FREEDOM — During her high school career, Freedom Area’s Shaye Bailey was always on the move, competing every month of the high school athletics calendar year from August through May.
Through her final year, Bailey put up record-breaking numbers on the hardwood and at the track all while also making her mark on the pitch and the diamond.
Because of those accomplishments in four sports, Bailey has been named the 2023-24 Beaver County Times' Female Athlete of the Year.
“It feels great,” Bailey said. “It was something that I was not expecting and when I was reading the message I was shocked.”
As Bailey wrapped up her high school career this spring, she left with countless memories made.
Along with WPIAL championships in soccer and competing in the PIAA state finals, Bailey leaves with lifelong friends after growing so close to them over the past four years.
“All the bonds that I made will be one of the things that I look back on and hold onto the most. The sports that I played in high school brought me lifelong friends, and all of the memories that I have made playing sports will last me a lifetime. It is sad that I won’t be coming back next year and playing with some of my friends but I know that they will continue to make the memories that I was able to have there.”
Bailey started off her senior season on the pitch and the senior forward dominated, finishing the regular season with 38 goals.
Going into the WPIAL Class A Championship game against Riverview, Bailey and Freedom Area knew that it would be a tough challenge facing the top-seeded team, but the Bulldogs rose to the occasion.
Bailey played a crucial role in the team’s victory that Friday evening in November as she logged an assist on the team’s winning goal, scored by Mackenzie Mohrbacher.
“It was so exciting and I was so excited for her because she didn’t get to start much before that because last season, her sister Julz Mohrbacher played in that position, so Mackenzie filled in for her once she graduated. It was great to have that moment for her because scoring the only goal to win the WPIAL Championship is a great accomplishment. I was ecstatic for her.”
Along with the WPIAL title, Bailey continued to help the Bulldogs into the PIAA playoffs, helping erase an early deficit to keep the team's season alive in the first round against Mercer.
After an impressive season on the pitch, and the temperatures starting to dip, Bailey was just heating up as she put together yet another dominant season on the hardwood.
Even though the Bulldogs fell to Clairton in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs, Bailey finished just 16 points shy of the school’s all-time scoring record after averaging 23.4 points, grabbing eight rebounds and just snatching just under six steals per game.
Bailey’s basketball career might not have ended how she would have liked, but the senior also put together a strong season on the track, making it to the PIAA state championships in both the 100-meter dash and the 4x100 relay.
The relay group was undetermined at the beginning of the year, but Bailey helped the team to a silver medal in the WPIAL Championships posting a season-best time of 49.92.
“We had a slow start to the year but started to get in a groove and then we ran the season-best time in the WPIAL Championships which we didn’t ever hit before. I was so excited for us because that was something that we were not able to do because we did not even run under 51 seconds during the regular season," she said. "We were in fifth place during that race in the WPIAL Championships and all I had on my mind was being able to pass everybody and make it to the finish line.”
In the 100, Bailey was fourth at the WPIAL Championships and seventh in the PIAA Championships.
Due to a slow start at the beginning of the year, Bailey was ranked low, but eventually posted the second-best time in the preliminary heat in the state finals with a time of 12.18 seconds.
“Last season I only ran the 100-meter dash in 12.90 seconds,” Bailey said. “This year when I started to come out and run I was running it in 12.40 seconds. I was surprised when I kept looking at the times and started to question if I was really getting faster. When we went to states and I ran the second-best preliminary time, I thought that it was pretty slow when I ran it. When I looked at the clock, I was in pure shock.”
Rounding out her high school career, Bailey also competed on the Bulldogs' softball team which is a sport that she holds close to her. Being able to still play softball is something that she is most happy about because it is one of the sports she has been around the longest.
“I have been around the game pretty much since I was born and I have been playing the sport for 14 years,” Bailey said. “Knowing that I was able to be part of a great team and have great coaches was amazing.”
In 14 games during her senior season, Bailey hit an impressive .459 in 37 at-bats logging 17 hits, eight RBIs, three triples and two home runs.
Now graduated, Bailey will now shift her focus to playing collegiate basketball at Seton Hill University.
“Being able to compete at the next level is amazing to me. I am so excited that coach Maeve Gallagher allowed me to be a part of her team. I am ready to meet everyone on the team and happy and ready for this next chapter of my athletic career.”
With her high school career now in the rearview mirror, when looking back at her time as a Bulldog, she could have never guessed that she would be where she is today.
“Coming in as a freshman, I didn’t really think that I would be where I am now,” Bailey said. “I did not think that I would have been breaking all of these records and making a name for myself. I knew as a freshman that I was telling myself that I would want to break my 100-meter time but I didn’t think that I would ever do it. Making my mark on Freedom and leaving my history behind is amazing to think about. Knowing that my name will always be attached to Freedom is really special to me.”
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