Canterbury Returns To Glory With 1A State Championship

The 2025 FHSAA Class 1A state champion Canterbury Cougars.

The Canterbury Cougars have done it again!

Facing off against the defending state champions, the Cougars completed their magical season with a resounding 6-2 victory in the Class 1A title game. Canterbury led all the way for the victory over the St. John’s Country Day Spartans, on Thursday, May 15th, at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers. It is the fourth state championship in program history, after a historic three-year title run from 2016 to 2018, all under Manager Frank Turco.

The Cougars (26-11) thrived in the 2025 regional playoffs, sweeping the quarterfinals before winning the pivotal third games of the best-of-three series against Northside Christian and St. John Neumann. Back at the state tournament for the first time since falling in the 2019 final, Canterbury held off the Orangewood Christian Rams with a narrow, 3-2 semifinal win that put them back in the finals.

The Cougars face off against St. John’s Country Day in the 1A title game.

With the prize they had worked and dreamed about for so long finally close within reach, the Cougars seized the moment to deliver a champion’s performance. Noah Keifer led off the game with a base hit to center, and Ever Silvente drove him in with an RBI single to left for an immediate 1-0 lead.

The Spartans (26-9) loaded the bases in the bottom of the first, but Cougars starter Anthony Meady got a swinging strikeout to escape the threat unscathed. That was the closest they ever got to taking the lead the rest of the way.

Canterbury tacked on to extend it to a more comfortable lead. Adams Mejia was hit by a pitch with two outs in the second, and he next stole second base and came home on an error. Two more runs followed in the third, as Maddox Wolff walked and scored on an RBI ground out from Silvente, and Brayden Habuda singled and scored off an RBI single from Meady.

Anthony Meady earned the championship win for the Cougars.

Meady was effective at holding the Spartans at bay to earn the victory. The right-hander went five full innings while allowing one earned run on four hits and five walks, with four strikeouts.

Anthony Tenuto closed out the final two frames to preserve the win and earn his seventh save of the season. He allowed an unearned run on three hits and a walk, and he struck out five.

Canterbury struck for two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Kiefer led off with an infield single, Habuda was hit by a pitch and Silvente walked to load the bases. Kiefer was able to come home on a wild pitch, and Ashby Piatt then put the ball in play and reached on an error that allowed Habuda to cross the plate.

The Cougars take the lead in the top of the first inning on this RBI single.

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