Drury's Bishop, McCann Tech's Buda Earn Weekly Honors
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A pair of senior backstops helped propel their teams forward this spring and earn this week's iBerkshires.com/Southwestern Vermont Health Care Athlete of the Week honors.
McCann Tech coach Justin Howland calls Austin Buda his team's most valuable player.
And it is not just because Buda hit a team-best .387 and led the Hornets with 21 RBIs in 21 games this spring.
It also is for defensive performances like the one Buda put up last Tuesday in leading McCann Tech to the program's first ever Western Massachusetts title.
The Hornets' catcher threw out two runners on the basepaths in the same inning and somehow held the plate with his toe while stretching to his right to catch a throw from short for a forceout in an eventual 3-2 McCann Tech win.
McCann Tech pitcher Dylan Turner talked about Buda's presence behind the plate after the win.
"I trust him completely," Turner said. "He has never led me astray before."
Drury senior Brooke Bishop has been a force for the Blue Devils for five years, going back to the 12 hits and two home runs she collected in the COVID-shortened 2021 campaign.
This spring, she is hitting .655 with seven round-trippers and 46 RBIs for a Drury team that is still alive in the Division 5 State Tournament.
Bishop has been a three-season standout for Drury, starting in goal for the girls soccer team and captaining a basketball team that went to the state quarter-finals this winter.
On Friday, she played in -- and won -- likely her last home game in a Drury uniform in softball, the sport she will pursue at the next level at Division II St. Michael's College in Vermont.
Bishop likely spoke for a lot of senior student-athletes when she reflected on the experience.
"It's sad in that it's the end of everything, but it's the beginning of a new chapter for seniors, and it's gonna be huge for the next part of our lives," Bishop said.
The iBerkshires.com Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Southwestern Vermont Health Care.