MONT ALTO – For many collegiate student-athletes, the transition from high school to college is no easy task. Traveling all the way across the country is whole different ballgame. Despite making a 2,500 mile trek east away from family and friends on the west coast, Penn State Mont Alto softball player McKenna Sas saw this move as an opportunity to expand her horizons and make a name for herself in a sport that differed from her family background.
She grew up in Canyon Country, California and attended Canyon High School, ten miles east of Anaheim. Sas’s parents and younger brother were all swimmers. Sas was also a swimmer until softball eventually won the battle. She could often be found at the local park as a child, interacting with friends on the diamond. Those friends and the family feel are what eventually attracted Sas to choose softball as the sport to pursue in high school and beyond.
After the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to her high school playing career, Sas began looking for opportunities to play collegiate softball. That’s when Penn State Mont Alto Head Coach Heath Newell reached out to Sas and wanted her to join his program. Soon after their initial interactions, Sas committed to play softball for Penn State Mont Alto.
Her decision to go to Mont Alto allowed her to pursue a career in Nursing and to play the sport she loved. In the fall of 2020, Sas arrived at Mont Alto and was paired up with teammate Kirsten Dell. The two weren’t as close during their first semester on campus, but their friendship took off in the spring semester. Those friendships offering a sense of home when her other family members weren’t around. “The professors, athletic staff and my teammates made me feel at home, they gave me a lot of support” said Sas.
Sas had success on the diamond since the time she has arrived at Mont Alto. In 2021, she batted .505 with five home runs and 35 RBI’s. The following year, she batted .422 and nearly doubled her home runs in 15 less at-bats than the previous season with nine. Following the 2022 season, she was named Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference (PSUAC) co-Player of the Year and a United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) First Team All-American.
Her success in the 2022 season didn’t come without some adversity. After the first 18 games of the 2022 season, she was sidelined with a concussion and couldn’t participate in a handful of games. Sas described the time missed as difficult because it put her out of her routine. She couldn’t attend classes due to the light sensitivity and other factors that would increase the side effects of the injury. Upon her return, she batted .418 with seven home runs and 15 RBI’s in 29 at-bats.
For Sas, it was a tremendous honor being named co-Player of the Year despite missing games during the season. She hopes to continue upon her 2022 season with even bigger aspirations for the 2023 season which started a few weeks ago. “My goals for this season are to make playoffs and hopefully get back to the conference championship and to hit more home runs than I did in 2022,” said Sas. Maintaining the balance of her student-athlete life is also a top priority, as she works towards her nursing degree.
Through 10 games in the 2023 season, she is batting .452 with two home runs and 11 runs batted in.
provided by PSU Mont Alto Athletics
