Souderton’s state championship softball team was recognized at halftime of Friday night’s Central Bucks West-Souderton girls’ basketball game. To view photos of the halftime festivities, please visit the Photo Gallery.
It was, in many ways, an improbable journey, but in one of the feel good stories of 2014, the Souderton softball team – after finishing third in District One AAAA play – came out of nowhere to capture the program’s first state softball title.
Six months later, that squad was reunited for a celebration at halftime of Friday night’s Souderton-Central Bucks West girls’ basketball game. The players still couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces as they reminisced during a pre-game reception in their honor.
“It’s amazing,” said Amanda Brush, a senior captain on the state championship squad who is playing softball at Merrimack. “It’s kind of indescribable.
“It’s really cool to think about. This is the first time seeing the whole team, and it just hit me – wow, I miss this team. This was a special team to play on, and it’s really cool seeing everyone together.”
The reunion was the first for the team since they parted ways at the start of the school year.
“It’s actually like family – it’s like seeing your family,” said Haley DeLany.
DeLany – one of four senior captains along with Brush, Paige Shelly and Erelle Sowers – is attending UMBC on a softball scholarship.
“It’s kind of funny because at UMBC a lot of people have won state championships,” she said. “A lot of my friends there have won state championships, so it’s like a small club at my school.”
Both DeLany and Brush acknowledged that the state title is a topic of conversation.
“I tell everybody,” she said. “I tell all my friends in college.
“It was probably the most amazing moment of my life.”
For Sowers, Friday’s celebration evoked memories of the postgame scene after the Indians’ defeated Lower Dauphin, rallying from a 2-0 first-inning deficit to earn an 8-3 win.
“It brings you back to that moment at the very end of the game where you’re being asked so many questions and being honored for everything,” the Indians’ standout pitcher said. “Tonight reminds me of when we came back to school after the game with the fire trucks and everyone was here supporting us.
“It’s actually a really cool feeling. I was really excited for tonight.”
For Shelly, who is assisting Mali Shelly with Souderton’s jayvee team, the night had a little different feel.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen Amanda and Haley, but I see the other girls at practice,” she said. “My sister (Dayna) is playing this year.
“They have a lot to work up to. It would be awesome if it could happen again.”
Shelly is attending Gwynedd Mercy University.
“It still feels great,” she said of winning the state crown. “It was a great experience.
“I have my medal hanging up in my room with all my other things from softball. It’s still kind of surreal.”
The night included the unveiling of the state championship banner in the gym.
“It was a great experience,” said coach Steph (Denlinger) Rummel. “Just getting all the girls back together and feeling that team cohesiveness – it was great being able to celebrate again.”
Rummel, herself a star player at Souderton, had a record-shattering All-American career at Kutztown University. She holds the NCAA Division II record for career home runs, but she admits there’s something special about winning a state title at her alma mater.
“It definitely has sunk in a little more than when we actually were doing it,” Rummel said. “Just being the first Souderton softball team to win a state championship –it’s just such a great accomplishment.
“Throughout the community, wherever I go, people are coming up to us and saying congratulations or ‘are you the softball coach.’ It’s great to have that community presence and support. That’s really what has struck a chord with me – how everybody has had your back and given their support.”
Friday night, the players and coaches were individually introduced to the crowd prior to the presentation of the championship plaque/trophy and the unveiling of the banner. It was yet another memory to add to their state championship file.
“You talk about the girls and the things that you did and the memories you had – like what you did before the games, the weird things we would do because we were superstitious,” Sowers said. “It’s the little things like that – that’s what we remember. We don’t really remember the winning – it was a great part of it, it was a huge part of it, but we like to remember the little things and all the girls that were there because it made us all so much closer.
“I had my own superstitions. I always had to wear a bow in my hair, my own bow because Haley would make bows. She would wear the huge bows. We would dance on the way to games on the bus. We would listen to certain songs.”
Topping the list of songs was Missy Elliott’s “We Run This,” a theme the Indians rode to the 2014 PIAA Class AAAA state title.
“A lot of people ask me – how was your senior year,” Sowers said. “It was good. They’ll say - how was graduation? I’m like – it was all right.
“We won the state title, and that’s all I really care about. That’s what I remember. I don’t care about graduation. I didn’t care about prom. I cared about the state title and the adventure we went on and that’s what I always talk about.”
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