When the adversity hit, that's when BEA showed its heart
Kim Leasure - Lock Haven Express
Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: Sports
Nobody had a good feeling about it.
Not Megan Shaw. Not Dave Breon.
Certainly nobody in the press area did.
Brandywine Heights, battling to preserve an undefeated season, had just loaded up the bases in the bottom of the fifth with only one out in the books.
Shaw, Bald Eagle's ace pitcher, had struck out one batter, but two unnerving errors by the Lady Eagles helped juice the bases.
It wasn't a typical situation.
Then again, it wasn't a typical game.
Battling for the PIAA state championship for the second time in consecutive years, BEA had a choice to make.
Give in, or buckle down.
The Lady Eagles chose to win.
They hit the toughness switch, pushed down on the throttle and went full speed to overcome adversity.
That's why they are the best Double-A softball team in the state today.
"Megan is a fabulous pitcher. She hits her spots, and she was doing a great job," senior Meghan Granite said. "We practiced for challenges like that every day because going to states, you have to be ready. There is going to be better pitching and very good hitting. You have to relax and get through it. You have to battle and make it work. You have to make the routine plays and play an errorless game. If you do that, you'll win.
"This is what we've worked so hard for since October. We have just been battling and working so hard through the winter, and it all paid off in the end. Going from last year, we wanted it so bad this time. We worked so hard and finally took it home."
It's impressive when a group of people can pull together and make some magic happen.
BEA was faced with the impossibly tough challenge of preventing an undefeated team from scoring.
But the Centre County team did.
And quite frankly, it was great to watch.
"We just went out and played defense like we always play defense," Shaw said.
"I'm never worried with the girls behind me because I know they will play well. I knew we would be OK. I just needed to throw my pitches and hit my spots."
Not Megan Shaw. Not Dave Breon.
Certainly nobody in the press area did.
Brandywine Heights, battling to preserve an undefeated season, had just loaded up the bases in the bottom of the fifth with only one out in the books.
Shaw, Bald Eagle's ace pitcher, had struck out one batter, but two unnerving errors by the Lady Eagles helped juice the bases.
It wasn't a typical situation.
Then again, it wasn't a typical game.
Battling for the PIAA state championship for the second time in consecutive years, BEA had a choice to make.
Give in, or buckle down.
The Lady Eagles chose to win.
They hit the toughness switch, pushed down on the throttle and went full speed to overcome adversity.
That's why they are the best Double-A softball team in the state today.
"Megan is a fabulous pitcher. She hits her spots, and she was doing a great job," senior Meghan Granite said. "We practiced for challenges like that every day because going to states, you have to be ready. There is going to be better pitching and very good hitting. You have to relax and get through it. You have to battle and make it work. You have to make the routine plays and play an errorless game. If you do that, you'll win.
"This is what we've worked so hard for since October. We have just been battling and working so hard through the winter, and it all paid off in the end. Going from last year, we wanted it so bad this time. We worked so hard and finally took it home."
It's impressive when a group of people can pull together and make some magic happen.
BEA was faced with the impossibly tough challenge of preventing an undefeated team from scoring.
But the Centre County team did.
And quite frankly, it was great to watch.
"We just went out and played defense like we always play defense," Shaw said.
"I'm never worried with the girls behind me because I know they will play well. I knew we would be OK. I just needed to throw my pitches and hit my spots."
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