PITTSBURGH, Pa. (EYT/D9) — It was a shocking request, but one that Lauren McNany wasn’t about to turn down.
The A-C Valley graduate had never caught in a game before, but here she was as a junior in 2019 during the final doubleheader of the regular season as the Westminster College softball team’s only hope to crouch behind the plate in a must-win game.
“Our catcher got hurt and we kind of had no other options, and I had never done it before,” McNany said. “My coach was like, ‘You are my best option right now.’ I told her, ‘Well, you know, I’ll give you my all.’”
(Photo courtesy of Chatham University)
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McNany called her younger sister, Cami, who was a catcher, and asked for a quick course in Catching 101.
“She just told me to frame the ball the best I could,” Lauren McNany said, chuckling, “don’t let anything get by you and help out the pitcher the best you can.”
Lauren McNany then strapped on the gear and helped the Titans to a win, going 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and handling the catching duties admirably as Westminster secured a playoff spot.
Her willingness to do anything she could to help the team foreshadowed her future, which after large parts of two seasons lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, culminated with two standout campaigns at Chatham University.
With her eligibility finally gone after six collegiate years in uniform, McNany will still be in the dugout this spring as an assistant softball coach with the Cougars.
“It wasn’t something I always thought about doing, but it was something (Chatham head softball coach Deanna Tritinger and I) talked about last year when I was in my final year of playing,” McNany said. “She mentioned that the assistant coach was leaving, so it was something we tossed around.”
McNany is finishing up her second master’s degree, this one in business administration, after earning one in biomedical science at Chatham. She will graduate in May.
“I was still going to be around for another year,” McNany said. “So I was like, ‘Yeah. I’ll definitely do it.’”
McNany brings a lot of softball experience to the job.
At Westminster, she batted .253 with 10 doubles, two home runs, 17 RBI in 88 games.
She was a second-team PAC All-Conference after her junior season.
But McNany flourished when she got to Chatham.
Playing mostly at shortstop for the Cougars, McNany hit .325 with 17 doubles, a triple, home run and 30 RBI.
By the time her collegiate career was over, she played at least an inning at all nine positions.
“I mean, I loved being a part of the team at Westminster, but I didn’t really get to play a whole lot my freshman or sophomore seasons,” McNany said. “I loved my team at Westminster, but I just felt like I fit in better at Chatham. I kind of fit in seamlessly with their team. Personality-wise and coaching-wise, it was more my style.”
McNany hadn’t planned on playing softball in graduate school.
“I’m a very sociable, extroverted person,” McNany said. “The first two weeks of grad school online, I was like, ‘I have no idea how I’m supposed to make friends if I can’t talk to people,’” she said. “So I emailed the softball coach and was like, ‘Hey, is it too late to join the team?’”
It wasn’t.
McNany and her new teammates became fast friends.
Now, though, she is an assistant coach for many of those closest to her, which has been both a challenge and a huge adjustment.
McNany has had to draw a thick line between friend and coach.
“It’s a little awkward right now, especially because a lot of my best friends are on the team,” McNany said. “I kind of had to take a little step back. But I was a captain last year, so that kind of helps. I kind of already had that little bit of a leadership role on the team.
“Transitioning to a coach, though, has been a little weird,” she added. “I’ve had to call them out on a couple of things. Other than that, things have been great.”
McNany first got a taste of coaching as a volunteer assistant on the A-C Valley softball team. She also spent one summer as a little league baseball coach.
McNany said one of her strengths as a coach is her ability to relate to the players.
“Hey, I’ve been there before,” McNany said. “I know that it can be tough, but work your butt off because it’s worth it. I’m going to push you and hold you accountable. I think that’s more of where I’m coming from right now, at this point in my career.”
And McNany wants to have a career in coaching.
Her life now, though, is in a serious state of flux.
She’s engaged to be married this summer and will move to New Bethlehem. She will leave her current job around the same time and will pursue another. She plans on returning next spring, as well, to coach at Chatham.
Then, who knows?
“Everything is happening all at once for me,” McNany said, chuckling again. “It’s going to be life-changing, but I’m excited.”
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
