Getting Closure
KARNS CITY — For all intents and purposes, Logan Byers figured her softball career was over.
The Karns City pitcher had lost her senior season to the COVID-19 outbreak and is headed to Robert Morris University to major in biochemical engineering.
She carried a 4.38 grade point average in high school.
“There's a chance I'll play club softball in college, but I'm not sure,” Byers said. “I'll be concentrating on my education.
“Other than playing a few pick-up games this summer, that was going to be it for me and softball.”
That was before Karns City girls softball coach Mike Stitt received a call from a member of the Clarion coaching staff.
Northern District 9 programs had organized the D9 North/South Softball Challenge, pitting seniors from Johnsonburg, Elk County Catholic, St. Marys and Kane (North) against seniors from Brockway, DuBois Central, Clarion, Clearfield and Punxsutawney (South).
The all-star teams played a doubleheader Wednesday night at Heindl Memorial Field in DuBois.
“The South team needed another pitcher,” Stitt said. “They knew we had a senior pitcher in Logan and were asking if she'd be interested in playing.”
The South's other hurler was Clarion's Kait Constantino, the District 9 Player of the Year.
“We reached out to (Byers) specifically. She was one of few senior pitchers we could think of,” Challenge director Chris Shaw said.
“I was hesitant at first,” Byers admitted. “All of the other players were from way up there. It seemed strange they'd want me to play.
“Then I figured, an opportunity like this wasn't going to come around again. I just went for it.”
And she contributed to a couple of victories.The South won both games, 3-2 and 8-6. Byers played first base in the first game and pitched the entire second contest.Offensively, she contributed three singles and a walk.“I was a little rusty at first,” Byers admitted. “I hadn't played in a few months. It felt good just to get out on the field in a competitive game again.“They let me play a lot. I had plenty of at bats, got to pitch a whole game ... It was kind of a last hurrah, a bit of closure to my softball career.”Stitt said softball coaches in this area were hopeful of organizing a similar type of all-star night this season.“Once the virus hit and everything was canceled, there was just no time to get anything put together,” he said. “In future years, I'd love to see it happen.”Byers hopes it does.“There is a lot of great softball talent down this way and nobody really knows about us,” she said. “Games like this give players a chance to compete against the best, show what they've got.“I had a lot of fun that night. Our area definitely needs a night like that.”For Byers, it was a small way to salvage a portion of her senior season.“I believe we would have won District 9, gone on to win a few games in the state tournament,” she said. “I'm not saying we would have won the state championship, but we would have made an impact, for sure.”
