Who is the best Centre County girls athlete from the spring season? Vote here to decide
The spring high school sports season stretched into state playoffs for one Centre County softball team, and Bald Eagle Area’s hard-fought season was just one highlight of the season.
Now, we’re asking for your help to pick between 10 nominees for the Centre Daily Times’ Girls Athlete of the Season. Vote for your favorite, as many times as you’d like. The poll will close at noon Saturday. Look for a profile of the winner online and in print next Monday.
The nominees were selected by the CDT sports staff via stats compiled by the CDT, sent to cdtscores@centredaily.com or kandrews@centredaily.com, and by readers’ votes in the weekly polls.
Alivia Bizzarri, Philipsburg-Osceola softball
The Philipsburg-Osceola first-year pitcher tossed a no-hitter in P-O’s 11-0 victory over Huntingdon on May 2. Bizzarri went six innings, while striking out seven and walking zero batters. She was named Athlete of the Week for May 2-7 for her accomplishment.
Bizzarri stood out in P-O’s 5-4 victory over Bellefonte on April 14, when she struck out five batters, walked one, allowed one earned run and gave up eight hits.
Grace Novitsky, Bellefonte softball
Novitsky went 2-for-2 in Bellefonte’s 11-1 Opening Day victory over Penns Valley on April 4. The Bellefonte catcher went on to go 2-for-4 with two runs batted in during the Lady Raiders’ 11-4 victory over Hollidaysburg on April 7 to win the Athlete of the Week Award for April 4-9.
The sophomore backstop had a large task ahead of her to begin the year. She took over catching duties from former Bellefonte standout Maddie Tice and learned a bit from her in the process.
“I would watch Maddie a lot and I think I learned a lot from her,” Novitsky said following Bellefonte’s Opening Day victory against Penns Valley. “I think we have to fill in their roles, but we need to find ourselves as players too. ...”
Madison Perry, Bald Eagle softball
Perry was everything and more for Bald Eagle softball as a leader, both on and off the field. The senior was the best hitter on the team, batting .452/.529/.575 with an on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.105. She drove in 21 runs and scored 18 of her own.
The upperclasswoman drew 11 walks on the season, had a team-high 15 steals and led the team with 30 assists as a shortstop. She also received the Snyder Award for her work as an athlete, student and for her community service and was named as a 2022 second-team All-Mountain League selection.
“This award is very prestigious and this has been a goal of mine since my freshman year,” Perry said of winning the Snyder Award. “I started pursuing sports and competing in three different sports. It has been hard to persevere, but this award made it all pay off and I just wanted to say thank you, and I’m super grateful.”
Molly McKee, Bellefonte lacrosse
McKee is the all-time leading goal-scorer in Bellefonte girls lacrosse history. She scored her 100th career goal in a rainy home game at Rogers Stadium against Selinsgrove.
“It means a lot to me, not even personally, but for the program,” McKee said of her accomplishment. “It feels really good to show a goal for everyone to work for and that Bellefonte has something to work for.”
Kailen Winkelblech, Penns Valley softball
Winkelblech played three sports during the 2021-2022 school year — volleyball in the fall, basketball in the winter and softball in the spring. As the senior stood out in all three sports, she will take her talents to Ithaca College in New York to continue her basketball career.
“I feel like I’ve had to be a leader in softball for a while now,” Winkelblech said on April 4. “But since we have such a young team, being the person that people look up to, I think is very great. With our new coach this year, everything is kind of new. So, it’s to have to learn and balance new things to help the younger girls too.”
Katie Pase, Saint Joseph’s Catholic baseball
With the softball season being suspended before it began for Saint Joe’s, Pase became the first girl to play for Saint Joe’s baseball team in program history. She played outfield for the first time in years, having served as a catcher for the school’s softball team.
“With the girls basketball season getting canceled, it was very discouraging because it was a thought in the back of my mind that it wasn’t going to be a softball team,” Pase said on April 20. “I was also worried that I wouldn’t be able to play if there wasn’t a softball team. Then, I was happy when I realized that I could play baseball and just keep up with a sport during the season.”
Sierra Albright, Bald Eagle softball
More often than not, Albright was the most dominant pitcher in central Pennsylvania as a first-year player. She pitched 122.2 innings, carrying a 2.54 earned run average, a walks plus hits per innings pitched stat of 1.052, while striking out 191 batters, allowing 44 walks and 46 runs in 21 games.
Albright won the Centre Daily Times Athlete of the Week vote for May 23-28 when she led the Lady Eagles to a 2-1 victory on May 23 over Central Cambria in the District 6 Class 3A playoffs, allowing just two hits and one run over 10 innings while striking out 18 batters. She allowed just two hits and no runs over seven innings and struck out 18 Central batters once again May 26 in the District 6 Class 3A semifinal.
Shannon Mullin, State College track and field
Mullin won the triple jump at the 2022 PIAA Track and Field Championships with a jump of 40 feet, 8 inches. She also broke the District 6 record that Rachel Gehret set in 2006 with a 39-03.00 jump. Mullin leaped through the air with a jump of 39-11.50 to set the record on May 19 at the District 6 Class 3A championship. Mullin also won the district championship in the long jump (18-08.25). She’s set to attend Penn State in the fall.
“I actually just found out a few seconds ago,” Mullin said at the District 6 Class 3A championship. “It was very cool that I broke the record, but it feels good. I’ve gone over 39 a couple of times this season, but I’m so grateful for the support. It feels good to get that win under my belt and break a District 6 record that I had no idea about before.”
Sydney O’Donnell, State College girls lacrosse
The first-year lacrosse star had a number of weeks where she put up explosive numbers. O’Donnell had two goals in a 19-0 win over Central Dauphin East on April 5. She also had three goals, four assists, two draw controls and two caused turnovers in State College’s 11-8 victory over Hershey on April 7. O’Donnell had four goals, one assist and four draw controls April 9 in the 18-10 loss to Strath Haven.
O’Donnell had another big week during May 2-7, scoring nine goals, adding four assists and three draw controls. She had four goals, three assists and two draw controls in an 18-8 victory over Cedar Cliff on May 3 and followed up with five goals, one assist and one draw control in an 18-8 win against Lower Dauphin on May 5. O’Donnell had five goals, three assists and eight draw controls in the team’s 25-4 District 6/10 Championship win over Erie McDowell on May 24.
“I’m just really looking forward to focusing on the team — us together as one,” O’Donnell said earlier in the season. “I feel like this year, making other people look better (is my goal). It’s just to make everyone have fun and then, everyone looks good individually.”
Zia Bodnar, State College softball
Bodnar had a big year for the Lady Little Lions, pitching 127.1 innings, tossing 1,845 pitches for a 19-2 record. She had 147 strikeouts, 21 walks and a 1.26 ERA. Her pitching performance earned her the Lee Upcraft Most Outstanding Pitcher award and the Mid Penn conference Most Valuable Player Award. The standout pitcher will head to Ohio State to join its rowing program.
Following her team’s loss in the District 6 Class 6A championship, Bodnar stressed the importance of her bond with her team.
“I think everybody really just worked to improve their attitude and effort this year,” Bodnar said on May 23. “Nobody got down on themselves or on anyone else. Everybody was able to just say, ‘Hey, I got you’ or ‘I’m going to pick it up for the team.’ That worked out really well for us this year.”
This story was originally published June 20, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
