UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Winning one for George.
George Heigel that is.
Heigel, the DuBois Central Catholic softball manager, took over the Lady Cardinal program in 2013 with one goal in mind, win a state title.
And his teams came so close in past years.
DCC lost in the PIAA Class 1A title game in both 2019, 5-0 to Williams Valley, and 2022, 5-1 to Montgomery.
Additionally, the Lady Cardinals fell to West Greene in semifinal games in 2016, 2017, and 2021.
It weighed on Heigel to the point that going into Thursday’s Class 1A championship game against Carmichaels, the veteran coach said it wasn’t good enough to just get to the title game, DCC needed to win one.
And win one they did.
Thanks to aggressive base running from Lexi Berta and another outstanding 15-strikeout, three-hit performance in the circle from Rylee Kulbatsky, DCC sent Heigel, who announced his retirement – long in the planning – after the game, into the sunset with the long-await, long-anticipated state championship with a 2-0 victory.
“It’s insane,” senior catcher Jessy Frank said prior to hearing about her coach’s retirement. “I have never seen that guy happier. We all just gave him a hug. I am so happy for him. He has worked his butt off. He is a great pitcher in practice. He is sweating every practice. He works as hard as us. I am so happy for him and so happy we could do that for him.”
Frank’s fellow seniors Lexi Berta and Kayley Risser concurred.
“He really puts in the work for us,” Berta said also before knowing it was Heigel’s last game.
“He does not have to be there and he is,” Risser also said before hearing of Heigel’s retirement.
For his part, Heigel was happy for his assistant coaches.
“It feels good for the coaches,” Heigel said. “I ask them to do a lot, not just during softball season. Starting in a couple of weeks (after the season ends) you get in the weight room and it just continues for 11 months until you start the season again. It’s a grind. Thank goodness I have had over the years wonderful assistants who were willing to put all the time and effort into it. I’m overjoyed. It sort of hasn’t hit me yet. It’s one of those that will take a little bit. It’s tremendous.”
