Sinn honored with WPIAL Scholar-Athlete Award
Had she known that it was going to be the last one of her varsity career, Kylie Sinn might’ve taken more time to watch it go over the fence.
She might’ve taken a little more pleasure rounding the bases and stepping on home plate. But the senior from Carmichaels High School had no idea that this was going to be the final home run of her softball career.
It came during a scrimmage with Albert Gallatin and the softball traveled about 200 feet before landing on the ground on the other side of the fence at AG’s field.
The Mikes would not play another game, thanks to the shuttering of all the schools in Pennsylvania because of the coronavirus pandemic. But that doesn’t mean it would be the final bright spot in a magnificent career for Sinn.
This week, Sinn was named one of the WPIAL’s James Collins Scholar-Athlete Award winners.
Only 20 individuals, 10 boys and 10 girls, were name by the WPIAL. Normally, the recipient of these prestigious awards would be honored at a banquet. But the pandemic forced the cancellation of this year’s event so the WPIAL is honoring the group on its website.
Two other local athletes also were named to the scholar-athlete list: South Fayette’s Hailey Poe and West Greene’s Ben Jackson.
“I was surprised, completely surprised,” said Sinn. “It’s such an honor.”
Sinn carries a 4.0 grade-point average and has been a three-sport athlete, competing on the Waynesburg High School soccer team through a co-op program, and starting on the Mikes’ basketball and softball teams.
While she had many offers to play softball in college, Sinn picked the school that was best for her academic career: Seton Hill University. The school was one of the few in this area to offer a five-year physician’s assistant program.
She will join her sister, Katelyn, a sophomore who also is in the program at Seton Hill.
And yes, Sinn will compete on the university’s softball team. Her talents are many but Carmichaels used her as a starting pitcher over the last 2 1/2 years. But her hitting has improved so much that she makes herself a hard out at the plate.
“For me, my main priority was to keep my grades up and graduate with a physician assistant degree in that program,” she said. “I think I’m going to try and (play softball) and I think I can do it as long as I concentrate on my grades and sports, making them my two priorities.”
Sinn’s 4.0 GPA will probably improve as she finishes up the final semester of her senior year because of the advanced placement classes she is taking.
“Everyone talks about her pitching but I think she is just as good with her bat,” said Carmichaels softball coach Dave Briggs. “She really came on with power and hitting. It’s been a while since anyone has hit one out of our place. The ball just doesn’t travel there. In practice, she was putting them out onto the basketball court out there.”
While her academic success is satisfying, the way the softball season ended left her disappointed and frustrated. The competitive nature of Sinn and her teammates made this a very promising season. Now, that is no longer possible.
“I was looking forward to the season,” said Sinn. “Our team was ready to make a big impact in our section. I know we could have gone a long way and done a lot.”
Last season, Sinn was a second-team all-state selection. She led the Mikes with a .492 batting average, 29 hits, 28 runs, five doubles, four triples and three home runs. She also had 16 RBI. In the circle, Sinn had a 9-5 record with a 1.97 ERA.