Published: September 12, 2009 11:46 pm      

Beavers back as POY ... again

Fort Hill pitcher, second three-time winner commits to play softball at UMBC

CUMBERLAND — Known throughout the area as one of the more dominant pitchers high school softball has seen the past three seasons, Fort Hill Head Coach Mike Bittner points to an instance where Shari Beavers wasn’t on the mound to prove how valuable she was.

“We were playing Allegany the second time, and Cierra (Miller) was throwing a heck of a game on the mound,” said Bittner. “It was close all the way through, but if it wasn’t for two plays by Shari at shortstop we probably lose. She made a diving catch on a bloop hit over her shoulder to rob one hit, and laid out again on a ball back up the middle to make another play.

“If we didn’t have Shari that day we would have been in trouble.”

Most of the time it was the other team that was in trouble when Beavers played. For that reason, along with her 0.22 earned run average and 167 strikeouts, Shari was named the 2009 Cumberland Times-News high school softball Player of the Year by the area head coaches.

The senior hurler joins Southern’s Jennifer Bosley as the only player to win three POYs. Bosley accomplished the feat four times (1999-2002). Beavers won the award last year, and shared it with Allegany’s Kelsey Smith in 2007.

She has also signed on to play for the University of Maryland-Baltimore County beginning this spring.

One of only two senior starters for the Sentinels, Beavers has been the backbone of a team that has made two straight trips to the Maryland 1A State Finals. The Sentinels won 9-4 over Colonel Richardson in 2008, and fell to Pocomoke 2-0 this past May.

“When I took over three seasons ago it was basically Shari and then the rest of the team,” said Bittner. “That’s not a knock at them, because that team really put it together at the end of the season and had really good girls on it, but when people thought about Fort Hill over the past couple of seasons they thought about Shari. She’d be the first to tell you that we were more than that, but she was the one everyone knew.”

Bittner added, “She was a leader to the girls on the team, on the field and off. This group didn’t really need a whole lot of leadership, but when it did she was there. Shari was the one coming into the weight room to help the younger players, and signed up for the weightlifting class just to get stronger.”

In case her legacy wasn’t cemented enough in Sentinels lore, Beavers punched her name into the record book twice during the 2009 season.

It took her just two batters to tie Reed on the school’s all-time strikeout list. She entered the season at 314, and matched Reed’s record of 316 after fanning the first two batters she faced. Not wanting to make it easy for the next girl that comes along, Beavers pushed the record all the way to 481 before it was over.

While many people would think that the other record would also involve Beavers and the pitching mound, it’s actually the overlooked part of her game where she set a new state record.

“Shari now owns the state record for triples in a career. She finished with 20 triples in her four-year career,” said Bittner. “That shows you her combination of speed and power. That’s a lot of triples in four years.”

Bittner said Beavers was capable of anything at the plate.

“I thinks she could do everything with a bat. If we wanted her to turn around and bat left-handed she could. She was a student of the game, and a very intelligent hitter as well as player.”

She batted .514 as a senior, and reached base 54-percent of the time. She had a total of 38 hits with 10 doubles, eight triples and three home runs. She also stole 10 bases to go along with 32 runs batted in and 29 runs scored.

All of that complimented the 13-2 record and 15.5 strikeouts per nine innings.

The defensive side of the game may also have gone overlooked with Beavers, that may not be the case next season.

After committing to play for the Golden Retrievers of UMBC, Beavers should be seeing more time at the shortstop position.

“Shari could play about anywhere on the field, and is the type of player that would play anywhere if it was best for the team,” said Bittner. “I think they are looking to start her out at shortstop, but they are also looking at her as a pitcher.”

Retrievers Head Coach Joe French calls Beavers “a combo player with an outstanding arm and line drive power. She can hit to all fields, is a good base runner and is very athletic.”

One of the true callings of a great player is when she teaches her coach.

“She’s helped me out in a lot of areas over the past three years,” said Bittner. “She made me a better coach, and at times has acted much like a coach herself.

“Not many people have done what she’s done with winning a player of the year three times,” Bittner added. “I’m not sure how you replace that.”

Chris Appel is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. Contact Chris Appel at cappel@times-news.com.