SuburbanOneSports.com recognizes a male and female featured athlete each week. The awards, sponsored by Univest, are given to seniors of good character who are students in good standing that have made significant contributions to their teams. Selections are based on nominations received from coaches, athletic directors and administrators.
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Female Athlete (Week of April 2, 2014)
Daria Edwards is a fearless competitor on the softball diamond. It’s just one of the reasons, according to coach Joe DiFilippo, the Hatboro-Horsham senior is such a standout third baseman. “When she plays third, she plays right on top of the batter,” the Hatters’ coach said. “She’s in charge of my infield, she’s in charge of my team. How Daria goes is how this team will go.” That’s high praise for an athlete who, by her own admission, was anything but fearless during her first stint at third base when she was 14. “I used to wear a facemask because I used to be scared to death of the ball being so close,” Edwards said. “When I played for my dad, he stuck me there and said, ‘You’re going to do fine. You can’t fear the ball. You’ll get over it.’ he was right – I did get over it. I probably wore it for a month or two before I realized – I probably look silly.’” Edwards has gone on to become one of the area’s premiere softball players, and she has signed a letter of intent to play softball at Towson University.
But softball is just the tip of the iceberg for a young lady who is the very definition of a student-athlete. An excellent student, Edwards aspires to one day become a doctor. “I know it’s a lot of work,” she said. “My mom’s a nurse, my grandmother’s a nurse, and my aunt’s a nurse, so the medical field kind of runs in our family. My mom doesn’t want me to settle for being a nurse. She said, ‘Shoot for the stars.’ It’s something I think I would really enjoy doing.”
Edwards caught the eye of DiFilippo as a freshman, and it wasn’t long before she was pulled up to the varsity for a squad that went on to capture the state title. “I had her on jayvee first, and every game she played – the girls would come up to me and say, ‘Daria hit another home run,’” DiFilippo said. “After three or four games, I had to bring her up.” After contributing in a pinch hitting role as a freshman, Edwards has been a fixture in the varsity lineup since she was a sophomore. Edwards is described by her coach as ‘the complete package.’ “When she first came in as a sophomore, she was our catcher, and she was an all-league catcher,” DiFilippo said. “Her junior year she asked if she could have a crack at playing the infield, so we moved her to shortstop, and she was an all-league shortstop. She plays anywhere I put her.” Edwards was named the lone captain of this year’s young and inexperienced squad. “I have had some pretty nice kids, but nobody compares to her,” DiFilippo said. “When will I ever get another one like Daria where I put her at third, short, catch or second? I can tell her to play anywhere. You just don’t get that.”
To read Edwards’ complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/female/daria-edwards-0042901
Univest’s SuburbanOneSports.com Featured Male Athlete (Week of April 2, 2014)
It was the third game of the season when lightning – literally and figuratively – struck for the Central Bucks West football team and senior quarterback John Fitz. After a season-opening loss to Upper Dublin and a tight win over William Tennent, the Bucks found themselves in a dogfight with a Wissahickon team that had beaten them a year earlier on a field goal in double overtime. Lightning prompted a delay of one hour and 45 minutes before the opening kickoff. The Bucks found themselves down 28-14 in the second half, and although it was only week three, it seemed the season hung in the balance. With leading rusher Marvin Todd injured, someone needed to step up. Enter Fitz. “We said, ‘John, you need to be the guy,’” coach Brian Hensel said. “In that game, he was the guy.” Fitz engineered two long scoring drives, including a 60-yard touchdown run, while at one point running a quarterback draw on five out of seven plays and carrying any tacklers he couldn’t elude. The Bucks went on to earn a 31-28 win and posted seven straight wins behind Fitz, who led the Bucks to a 9-3 mark and two games into the postseason. Fitz threw for close to 1,500 yards and 16 touchdowns while running for another 655 yards and five scores. He was named all-league for his efforts. Impressive accomplishments for a player whose first commitment is baseball and who had to win the starting job in camp.
Fitz will attend Lehigh University to play baseball and major in business, breaking a family tradition. His great-grandfather, grandfather and father all played collegiate football and became chemical engineers. Ditto his brother Matt, who was a receiver/running back at Lehigh and now works as a chemical engineer in the Scranton area. “He wants to do his own thing, to blaze his own trail, and I admire him for that,” said Matt. According to his high school baseball coach, he has all the right ‘stuff’ as a pitcher and person to have continued success in college. “He was our best pitcher last year,” coach Jim Ertel said. “He throws hard enough to pitch at the Division One level.”
Although his future is in baseball, Fitz left his mark on the gridiron for more reasons than one. “John was an exceptional player and team leader for the CB West football program,” said Hensel. “His quiet demeanor was a stark contrast to his relentless competitiveness and leadership on the field. He never was in a panic and always believed in himself and in the talents of those surrounding him. He displayed remarkable courage, even when the situation seemed too much to overcome.”
To view Fitz’s complete profile, please click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/featured-athletes/male/john-fitz-0042900
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