Kayla Bebla

DUNMORE, PA - Amidst the cancellation of spring sports across the world, organizations, schools and teams look to give senior athletes their final swan song for their time and tireless efforts they poured into their programs. Penn State Scranton and the Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) have been working to honor these student-athletes that’s season were cut short or cancelled in their entirety. Last week each of our three senior athletes from the baseball and softball teams were featured on the PSUAC social media outlets giving them a chance to tip their hats to their conference, fans and families for one last time before completing their academic and athletic college journeys.

This week PSU Scranton is honoring softball captain and starting third baseman, Kayla Bebla as our campus player of the week. Kayla is a graduate of Forest City Regional High School in Forest City, PA and a Letters, Arts and Sciences major at PSU Scranton. Kayla spent her first three years of college at University Park before making the decision to transfer to the Scranton campus last year. After initially deciding to not come out for the team Kayla heard the team was looking to expand the roster in the spring of 2019 and made the decision to join the program.

When she first came into the program Kayla was mainly a catcher and an outfielder, until one game last season when her number was called to play a position she had never played before, the hot corner, third base. Initially, Bebla was rightfully apprehensive about playing such a critical position on the field, a position that the ball is hit the hardest but after making a few adjustments and some crafty plays she and the coaching staff discovered her new niche on the field. Following that game, she began to work tirelessly to hone her abilities to cover the position and transformed into a confident, competitive and very capable third baseman. In talking about her new position Bebla said, "I'm grateful for Coach Mar putting me at third during the second to last game last season,” she continued, “it grew to be my favorite position.” When asked about her ability to cover the position, Head Coach, Mar Tsakonas said, “I was very pleased to see her pick up the position as fast as she did. We were in the process of graduating our current third baseman after the season and to have someone I could confidently put in that position to cover it as effectively as she can was a big boost going into the off-season and eventually fall ball this year.”

Shortly after the season, Coach Mar reached out to Kayla looking forward to the fall and her senior year and notified her she would be named team captain for the upcoming season. “I felt she had the tools and drive to help lead this team to do great things this year. She showed great effort and leadership during fall ball which made everyone else push themselves a bit harder. This is a very important quality to have in a team captain, especially when the team is as young as ours is with a freshman dominated roster”, said Coach Mar. When asked about her favorite memory from playing at PSU Scranton Bebla responded, “the team dinner at Coach Mar’s house this season. The team bonded so well that night through playing games, eating good food and sharing plenty of laughs.”

With her softball career coming to a dramatic and unpredictable end she was asked if she had any advice to give to any prospective or current student-athletes. "Always remember school comes first.  If you’re stressing about school, it reflects on the way you play and conduct yourself in the game.  If you manage your time correctly and are dedicated to both your academics and your team, playing in college is an amazing experience, and I would recommend playing to anyone who had the opportunity," Kayla said. Following graduation Kayla looks to pursue a career in sales and marketing, specifically pharmaceuticals and eventually go back to school for a business degree. Although her senior season was ended prematurely Kayla said “I am very sad to say that I won’t have the chance to play college softball at PSU Scranton anymore with the season cut short, but I am grateful for my team and all the hard work they put in while I was playing here.”

 To view Kayla's feature on the conference website visit: 

https://www.psuacsports.com/aotw/2020_Senior_Spotlights/2020_Senior_Spotlight_Kayla_Bebla