Softball
Favorite athlete: Shane Victorino
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: When our softball team made playoffs in 2010 and placed fifth in the state.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: When I dove for a ground ball on wet dirt and stopped dead in my tracks. I missed the ball, and in the process, my feet flew over my head and touched the ground in front of me.
Music on iPod: Country
Future plans: Play softball, graduate from college with a Nursing degree and get a city job in Philadelphia
Words to live by: “Face each day with the expectation of achieving good, rather than the dread of falling short.”
One goal before turning 30: Buy my own house.
One thing people don’t know about me: I love going on mission trips to help those in need.
By Mary Jane Souder
Sarah Derstine doesn’t have to a say whole lot to make an impact.
The Souderton senior, according to her coaches, has been a leader from the moment she stepped onto the softball field as a freshman.
“From the time I met her as a freshman, I knew that she was special,” former Souderton coach Courtney Hughes said. “At that time, she was still playing basketball. She would come to our offseason workouts after her basketball practices or games and work her tail off while she was there.
“I was so in awe of this kid and the intensity she brought. It was my first year (as head coach), and I was just so excited to see someone that really was excited to grow and get better.
“She always brought intensity and this hard work ethic. She was one of the best players as a freshman, and she’s continued to get better every year. She never allowed herself to stay stagnant.”
Coach Steph Rummel echoed similar sentiments.
“Sarah is one of those role models that shows you through her actions,” she said. “She’s not bossy, she’s not anything like that. She’s just a very good role model.
“People look at her actions, they look at how she plays and the attitude she brings to the field – she’s just an overall great leader.”
Derstine has been a fixture in the Indians’ starting lineup since she was a freshman, playing left field in ninth grade and then moving to shortstop as a sophomore. She’s anchored the infield from that position ever since.
“Her sophomore year we were trying her at second and short, and she was just so smooth at short, which is why she won out playing there,” Hughes said. “You could put her anywhere on the field, and she would look smooth and do a good job there.
“She is a very strong player, both in her mental strength and her physical strength.”
A standout defensive player, Derstine is also a superb hitter, boasting a batting average of over .500 this season.
“She just goes on these crazy tears,” Hughes said. “She goes through slumps, but she has that ability to refocus herself, which I haven’t seen in a lot of people, and she’ll get herself right back where she needs to be.
“She doesn’t let things bother her. Her leadership skills have been evident from the very beginning, and that’s a major strength. You don’t see kids that just get that leadership. She never stops trying to get better, and kids don’t always do that.”
“She works hard every single day,” Rummel added, “and she knows how to get the team up. She digs deep to find ways to win. The majority of the time if there’s an opportunity for her to come up clutch, she’ll pull through.”
Derstine has had a love affair with softball since she was a youngster. She began playing travel softball for the Harleysville Thunderbirds when she was 12 and has continued with that squad to the present time. She also played basketball and soccer but gave both of those up her junior year to focus on softball.
“I just loved softball right away,” Derstine said. “I liked the other sports as well, but softball somehow always clicked and felt natural to me so I just kept going with that.”
She admits that starting for the varsity as a freshman was intimidating.
“But it was thrilling at the same time to be able to show what I could do at such a young age,” Derstine said. “I really enjoyed it.
“It was always one of my goals to make varsity as a freshman, so it felt really good.”
As a sophomore, Derstine was an integral part of the Indians’ magical postseason run that saw her team advance to the state quarterfinals.
“Liz Parkins was a huge leader that year,” Derstine said of the now Shippensburg standout. “She taught me a lot about leadership out on the field – just having fun – and also the passion that comes along with playing. Liz was very calm, cool and collected, but at the same time, she was so intense. She was one of the most intense people and just seeing how she controlled herself was so special.
“It was just a great experience all around, just to have that experience and the intensity of making playoffs and then going to states. We were the underdog, and it was unexpected.”
The word intensity comes up frequently in conversations with both Derstine and her former coach, and both admit they have the same mindset. While it was difficult for her to see Hughes step down recently, Derstine’s number one concern is keeping the team together.
“We all things differently,” Derstine said. “We all have different things that motivate. For me, I will sincerely miss coach Hughes. She was a huge role model, and she made me the player I am. I’m happy that coach Rummel stepped up and is leading the team now, but it’s just difficult her leaving in the middle of the season.
“I’m constantly thinking of what she taught me, and I’m keeping that in my mind and how she wants me to be a leader and be an example. She’s just an amazing coach and has so much to offer. I feel bad for the players that will never be able to be coached by her, but she’s still there for all of us, even though she’s not there physically.
Just as she excels on the softball diamond, Derstine, who is a member of National Honor Society, also excels in the classroom.
“That’s always been my number one priority,” she said.
This fall Derstine, the recipient of a softball scholarship, will attend West Chester University where she will major in nursing, an interest that was fostered during mission trips with her church to both the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
“I’ve worked with children, and I’ve seen the devastation around the world, and that’s tugged on my heart and pushed me towards a nursing career,” she said. “This past year when I went to Haiti was kind of when it put my life in perspective.
“That’s pretty much when it hit me, and I knew I wanted to be able to help others and work with people as a career. I’m hoping to one day go back and help out that way.”
Derstine is getting a jump on her education in the medical field. She is one of just 12 students selected to participate in a class called Allied Health that is offered through North Montco Technical Career Center. The class is held at Lansdale Hospital every day from 7:30-9 p.m. Most of the learning is done in the classroom setting, but for two days every two weeks, the students go on clinicals, shadowing professionals while also getting hands-on experience taking vital signs.
“It has really taught me a lot about the ins and outs of health care by getting that experience at such a young age,” Derstine said.
Derstine, according to Rummel, represents everything that is right about today’s student-athletes.
“She’s a very balanced person, and she knows how to handle the good with the bad and how to turn the bad into good,” the Indians’ coach said. “She’s just been great. She’s a great leader, and I can’t really say enough about her.”
