Softball
Athlete: Dustin Pedroia
Favorite team: Red Sox
Favorite memory competing in sports: When Isabel and I turned our first double play against Neshaminy.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: I went back on a fly ball and caught it, and then after I caught it, I tripped and fell on the ground!
Music on iPod: Mostly pop or rock.
Future plans: Attend Lehigh University as a math major, graduate and hopefully find a good career.
Words to live by: “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”
One goal before turning 30: Visit another country.
One thing people don’t know about me: I’m not always as calm and quiet as I seem.
By Mary Jane Souder
Tatyana Keshanech’s father has a prized photo in his office of a little league baseball all-star team. In the front row, in the middle of an entire team of boys, is a little girl with long blonde hair.
That seven-year-old girl is Tatyana Keshanech, now a senior and four-year starter for the Bensalem softball team. Baseball went out the window for the senior second baseman when the boys had a growth spurt and she didn’t.
“They had softball, but my dad wanted me to play baseball – I guess he was mad that I wasn’t a boy,” Keshanech said jokingly. “The boys started to outgrow me, and I was like, ‘All right dad, that’s enough.’
“I did pretty well, I guess, because we were younger, and there wasn’t that much of a difference between us. When I got older and right before I switched over to softball, I stopped liking baseball because the boys started getting bigger than me, and I couldn’t do as well as they did.”
Softball was not an immediate fit for Keshanech.
“It doesn’t seem that different, but it is very different,” she said. “I wasn’t used to it, so the first year I played I was awful. It kind of made me upset because I wasn’t used to being so bad.
“I didn’t want to quit – I still liked it. I just wasn’t used to being bad.”
Keshanech wasn’t bad for long. She joined the travel circuit when she was 14 with Newtown Rock and now competes with the Jersey Witches.
When it came time to play for the high school team, she was shocked to hear stories from a friend one year her senior about the program’s struggles.
“I remember her saying that the team was so bad and they lost every single game and they never had a chance,” Keshanech said. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh, okay, that’s weird.’
“I came up and we were basically all freshmen. I didn’t realize what a big deal that was.”
That young team took its lumps.
“I remember playing Pennsbury who made it to the state championship that year, and we got killed,” Keshanech said. “We got (mercy) ruled in three innings, and it was crazy.
“I thought because we all played travel that we were ready for what was coming. None of us expected what was going to happen when we played Pennsbury. Basically, that entire season it was – let’s just try and get a win against anyone. I think we had three wins that season, and that was a big deal because they hadn’t won any games in three years.”
Keshanech – described by her coach as cerebral – is not your typical softball player.
“I’m more into fielding than hitting,” she said. “Everyone wants to hit all the time, but I would rather go take ground balls.
“I spend a lot of time working on my fielding and became a pretty good fielder. I guess that’s my strong point.”
That might be an understatement. The senior second baseman went through a stretch of 30-plus games without committing an error, a span of time that included the entire season last year and extended into this year.
Her strengths, according to Schram, include her knowledge of the game and her ability to project that to the others around her.
“If you’re going to be successful, the kids have to coach themselves to a certain extent, and they have to show by example,” the Owls’ coach said. “She always knows the footwork, she always knows how to throw, she knows how to do everything.
“She knows situations. She’s kind of like a captain when it comes to someone on the field who always knows what to do with the ball. She’s just really tremendous on defense and has been big for us in situations hitting as well.”
Keshanech’s cerebral approach to the game undoubtedly got its roots in the classroom where she also excels. A member of the National Honor Society, the senior honors student is ranked sixth in her senior class and has been taking AP classes since her junior year when she enrolled in AP Calculus and AP English.
“It just so happens that everything happens for me at one time,” she said. “We were right in the middle of softball season, and both AP tests are one after another, so for a good month, I would come home from a game or practice, eat dinner as fast as I could, shower and then study until I fell asleep.
“I would do that for weeks straight. It was really stressful and tiring, and I would go to school feeling like a zombie every day. After accomplishing that, I felt really good about myself, and I was prepared to do it again this year, and I did do it again this year.
“I actually felt like I got more accomplished when I had all of that stuff going on because I was more motivated to get things done. I made sure I didn’t neglect one or the other. I always put aside time for school and softball. If that meant not hanging around friends, I would not do that.”
This fall, Keshanech will enroll at Lehigh University where she will major in math.
“I looked at engineering because I also like physics,” she said. “I might try that out, or I might try to do finance or business-related math.”
Keshanech has been involved with service projects through NHS, last year tutoring first graders once a week for two hours. This year she helped babysit children of parents who were taking ESL classes.
After playing field hockey her freshman and sophomore years, Keshanech switched to tennis for her junior and senior years, playing doubles with softball teammate Isabel Hansbury as a junior and moving up to singles this past fall.
Although softball has been a priority, Keshanech is uncertain whether it will be part of her future.
“I might try to walk on the team, or I might try to play club,” she said. “It’s hard to think of not playing.”
She is part of the group of seniors Schram called the ‘core four.’ Keshanech, Isabel Hansbury, Kelly Nolan and Jenny Campbell were instrumental in turning the program from the league’s doormat to a team that was 10-10 this season with seven wins over teams competing in the district tournament.
“They all started as freshmen, and they took over for a team that really started as a freshman varsity team,” Schram said. “They really, really took their lumps.
“Each of them had their different role in our successes over the years in our turnaround of the program.
“Tatyana, more than anything else, is the most cerebral. She’s absolutely a thinker and knows the game at a high level. She’s been the most consistent player and the most consistent kid I have. She’s been fantastic, truly a virtue on defense.
“I’ve had her for two classes in school. She’s a special kid. She’s not faking it. That’s one thing I like about her. What you see is what you get. She’s been trustworthy and reliable. Just seeing her progression in high school has been really nice.”
A player who admits she was once scared and intimidated going up against the big time programs as a freshman has grown into a confident player who knows she can more than hold her own with the best.
“To think about it – it’s crazy,” Keshanech said. “I remember Schram telling us our freshman year that teams would consider playing a jayvee team against us because we were that bad.
“This year the varsity teams were scared of us, so that was really cool.”
A straight shooter, Keshanech says what she means and means what she says.
“If you ask her opinion, she’ll tell you what she thinks,” Schram said. “She’s never been afraid to say what she thinks. She’s methodical and thoughtful.
“She’s very thoughtful in what she says. She thinks before she acts. She’s just been an asset to us and one of the bright points. I’m definitely going to miss her.”
