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Champion grad Beavers reflects on state crown
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Next month will mark 16 years since Jackie Beavers pitched a 5-0 win over LaGrange Keystone in Ashland to give Champion a Div. II softball championship.
By JOHN BASSETTI
CHAMPION
Next month will mark 16 years since Jackie Beavers pitched a 5-0 win over LaGrange Keystone in Ashland to give Champion a Div. II softball championship.
“I just remember winning and wanting it so bad,” Beavers said recently in reflecting on the day in June 1994.
“I knew before we stepped on the field that we were going to win the game,” said Beavers, now 33. “I think confidence is half the battle.
“That’s how it was that day; we were 99 percent sure that we were going to win. There’s always 1 percent that something might happen, but, yes, we were pretty confident.”
The Golden Flashes finished 29-2 for Coach Gene Cheredar and Beavers, then a junior, pitched again the following spring when Champion fell short of a repeat after losing a regional championship game to Tallmadge, 2-0.
Beavers graduated in 1995 and went to the University of Tennessee as a member of the Vols’ first recruiting class for softball.
“We had seven freshmen and seven junior college transfers,” Beavers said of her first year. “We weren’t in the Southeastern Conference the first year. We were independent and, basically, like a traveling team playing all over the country.”
Beavers played for Coach Jim Beitia.
She played five years in Knoxville, although she redshirted her junior year due to a torn ACL.
Beavers graduated in 1999, but didn’t finish playing until the spring of 2000.
Her injury came during Tennessee’s first tournament of the season in February 1998, after playing just three games.
“I had over 20 wins every season,” Beavers said. “I did what I went there to do. I loved it. If I had to do it all over again, I’d choose Tennessee again. It was an amazing school and an amazing experience.”
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was slightly older than Beavers, but she knew the standout player because the football and softball teams used to practice in the same indoor facility.
In 1999, Tennessee won the SEC’s eastern division crown and qualified for the NCAA regional in Washington State.
“My best years were my freshman season and 1999,” said Beavers, who considered her second year a sophomore slump.
“I didn’t pitch as well as I would have liked. I wasn’t as sharp that year. Although it wasn’t much of slump, for me it was.”
She was twice chosen team MVP.
Beavers noted the evolution of her pitching.
“In high school, I threw more riser, but in college I threw more drop balls. I think I learned how to become more of a pitcher instead of a thrower,” Beavers said. “In college, you’re not going to overpower everyone because they can hit fast pitching. It’s being able to throw hard with movement.”
After receiving her degree in psychology, Beavers became an assistant coach at the University of Buffalo.
“A friend I played traveling softball with was an assistant there and she asked if I wanted to be the pitching coach. It was an opportunity to get closer to home and stay involved in softball. I jumped on it and obviously enjoyed it because I was there 8 years.”
During that time, Beavers received a master’s in education.
“It was something I felt I needed to do just in case I decided to go into teaching and coaching softball. But there weren’t too many job openings in the field.”
In 2009, Beavers was out of coaching, but still connected to the sport via private lessons.
Now she’s at Western Michigan to tackle a master’s in occupational therapy.
“My background in psychology makes it a good fit. I’m a people person and I’m anxious to venture into it. That’s why I’m going into occupational therapy.”
The curriculum at Western, starting in September, is a two-year program.
While in Buffalo, Beavers returned home once every two months.
“She was a great pitcher and a great kid,” Cheredar said.
Although Jackie was the dominate pitcher, she shared time on the mound with Jennifer Dann. When Dann pitched, Beavers played shortstop.
Cheredar said he noticed Beavers before high school.
“I usually try to watch those who are moving up and she was definitely a very good pitcher,” he said.
Her twin sister, Jessica, played right field on the state title team.
Jessica is now working as a dental assistant in Tallmadge.
They graduated together in 1995, after Jackie threw a three-hitter when Champion out-hit Tallmadge, yet lost in the regional.
Jackie said she thinks about the 1994 state championship game when reconnecting with some of her old teammates via Facebook.
“It definitely puts a smile on my face.”