to say, ‘Hey, this is what the problem was.’ This is how we fix it and be happy about the fact that it’s early March and not mid-April, because those things are harder to overcome.”
The Sentinels were missing Hayden Billie and her 5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in the circle. The right-hander opted to not play her senior year, leaving an experience gap at the position. Sophomore Reese Niemier and seventh-grader Cozette Turnbaugh platooned for ECS at pitcher.
Catcher Taylor Davison’s absence was felt, as well. After an ACL tear ended Davison’s season on opening night, outfielder Anayeli Guzman was tabbed to take over the backstop.
The Vikings scored early and scored often. Willa Pagnutti was the first to cross the plate in the top of the first inning after running in from third on a wild pitch. Josie Betterman hit a sacrifice fly to score a run. Then Emma Hall hit a 2-run single to right, making the score 4-0 before ECS got a chance to hit. Verot scored 5 more runs in the second, 5 in the fourth, and 1 in the fifth.
The lone ECS run came in the bottom of the fourth when Keaunna Green scored on the Vikings’ lone error.
Hall led the Vikings at the plate, going 3-for-3 with 4 RBI and a run scored. Pagnutti was 3-for-3 with 3 runs. Tianna Wolfson was 2-for-4 with 3 runs. Lilly Kitto doubled and scored a run.
— Dave Montrose
SFCA 10, Seacrest 2: Jada DiMaria picked up the win, only allowing 1 hit in 5 innings. Adelyn Emery led the King’s offense with 3 hits.
Baseball
Canterbury 6, ECS 4: The showdown for the Private 8 Tournament title looked like it would be a pitching duel as Canterbury outlasted a scrappy ECS squad.
The Cougars Anthony Meady and the Sentinels Harrison Martin came out dominating from the mound as both hurlers struck out the side in the first inning.
Meady would add two more strikeouts in the second, and Martin was on his way to an easy inning when a chopper off the bat of the Cougars’ Michael Magas resulted in an infield hit and one base error. Adams Mejia lined a single into left field with Magas barely beating the throw to the plate. Anthony Tenuto followed with a single to right, plating Mejia and the Cougars enjoyed a 2-0 lead.
Meady stayed on cruise control, getting more run support when Noah Keifer led off the third with a triple that opened the door to a three-run inning to grow the lead to 5-0.
“We didn’t make the defensive plays when we had to, that was the tough part for us,” said Sentinels coach Derrik Lutz.
Meady carried a no-hitter into the fifth when the wheels came off. The Sentinels’ Slater Smith ripped a double to right field. A Jackson Perkins chopper to the shortstop resulted in a throwing error, putting Perkins and Smith on second and third.
ECS used two singles, a bases-loaded walk, and a hit batter to plate four runs before Meady struck out his eighth and ninth batters, leaving the game with a 5-4 lead.
“He (Meady) did a great job but their pitcher did a great job too,” Turco said. “The zone was expanded a little bit, which meant it was a pitcher’s night, then it got tighter near the end.”
Keifer would add a home run in the bottom of the sixth for the Cougars while taking over on the mound in relief. He shut down the Sentinels over the last two innings to give Canterbury the win.
ECS had loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but a Perkins line drive to centerfield was caught to end the game.
“That team is a very good team. I knew we would come with our best stuff,” said Turco.
While the Sentinels are looking for better days ahead, “We love where we’re at, our No. 1 goal is to win districts,” said Lutz.
— John Rinkenbaugh
Girls Tennis
Private 8: Bishop Verot swept the Private 8 tournament, defeating both Canterbury and Community School of Naples. The Vikings won 7-0 against Canterbury on March 3 with strong singles and doubles performances on all courts. Summer Jacobs, Sam Ellis, El Satkoski and Leah Chung all posted 6-1, 6-0 scores on courts 1, 3, 4 and 5. Jacobs and partner Cayla Rhodes defeated Alana Brown and Arika Pudasani, 8-1, on court 1 doubles. On March 5, Bishop Verot defeated Community School of Naples 5-1, enduring two lightning delays. After earning wins on both doubles courts, the Vikings took the next two singles matches to clinch the match. Junior Leah Chung defeated Ariana Sharma on court 5, 6-1, 6-1 and El Satkoski followed on court 4, defeating Milan Shiery, 6-2, 6-1.
Flag Football
Cypress Lake 26, East Lee 12: Lilly Witz had 2 receiving touchdowns thrown by Addison Apicella. Apicella also found the end zone with 1 rushing touchdown, and Claire Martin also added 1 rushing touchdown. Defensively, Claire Martin had an interception and Jaiden Kram recorded 3 sacks.
Bishop Verot 21, Cardinal Mooney 0: The game was shortened due to lightning. Lila Dinkel was 9 of 11 with 3 TDs and 114 yards passing. She also rushed for 57 yards. Bella Garibay had 4 flag pulls and a sack on defense.
WEDNESDAY
Softball
Gulf Coast 11, Palmetto Ridge 9 (8 innings): Emilie Perez went 4-for-4 for Gulf Coast while Mia Fasolino added three hits and Hannah Rearden three RBI for the Sharks. Palmetto Ridge, which rallied from an early five-run deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, got three hits each from Tessa Delashmet, Aubrey Anido, and Rebecca Razzano.
Flag Football
Cypress Lake 21, Gateway 6: Lily Wirtz passed for one touchdown and caught another for the victorious Panthers (3-2). Quarterback Addison Apicella added 70 passing yards and one touchdown for Cypress Lake. Defensively, Claire Martin led the Panthers with six flag pulls and also returned an interception for a touchdown.
Gateway Charter 58, Oasis 0: Bella Burgess returned two interceptions for touchdowns and caught a scoring pass for Gateway Charter (2-1). Lizy Mendez added two receiving touchdowns for the Griffins. Presley Hopper stood out in the pass rush for Oasis, creating pressure and helping force some key fourth-down stops.
Boys Lacrosse
Aubrey Rogers 16, Immokalee 5: Cherlin Michel scored three goals and Luis Acevedo added two for Immokalee (5-3) against the Patriots, who improved to 8-0.
TUESDAY
Baseball
Evangelical Christian 12, Community School 5: The Sentinels got a big win over the Seahawks thanks in part to performances from Ryder Lutz (3-3, 2 2B, 3 R, RBI, 2 BB), David Hansen (3-4, 3 RBI, BB), and a pair of hits both from Jackson Perkins and Easton Mauler. Perkins went 4 1/3 innings, allowing four hits with five strikeouts. Leo Smith finished it, going 2 2/3 innings, allowing one hit while striking out four.
Mariner 7, South Fort Myers 3: Romero Gist went 4-for-4, as Mariner defeated South Fort Myers 7-3. Gist singled in the second inning, doubled in the fourth inning, doubled in the sixth inning, and singled in the first inning.
Canterbury 12, SFCA 7: The Cougars will take on ECS in the Private 8 Championship game on Thursday.
Estero 6, Island Coast 5
Fort Myers 3, Gateway 0
Bonita Springs 5, Riverdale 2
North Fort Myers 7, Ida Baker 1
Oasis 5, Cape Coral 4
Village School 19, Everglades City 0
Mason Classical 13, Donahue Catholic 1
Moore Haven 6, Lehigh 5
Babcock 5, Cypress Lake 1
Okeechobee 10, LaBelle 1
Softball
Bishop Verot 1, SFCA 0: The Vikings saw Payton Breadmore and Josie Betterman combine for 13 strikeouts, keeping the King’s off the scoreboard. Breadmore drove in the game-winning run, plating Abby Goff. Karsyn Walters logged a pair of hits for Neumann.
Gulf Coast 6, St. John Neumann 0: Gulf Coast got another standout performance from Keyah Kamara in the circle, as the freshman went the distance with 12 strikeouts. Emilie Perez and Hannah Rearden each had RBI triples while Kadi Hodgson had an RBI double.
North Fort Myers 9, Ida Baker 5
Riverdale 25, Bonita Springs 10
Gateway 26, East Lee County 11
Cape Coral 3, Oasis 0
Mariner 13, Cypress Lake 0
Seacrest Country Day 9, Community School 3
Dunbar 25, Lehigh 3
Flag Football
Fort Myers 26, North Fort Myers 18
Estero 20, First Baptist 0
Island Coast 7, Dunbar 6
Lehigh 25, Gunnery Road Christian 0
Beach Volleyball
Seacrest Country Day 4, Marco Island 1
Ida Baker 4, Gateway 1
St. John Neumann 5, Mason Classical 0
Lemon Bay 3, SFCA 2
Boys Lacrosse
Community School 11, Canterbury 10 (OT): The Seahawks overcame a fourth quarter deficit and scored the game-winner against the rival Cougars.
Fort Myers 15, Riverdale 7
Cypress Lake 11, Village School 7
Girls Lacrosse
Venice 9, Bishop Verot 8: Shea Swartz lead the Vikings with 4 goals, 3 ground balls and 2 caused turnovers. Samantha Till had 2 points, 6 draw controls, 2 caused turnovers. Ava Vesce had 1 goal, 4 draw controls, 5 ground balls and 3 caused turnovers. Sophia Cedeno made 6 saves in net.
Community School 13, Lakewood Ranch 5
Cardinal Mooney 22, Canterbury 14
Gateway 16, Cypress Lake 2
Estero 11, Cape Coral 1
Boys Tennis
Fort Myers 6, Bonita Springs 0
Singles: 1. Maximus Graham def. Jaden Zavala 6-2, 6-0; 2. Samuel Kellemberger def. Lucas Perkins 6-0, 6-0; 3. Steven Zuk def. Juan Carvajalino Vega 6-0, 6-1; 4. Neil Pammi def. Khaled Nallar 6-0, 6-0; Doubles: 1. Graham/Corby Bishop def. Zavala/Carvajalino Vega 8-2; 2. Tanish Madhar/Yazan Sabha def. Perkins/Nallar 8-2
MONDAY
Baseball
Evangelical Christian 14, Gateway Charter 4: Anthony Cabrera, Slater Smith, Easton Mauler, and Harlan Haugen all had a pair of hits. Haugen homered and doubled, with three RBI.
Island Coast 7, Lakewood Ranch 5
Gulf Coast 6, Immokalee 0
Barron Collier 5, Golden Gate 0
First Baptist 16, Gateway 2
Aubrey Rogers 17, Lely 0
Cypress Lake 10, Babcock 6
Naples 10, Palmetto Ridge 9
Softball
Gulf Coast 2, Immokalee 0: The Sharks won behind a 16-strikeout performance from Keyah Kamara, who went the distance while allowing just two hits. Emilie Perez drove in Kadi Hodgson, while Melissa Hyatt plated Eve Preddy with a sac fly.
Palmetto Ridge 8, Naples 1: The Bears got a 3-for-3 performance at the plate from Jenahya Soto, beating Naples 8-1. Tessa Delashmet struck out 12 in the win, allowing four hits and a run with a walk. As a team, Palmetto Ridge collected 13 hits.
SFCA 6, Babcock 5 (8 innings): The King’s escaped with an extra-innings win over the Trailblazers. Bella Gee, Baylie Davis, and Adelyn Emery each logged multiple hits, with Emery coming through with a walk-off two run double. Braelyn Davis went the distance in the circle, picking up the win.
Barron Collier 24, Golden Gate 1
Aubrey Rogers 10, Lely 5
Beach Volleyball
Barron Collier 5, Golden Gate 0
LaBelle 3, Evangelical Chrisitan 2
Mariner 4, Cape Coral 1
Estero 4, Bonita Springs 1
Boys Lacrosse
Gulf Coast 13, Immokalee 2: In the loss for the Indians, Luis Acevedo and Marquez Galindo scored.
Newsome 15, Bishop Verot 6
Aubrey Rogers 11, Lely 0
Girls Lacrosse
Fort Myers 12, Aubrey Rogers 11
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: HS Roundup: Canterbury, Bishop Verot win Private 8 titles
Reporting by Alex Martin, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
