For the 10th consecutive year, local high school students were bestowed scholarships by a Major League Baseball team that calls Lee County home each spring.
Sunday afternoon before the first pitch of a Spring Training game, 16 students looking to further their educational journey were honored and presented with $5,000 scholarships by the Boston Red Sox and Red Sox Foundation. Prior to the game, each recipient walked onto the field at JetBlue Park to meet Sox manager Alex Cora, received a personalized bat and got a rousing applause from the crowd on hand.
The 2025 recipients were:
• Amy Kollcinaku – Bonita Springs
• Haruna Mescallado – Cape Coral
• Danielle Barsheshet – Cypress Lake
• Jennifer Gonzalez – Dunbar
• Julian Gonzalez – East Lee County
• Meghan Lay – Estero
• Jaylinn Hinojosa – Fort Myers
• Jazmine Olivera-Morales – Gateway
• Alia Mercado-Lues – Ida Baker
• Alexandra Flores – Island Coast
• Anahy Gonzalez-Mata – Lehigh Senior
• Adrielle Costa – Mariner
• Katrina Placencia – North Fort Myers
• Sean De Andrade – Riverdale
• Ilenys Cabrera Rego – South Fort Myers
• Brayan Morejon – Charter/ALS
“This is always one of our favorite games of the year because we get to celebrate these local students and their accomplishments on the field in front of all our Spring Training fans,” said Brennan Whitley, director, Florida Events and Operations for the Boston Red Sox. “These students have obviously worked incredibly hard and our Red Sox Foundation members that review the applications each year say it’s not an easy process to pick just one recipient because so many are deserving. We are extremely proud to celebrate our 10th year of providing these scholarships and we look forward to many more.”
Once again this year, all Lee County charter and ALS schools were included, with one $5,000 scholarship also being awarded to a student from this category for a total of 16 scholarships worth a total of $80,000.
The scholarships are for academically talented students who have shown a commitment to community service and are pursuing a two- or four-year degree at any college or university.
The students plan to attend universities ranging from the University of Florida, University of Central Florida, Florida Gulf Coast University, Duke and more, and will major in subjects such as nursing, business and entrepreneurship, aero science and other fields.
Scholarship funds are raised annually from proceeds of the Red Sox annual Swings for the Sox Golf Tournament. To date, the Swings for the Sox has raised more than $683,000 for local charities and specifically $598,000 for the scholarship program.
David Doran, principal of ReRoute Americas, was the title sponsor of the Swings For The Sox for the ninth consecutive year. Doran has donated more than $100,000 to the Red Sox scholarship program.
It’s been a trying year for Cape Coral High School’s Haruna Mescallado. Due to family struggles that involve homelessness, she’s been living with a friend until she heads off to Grinnell next year in Iowa.
For Mescallado, this scholarship is exactly what will help her further her educational journey where she plans to study psychology and other subjects, such as industrial engineering in the field of lines and queues, and how to make them more efficient.
“The past year has been rather rough,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting to win a scholarship as huge as this, and it means the world to me and is really going to help make a difference. It’s been rough, but we’re getting through it. This scholarship has been huge and something to look forward to.”
Mescallado said she looks up to Bruce Laval, who created the Disney “FastPass.”
“I want to go into processes that will optimize lines, while also making the customer experience better for everyone,” she said.
Mescallado said a popular YouTube channel that explores all things theme parks and their history piqued her interest. In her junior year, she had to write an extended essay and decided to write it on queues and how they impact the customer’s perceptions of products and services.
“I realized I could make a career out of this if I worked hard enough,” Mescallado said.
She was all smiles Sunday before the game.
“Today is so exciting,” Mescallado said. “This scholarship is so important. Every bit means so much, especially after losing my home.”
The No. 1 student in Lee County that boasts a 5.86 GPA was among the deserving scholarship recipients, that being Katrina Placencia of North Fort Myers High School.
“It’s such an honor,” she said. “This scholarship means a lot to me, especially with how expensive college is.”
With her mother recently going back to school to get her master’s, and her sister also in college, Placencia said being able to lift some of the financial burden that comes along with secondary education has been a weight off of her shoulders.
“It feels like a big accomplishment for me, especially as I’m very much a ‘go-getter’ and an achiever,” she said. “I love that the principles for the scholarship is giving back to the community and really going for your academics, too. Being able to receive this scholarship, it’s like they see me and I’m doing what I need to do.”
Where she’ll be studying next year is still undecided, as she’s still waiting for some Ivy League responses, such as the University of Pennsylvania, and Vanderbilt. She is also thinking about attending Florida State University.
Placencia plans to major in either biology or exercise physiology with the goal to become an anesthesiologist.
“Most of my family is in the medical field, so seeing that and how I always want to give back,” Placencia said of why she wanted to pursue that path. “One of my gifts is math. As an anesthesiologist, you have to be really good at math, so that’s something I want to take with me into the medical field.”
Placencia, who will serve as North Fort Myers High’s valedictorian, said she plans on her GPA increasing to a 6 before the school year is over.
“That’s something I never thought I could achieve,” she said. “I want to make my parents proud. I decided to not take it easy my senior year, and to relax when I get to summer.”
Her advice to students still on their educational path?
“Just keep dreaming,” Placencia said. “Just keep pushing yourself. Don’t give up. Don’t feel like anything can hold you back, if anything, it will be yourself and your doubts. If you have a clear mind you can achieve your goals, so keep going.”
Alexandra Flores of Island Coast High School said the day was an amazing way to have her first baseball game experience, one she won’t soon forget.
Flores is choosing between the University of Florida and Florida Gulf Coast University next year, where she plans to go into nursing and become a nurse practitioner. Being a nurse runs in the family.
“My mom’s a nurse,” Flores said. “She’s planning to become a nurse practitioner. And just growing up hearing her stories from the hospital and everything made me excited to help people. I’ve known I wanted to get into the medical field since I was little.”
Being a Bright Futures Scholarship recipient as well, Flores said this will help her cover housing.
“That was the biggest worry for my family, and now we won’t have to,” she said.
Flores advised underclassmen to “lock in” as they continue their way through high school. She is the Key Club president, and in National Honor Society, JROTC and Athletic Association Club.
“Always take that extra step to apply to that scholarship, do that extra community service event,” she said. “That’s what’s going to matter the most. I took that extra step to apply for this scholarship, put in all the paperwork, and now I’m here. Always take that extra step in school. Always go the extra mile. It’s a benefit to yourself just learning so many different things.”
Another local valedictorian, Adrielle Costa of Mariner High School, was one of the Sox Scholars. Costa is the JROTC brigade commander of a 650-cadet unit.
Costa is currently finishing her associate’s degree at Florida Southwestern State University in general studies, and plans to soon transfer to Duke University to study biomedical engineering.
“I have a love for medicine…and I want to be behind the scenes dealing hands-on with medicine,” she said. “I’ve taken engineering classes before and fell in love with the concept and a different day-to-day life.”
Costa said she’ll use the scholarship money when she pursues her master’s and doctorate at Duke.
A North Carolina native, Costa said she’s excited to get back home, where she enjoys being close to both the mountains and the beach.
Her advice to current high schoolers?
“Just stay committed to anything you do,” Costa said. “I realized my senior year that a lot of the things I accomplished was because I stayed committed through the hard times and struggles.”
Alia Mercado-Lues of Ida Baker High School, wearing a Red Sox jersey, said the day was extremely exciting.
“It takes the stress off,” Mercado-Lues said of the scholarship money. “It’s a big deal. I come from a single-parent household. She also helped my sister with college, too, so this scholarship is amazing.”
Mercado-Lues said she’ll be pursuing a bachelor’s degree at the University of Southern Florida and hopefully transferring to the University of Florida where she’ll study nursing.
“I want to become an aesthetics injector — so botox and filler,” she said. “I always like helping people out. I like innovative medicines. But it brings me joy seeing people confident in themselves, so I wanted to find a mix of that. A mix of nursing and helping people find their confidence.”
Mercado-Lues said it brings her confidence being one of more than 200 applicants to receive a scholarship.
“Everybody writes a personal statement in their essay, so it makes me feel heard,” she said. “And it’s rewarding.”
The Red Sox Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official team charity of the Boston Red Sox. The foundation’s primary focus locally is in serving the health, education, recreation and social service needs of children and families across Southwest Florida.
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