Softball
Favorite athlete: Dwayne Wade
Favorite team: Boston Red Sox
Favorite memory competing in sports: The Dock Senior Night game was the best night all of the seniors could have asked for and most definitely one of my fondest memories.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Shrieking screams during and after a play because I get so excited over it.
Music on iPod: Anything with a good beat.
Future plans: Becoming a Physician’s Assistant specializing in developmental behavioral mental health.
Words to live by: “I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.” –Mia Hamm
One goal before turning 30: Have my career established and be an independent woman.
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m a vegan (if you disregard the days I cannot say no to ice cream)
By Mary Jane Souder
Haley DeLany is an accomplished softball player.
The Souderton senior has turned her talents into a scholarship to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, to play the sport she loves at the Division One level, but DeLany is not defined by her excellence on the diamond.
Far from it.
Softball is just one facet of the Souderton senior’s full life. She chose UMBC, an honors college, as much for its academic excellence as for its softball, and the opportunities afforded DeLany by going to school in the city trumped what she could have received at any of the other highly regarded academic institutions vying for her talents.
A gifted student, DeLany has a course load that includes numerous AP classes. She is involved in school clubs and activities but still finds time to volunteer her time to Grand View Hospital and Firely House, a home in Harleysville for children and families in need. She owns a Labrador Retriever that is a certified therapy dog, and she is more than happy to share her enjoyment of animals with others.
DeLany, an only child, laughs as she speaks affectionately about her six siblings – her two dogs and four cats.
“I love animals,” she said. “I just think they’re unconditional.”
There was a time when – as a youngster – DeLany admits she aspired to become a dancer. In truth, it’s not such a far-fetched aspiration for the Souderton senior, who began taking dancing lessons when she was three and continued into her sophomore year.
“I guess dance was a good way to express myself because I’m an expressive person,” DeLany said. “I still go to Zumba classes because I don’t want to give it up because I love to dance so much.”
In recent years, DeLany has devoted the time she once gave to dance to another passion - softball. It’s a sport she admits she may have fallen into by default.
“I probably tried every sport possible,” she said. “But I wasn’t a real runner, so I think that eliminated most activities.”
As she was growing up, DeLany devoted her time to dance, softball and basketball with dance occupying the majority of her spare time.
“I was in competitions,” she said. “I did ballet, modern, tap and hip hop. I liked it a lot.”
She must have.
At one point, DeLany, who danced with a local studio, was taking seven lessons a week, spending as much as seven, eight or nine hours weekly on dance and going directly from softball or basketball to dance lessons.
“I was young and athletic back then, so I could do it,” she said. “Now, I’m not sure I have it in me, but those were the good days.
“It was hard to give that up when softball took over. I think people who play would know – softball is like a lifestyle. When I commit to something, I want to pursue it and put my whole heart into it. I felt like I wasn’t giving dance enough of that. Even though dance is fun, I think a team sport was good for me to learn and grow as a person as well.”
DeLany played for a select softball team in third grade and joined the travel circuit in fourth grade. She has played her entire travel career with the Thunderbirds, and by the time she was in eighth grade, softball had become a priority.
“I had always played with the older girls, and all my friends were already in high school playing at the varsity level,” DeLany said. “I really didn’t know what I was in for. High school softball is such a big jump, and I think that’s when it hits you how much of a commitment and how much of a difference it is.”
As a freshman, DeLany found herself in the varsity lineup as a designated player. A year later, she started at first base and has been a fixture there ever since. She made a name for herself at a position that is often overlooked.
“My sophomore year I gave up pitching and said ‘I’m going to play first,’” she said. “I really didn’t like pitching.
“A lot of people said, ‘No one’s going to want you. You play first base – you’re not versatile.’ I worked off that and wanted to prove them wrong. I wanted it to be – ‘You can’t say no when you see me play. I can make an impact even if you don’t think my position is important.’ That kind of motivated me, and my parents – I just wanted to make them proud.”
DeLany has done just that, becoming one of the very best at her position and attracting interest from more than a few colleges for her prowess in the field and at the plate.
“She’s a power hitter and she hits the gaps,” coach Steph Rummel said of her clean-up batter. “She hits line drives.
“She’s always working to get better and always wants to win. She has that drive that some athletes don’t have.”
One of four senior captains, DeLany is a vocal leader on this year’s SOL Continental Conference championship squad that is just one win away from earning a trip to the state title game.
“When she was a sophomore, she definitely looked up to the juniors and seniors for guidance, but now she has stepped into her own person as a player and has really become a good leader throughout the years,” Rummel said. “She’s very verbal, and she gets the girls up. She’s always cheering, always talking, and she communicates on the field. The kids respect her.
“She has done a great job leading our program to where we’ve gotten.”
DeLany takes that same drive into the classroom where she also excels.
“She works hard in the classroom,” Rummel said. “She strives to get straight A’s. She expects perfection out of herself.
“She’s always studying, always trying to achieve the highest level in the classroom.”
In addition, DeLany is involved in Student Council, SAVE (Students Against Violating the Earth) and the Partners Program, which works with Learning Support Students. She also is a member of the Principal-Student Advisory.
Next year, she plans to pursue a psychology and biology major with her sights set on a career in the medical field.
“I’m thinking of being a PA (Physician’s Assistant) and maybe specializing in psychotherapy or OT, something along those lines,” DeLany said.
She chose UMBC from a final list that included Monmouth, Gettysburg, Marist and Drexel.
“Academically, it was really hard to find the right college,” DeLany said. “I was actually between D-1 and D-3 for that reason. I narrowed it down to academics.
“Gettysburg was a great college. I’m really into liberal studies, but you can’t pass up an opportunity like UMBC. There I’ll be able to grow as a student-athlete. I have a lot of passions I want to pursue because I want to do more than just play a sport, and I want to give back.”
For now, DeLany is enjoying every minute of a memorable final high school season.
“This year has honestly been amazing,” she said. “I couldn’t thank Steph (Rummel) enough. She really showed us what true leadership is, and I think that’s why we’ve had such a successful year because the seniors kind of worked off of her and saw that she can take something that is so bleak and incomprehensible, and she can turn the situation around and she’ll be there for us.
“We’re like, ‘She’s there for us. She’s giving us this opportunity, so let’s act on it. We can do this.’ It’s an amazing opportunity.”
