Field Hockey, Basketball, Softball
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning our first playoff game during the 2012 district softball playoffs because we always lose in the first round.
Music on iPod: Hunter Hayes
Future plans: Graduate from Penn State with either a business or communications degree.
Words to live by: “Don’t be pushed by your problems, be led by your dreams.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
One goal before turning 30: Own my own apartment and live in New York City.
By GORDON GLANTZ
When Alex Comonitski uses descriptive words such as “love” and “great,” she is not overstating anything for drama’s sake.
She has her passions, and her passions run deep.
It is how the Univest Featured Athlete of the Week feels about sports – particularly softball, where the outgoing Wissahickon senior was a four-year varsity starter at shortstop and an all-league performer for the Trojans the last two springs.
“I always loved playing sports,” she explained. “If I didn’t love it, I would’ve never gotten involved. I played basketball and field hockey, but softball was always my No. 1.”
She inherited the love of the game from her father, John, who helped turn her into the highlight-reel defensive shortstop she became by sending grounder and popups her way.
“I always loved defense, even with field hockey and basketball,” said Comonitski, who found time to maintain a 3.4 grade-point average while taking all honors and AP classes, while also working a few days per week as a hostess at a local restaurant and interning at the Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office in Norristown. “For softball, I spent a lot of time on defense. With my dad, we would spend hours, four or five times a week. I loved it. I enjoyed every moment of it. It just made me feel more comfortable (in game situations). I felt more prepared for it.”
Like sports, Penn State is in her blood, her DNA.
The eldest of four children, Comonitski began going on family trips to State College on football weekends when she was barely old enough to walk.
“My dad is from State College,” she said. “His whole family is from that area. I have been going up there for games since I was three or four-years-old. I love it. I couldn’t see myself going anywhere else.”
Penn State became the only school she ever wanted to attend, and the only fallback for not getting into main campus as a freshman was a two-year hitch at Penn State’s Altoona campus, where the red carpet was rolled out to play softball.
When she was accepted into the main campus in State College, it was a dream fulfilled.
“Penn State was a definite,” said Comonistki. “It was the only school I applied to. The softball part of it is hard. I wanted to continue playing (softball), but I also wanted to go to Penn State. And I chose Penn State.”
She is pondering following her father’s path and attempting to walk on at Penn State – he was a final cut from the baseball team, after turning down offers from smaller schools -- but the proverbial writing might be on the wall that is the Penn State softball roster. It includes just three players from Pennsylvania and is heavy on those from perceived softball hotbeds like California and Florida.
“I’m considering walking on,” she said. “I haven’t made my decision yet. If not, I’m definitely going to be playing club (softball). I hear their club program is really strong.”
Wissahickon coach John Bilella, with a long coaching resume that includes three Philadelphia Catholic League titles, calls Comonitski “one of the best shortstops I ever coached” and adds “we had some good ones at (the former) Kennedy-Kenrick, and she is right there.”
The line “the saddest thing in life is wasted talent” from “A Bronx Tale” is surely ringing in his ears when he thinks of his standout shortstop and hand-picked team captain not taking her well-honed game to the next level.
“Her mind was made up as soon as she was accepted to main campus,” he said. “In speaking to Alex’s father, I told him that I will do anything to get her a tryout at Penn State.”
But Comonitski – a self-described master at time management who plans to begin as an undeclared major but is considering majoring in business or communications while minoring in German – knows she needs to do what is best for her.
“I want to continue playing, but I also want to have a normal college experience,” she said. “Being a college-athlete is amazing, but also being able to have that college experience is great. I talk to some Division I softball players and I get a mix. Some are miserable, because they have to do so much (extra) work, but some really enjoy it.”
She faced a similar tough choice the summer before her junior year when she was accepted into a program that allowed her to spend a month with a family in Germany, and then have that family’s student, Julia Weber, spend a month with Alex and her family in Blue Bell.
It was an agonizing decision for a teen who had known nothing different than spending her summers playing up to 10 games a weekend in travel softball for the Harleysville Thunderbirds.
“It was the hardest day, when I had to tell (coach Charlie Ball),” she said. “I was so emotional that day. I had known him for so long and had been playing for so long. It was so hard to give it up.
“But it was a chance of a lifetime. I couldn’t miss it.”
As it turned out, Comonitski made a friend for life in Weber and grew from the experience that took her far away from home for an extended period of time for the first time in her life.
“I gave up half of my travel season, which was hard, but it was so worth it,” she said.
That same maturity may be why, when Bilella named her as the captain this season, she was up to the challenge.
“I would say that for someone who isn’t ready for that role, there is definitely a lot of pressure,” said Comonitski. “Personally, for me, I was so ready for it. I really wanted to be that person the other kids look up to.”
And that is more than just lip service. It is leading by example on the field, whether that means the key play in the field to end an opponent’s rally and coming up big at the plate as the clean-up hitter (moving there after batting second as a freshman and sophomore and third, her longstanding travel team spot, last season).
She had 11 extra-base hits (7 doubles, 4 triples) and drove in 32 runs, drawing enough respect from opposing teams to earn some free passes, which she says was “pretty cool, getting intentional walks, I’m not going to lie.”
The clutch play was not lost on her coach.
“She was a playmaker and leader on game day,” said Bilella. “She was batting .420 at the conclusion of our season – with a .960 fielding percentage and many clutch hits to win games for us in the clean-up spot.”
As the page turns to a new chapter, Comonitski is ready to take on the next role -- whether it is as a student-athlete or a student fully immersed in the college experience -- with no regrets.
Along with many Wissahickon comrades, she will be one of five cousins on campus.
“It’s going to be really cool, being with my family up there,” she said. “I’m excited.
“I want to thank my parents for all they have done for me. My dad has always been there helping me with sports. Even with field hockey and basketball, he has been there helping me, with no questions asked. He was always there for me and was always a great support. And my mom (Debbie) has always been there for me, no matter what. It has been nice to have parents who have supported me along the way.”
