On Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014, Pennridge senior Natalie Babik was recognized for committing to play softball at Penn State-Berks. To view photos of the signing event, please visit the Photo Gallery.
Natalie Babik – Penn State-Berks (Softball)
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Final list of colleges: Penn State-Berks, Pitt-Bradford
Reasons for choosing Penn State-Berks: “Penn State has always had a special place in my heart. It’s about 
five hours away, and Penn State-Berks is about an hour and 15, so it’s a lot closer to home. They’re really family oriented, so I chose Penn State-Berks.
“I’m going to be majoring in mechanical engineering, and hopefully after two years, I’ll go to main (campus), and I’m going to do a sub-field in aeronautical.”
What was the progression that led you to playing collegiate softball? “I started to really think about it freshman year. It was kind of a major goal for me, but then I kind of strayed away from it until I started playing for the Belles 18U team. Then I really started to push for it and wanted to play in college. It really opened up my options.
“The process was really stressful. It was really stressful going out and telling coaches to come watch you play and having the stress to do good. After that meeting and they come talk to you and say ‘we want you for our school,’ it’s an amazing feeling. All that hard work pays off.
“It’s a really nice feeling knowing where you’re going to go because now I don’t have to stress about my season – I have all of that out of the way. I can just enjoy my senior year and the season.”
Coach Paul Koehler says: “Her sophomore year she was named captain of her jayvee team and really matured and got better and better. Last year, she played a role for us as one of our extra outfielders because we had three seniors playing the outfield. This year she’s going to be the captain of the grass. She’ll be in charge. We’re going to have inexperience on either side of her, so it’s really going to be up to her to kind of run the field for us. She’s excited about the opportunity, and we’re looking forward to it.
“She just loves the game, she loves to play, and when kids go to college, the first barrier they encounter is the fact that they’re not starting, that they’re no longer the draw player. Natalie has already lived that, and she understands that. She’s going to play softball because she loves to play softball. Those are the kids in college that end up playing and doing well because they love the game. They’re not going there because they’re getting a lot of money, they’re not going there for all the accolades. They’re going there because they love to play, and it’s a good opportunity to play.”
About Natalie:
Favorite food: Animal Crackers
Favorite movie: Tarzan
Favorite music: Urban
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