This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
Many baseball and softball teams would be blessed to have a trio of aces. Tina Bean and Aaron Bean ’85 have given Harker that many from one family. Their three children – Sarah, Nicolas and Annalyn – are all Harker students, and all pitchers. The eldest is Sarah, a junior. She is also the newest to pitching – or at least to pitching again. When Harker’s softball coaches learned before the start of the season that their expected pitcher would not be able to play, they asked Sarah to step up. “It was completely unexpected that we weren’t going to have a pitcher,” Sarah said. Luckily for the team, however, the coaches knew that Sarah had pitched a bit when she was younger.
A few months before the season began, Sarah started working with the coaches, pitching semiweekly. At practices, the team would simulate pitching in a live game to get her up to speed. “The coaches had faith in me. It has been a huge responsibility, but one that I have been willing to take on because of my love of the team and of the sport,” she said. Last year, the team had the best pitcher in the league, with the most strikeouts. Replacing her would be daunting. “This year, it was such a void that needed to be filled,” Sarah said.
Sarah, her younger brother, Nicolas, grade 9, and their younger sister, Annalyn, grade 3, have grown up with the sport. “We’ve always been a big softball and baseball family,” said Sarah. “As long as I can remember, we’ve always watched the Giants on TV, so as soon as I could start playing softball, I wanted to.” They have also grown up with tremendous encouragement from their parents. “With Dad coaching, and Mom coming to almost every game, it’s a great support base that we have,” said Nicolas. “It feels really good to have everybody out there.”
Nicolas has taken the Harker baseball team by storm. In his first year of high school, playing on the varsity team against the best players – much older players – on other teams, he had the highest batting average on the Eagles, hitting a preposterous .448, while also playing in all 25 of the team’s games and recording by far the most at-bats and plate appearances. His 39 hits and 21 runs scored led the team, as did his .713 slugging percentage.
While Nicolas is the middle child, Sarah says that when it comes to athletics, he’s a model for her. “I look up to him in sports so much,” she said. Nicolas “totally gives himself to the sport.” And, “he’s the best hitter I know.”
On the mound, Nicolas’ 29 innings pitched were fourth-most on the team, and his 31 strikeouts were second-most. That’s meant a lot to the ballclub, but nothing compared to what Sarah’s performance meant to saving the softball squad this year. She pitched 85 of the team’s 92 innings, starting 14 games. With some pitchers from the eighth grade team heading to the upper school next year, Sarah is ready to return to her favorite position: third base.
Sarah and Nicolas grew up not only rooting on for the Giants together, but also playing and working to improve together. “We have always tried to practice together and make each other better,” she said, adding that Nicolas “always complains that we use a softball when we play catch!”
The Beans also have a new pitcher on the way; Annalyn promises to be an asset for Harker one day in her own right. “She is a natural athlete,” said Sarah. “She is crazy athletic.” Sarah stopped by one of Annalyn’s pitching lessons and, shocked by the level of talent she saw, asked Annalyn to promise that she would work to one day play in college. “Even at this young age, she’s showing so much potential – bounds above where I was at that age,” says Sarah. Nicolas sees something else in Annalyn: her spirit. “Annalyn is very hardworking and just enjoys the game,” says Nicolas. “Overall, she just likes having fun out there with her friends, and that’s one of the most important parts of a sport.”
So, will Annalyn play for Harker one day?
“Yeah, for sure,” said Sarah.
Sarah is a more than effective advocate for Harker’s softball team. Though Sarah has played softball all of her life, she talks about falling in love with the sport all over again because of the team at Harker. “We are the strangest group of people ever,” she said, “but we just work for some reason.”
The closeness that she has within her own family translates to her team as well. “It’s a family thing,” she volunteered, “in that everyone on the team is like family. You get so close with the people you’re working with every day. I think that makes you appreciate them more.” For someone who knows what it is like to play the sport with the people she loves, it is a powerful sentiment and a testament to the atmosphere that the Harker coaching staff – led by Raul Rios with assistants Ray Fowler, Dan Hudkins and Rikki Martinez – has created.
“My love for softball comes from my love for the people I am playing with,” said Sarah. Harker’s softball team has given Sarah a new family, and like her actual family, it’s full of hurlers and sluggers, having a great time together. “Having fun – that’s what it’s all about for all of us,” says Nicolas. “The game is fun, and that’s why we want to go back out there.” With Sarah and Nicolas returning to their teams next year, and Annalyn surely on the way, the future looks bright for Harker’s baseball and softball teams, and for the Bean family pitchers.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2014 Harker Quarterly.
What a spring for Harker sports! Harker’s hard-working athletes excelled on the field this spring, with amazing streaks, playoff competition and some jaw-dropping results! On the academic front, Harker had 10 – count ’em, 10! – top five varsity spring 2014 CCS scholastic championship teams. Those 10 teams had the highest collective grade-point average of all teams competing in their sport. Harker’s teams finished in the top five for every spring sport in which we field a team, an amazing accomplishment. Together, the athletic and academic accomplishments are a strong testament to Harker’s ability to foster highly competitive athletes and great minds!
What a spring for Harker sports! Harker’s hard-working athletes excelled on the field this spring, with amazing streaks, playoff competition and some jaw-dropping results! On the academic front, Harker had 10 – count ’em, 10! – top five varsity spring 2014 CCS scholastic championship teams. Those 10 teams had the highest collective grade-point average of all teams competing in their sport. Harker’s teams finished in the top five for every spring sport in which we field a team, an amazing accomplishment. Together, the athletic and academic accomplishments are a strong testament to Harker’s ability to foster highly competitive athletes and great minds!
Golf The boys varsity golfers had a historic run this year, finishing third in the CCS regional tournament and sixth in their first-ever appearance in the CCS championships, ahead of league-rival Sacred Heart Prep! The future of Harker golf looks exceptionally bright as well, as the entire boys team will return next year, and the middle school golf team won its fifth consecutive WBAL tournament! Golfer Shrish Dwivedi, grade 11, was among the athletes who best exemplified the combination of athletic and academic achievement. After becoming co-league MVP, Dwivedi traveled to Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., to compete in the Future Collegians World Tour (FCWT) Championship, where he brought home a top three finish trophy in an international field of about 140 players, was named to the FCWT All-Academic Team and was awarded the First Team All-FCWT Award, becoming the only male to receive both academic and athletic honors.
Track and Field The track and field team competed in the league finals on May 17, where freshman phenom Niki Iyer became the new league champion in both the 1,600m and 3,200m runs! Meanwhile, senior Wei Wei Buchsteiner became the league champion in the high jump, setting a new Harker record of 5’9” – a foot better than the previous record. At the junior varsity championships, freshman Davis Dunaway won four events, while freshman Misha Ivkov placed in the top six in four events en route to the JV boys winning the team championship! These performances catapulted Harker’s athletes into the CCS preliminaries, where Iyer finished second and set a new Harker record.
In late-breaking news, Iyer placed fifth overall in the CCS 3,200m run, breaking her own week-old school record with a time of 10:51.14!
Swimming The swim team qualified for all CCS relays and sent a solid half of its swimmers and divers to the championships!
In a late-breaking update we are glad to report junior Aaron Huang made CCS finals, placing 14th in the 200 IM and 12th in the 100 breaststroke; senior Kimberly Ma placed 14th in the 500 freestyle and junior Stacey Chao placed 35th out of 51 1-meter divers.
Volleyball The boys went 20-14 this season, reaching the CCS quarterfinals after crushing Sobrato in their first-round matchup in straight sets. The team averaged 10 kills and 11.7 digs per set on the year, while also racking up 121 aces and 157 total blocks in its 34 games. Senior Andrew Zhu led the team in kills per set with 3.7, while junior Matt Ho led the team in kill percentage (59.7 percent) among players who played more than 50 sets. Zhu also led the team with 33 aces and an ace percentage of 13.2. Senior Will Deng led the team with 48 blocks.
The future of Harker volleyball looks bright as well, as the middle school squad won 53 of 54 games over the past three years, including winning the last 35 straight!
Baseball It was a rebuilding year for the team as the young squad faced off against varsity competition and finished 3-22 overall and 0-12 in league. As a whole, the team hit .248 with an excellent .355 on base percentage but a less-than-optimal .318 slugging percentage. In 25 games, the team scored 112 runs and hit 32 doubles, four triples and two homers. The speedsters also stole 62 bases, and were only thrown out three times all year! Pitching will be a key area of improvement for the team next year, as it finished with a 9.09 earned run average in 156 1/3 innings pitched.
Softball The softball team also is in the midst of a rebuilding year, going 1-15 and 0-8 in league. Overall, the team hit .238 with a .352 on base percentage and .298 slugging percentage for a total .650 on base plus slugging. The team also scored 90 runs with the help of 15 doubles, three triples and a homer. On the mound, the team finished with an 8.52 earned run average in 92 innings pitched.
Lacrosse The girls finished in second place in league this year with a 5-3 record, ending the year by avenging an earlier loss to Sacred Heart Prep with a 13-7 trumping.
Tennis Big news in middle school tennis! Harker’s varsity A team, comprising students in grades 6-8, went 20-0 this year and swept both the public and private league championships! That makes this the first time the team has ever gone undefeated and the first time it has won both titles. Winning, however, is not new to these players; the team is 36-2 over the past two years and has won three of the last four division titles!