High school softball player pitches perfect game
There's a perfect game, and then there's what high school softball pitcher Shannon Becker did. She pitched a more than perfect game by striking out every single batter she faced.
"A perfect game just means that nobody got on base," her dad Bob Becker told CBS station WCBS-TV. "A perfect perfect game is you struck out everybody. Nobody successfully put the ball into play."
His daughter, a sophomore at Mahopac High School in New York, shocked her team and their fans during a game against their rivals. Shannon struck out all 21 batters on Carmel's team – resulting in an 8-0 win.
Many believe it's the first perfect perfect game in the history of New York high school softball, WCBS-TV reports.
"It felt amazing. It was a really cool feeling," Shannon said. The teen started playing the sport when she was young and comes from a long line of softball and baseball players. She plays other sports, but softball is her passion – and it's obvious why. She can throw a fastball more than 60 mph.
"A 64 mph fastball in softball is equivalent to like 93-94 [mph] baseball fastball," she said.
While spectators get to sit back and watch the impressive pitch, Shannon's best friend, Michelle Dellamura, has to catch it. The catcher said Shannon's pitches are often painful. "She pitches really hard, but she's a really good teammate," Michelle said. "If we're down, she's the one who picks us all up, like, honestly, she is."
"She's just overall such a happy person," teammate Alexis MacIndoe said. "She's always singing or dancing, always keeping us entertained."
Her dad thinks his all-star daughter is too humble. "Sometimes I wish she would actually say she's good," he said. "If you ask her, 'Are you a good player?' She'll say, 'I'm OK.'" But the teen has quite the record: 634 career strikeouts.
The straight-A student told WCBS what motivates her. "I love coming back from failure because in a game you fail more than you succeed," she said. "And I think it's really cool to overcome your failures and just compete because you can always do something better."
Colleges started reaching out to Shannon when she was in sixth grade. The 16-year-old dreams of playing professionally, but if that doesn't work out, she hopes to still have a career in sports, as a reporter.
