Player of the Year: Mahopac Senior Shannon Becker Goes Out on Top of World
Nobody Becker!
Player of the Year: Mahopac senior Pitcher – Shannon Becker
Player File:
- 5 Varsity Seasons (minus COVID 2020)
- 2X NYS Gatorade Player of the Year
- 4X All-Section
- 2021 Season; 0.00 ERA, 19-1, 139 IP, 286 K’s, 29 hits allowed, 19 BB, 18 shutouts, .470 BA, 17 RBI
- Career Numbers; 57-21 (16 of those losses as 8th-9th grader), 0.47 ERA, 1,041 K’s, 545 IP, .433 BA, 104 hits, 51 RBI, 60 runs
Coach’s Quote:
Watching Shan grow from an eighth-grader with 101 questions and so unaware of her talent, to this dominant, iconic pitcher has been amazing… from start to finish. The entire ride has been a terrific experience. Watching her continuously break records and win award after award has me at a loss for words each time, yet every year she would light it on fire even more than before. She is everything you could want in a student athlete and a recruit, and I know her next home will appreciate her just as much as we did. The fact that she was able to close out her career as a section one champ, something we have both been tirelessly working toward since we both came on board together, means the world. All her work, dedication, drive and love for the game has paid off tremendously. I can’t wait to see that kid tear up Notre Dame next year. My next stop is South Bend.
— Mahopac Coach Cristina Giansante
An athlete like Shannon Becker comes around once in a lifetime. She epitomizes everything we are looking for in our student athletes at Mahopac. Plus, she is the most humble and greatest teammate ever.
— Former Mahopac AD/Coach Frank Miele
Final Note:
With 11 career no-hitters, two ‘perfect’-perfect games, 43 shutouts and 17 one-hitters, the Notre Dame-bound Becker will go down in history as Mahopac’s premier talent in the circle and one of its strongest hitters after leading the Indians (19-1) to their first Section 1 Class AA championship. Even without her junior year factored in due to COVID and the subsequent cancellation of the 2020 season, Becker’s career numbers could stand the test of time. If COVID hadn’t hit, Becker would have landed among the top two in NYS for career strikeouts. Had she played her junior season, Becker’s career numbers might be unapproachable. She did all this while playing three sports (hoops, soccer) and maintaining an A-average. Longtime Mahopac AD, coach and administrator Frank Miele called Becker “the epitome of a Mahopac student athlete”, and it would be hard to find anyone in the district to disagree.
Others Strongly Considered:
Lakeland junior P Stella Bale; Yorktown junior P Maya Servedio; White Plains junior SS Alexa Galligani
By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays
Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.
Visit Ray’s author bio page for more details. Also read Ray’s archived work here and his Direct Rays column here.
