Many, if not most, aspiring college students today attend higher education to prepare for a career. Pittsburgh Pirate’s longest tenured ball girl, Sarah Johnson '23, found ample preparation for not one career but two at Geneva College.

Sarah is a full-time resource nurse for Allegheny Health Network Wexford Hospital while also working roughly 50 games a year for the Pittsburgh Pirates. She was scouted and recruited for Geneva College’s softball team from high school in Colorado.

Tim Kolodziej, host of “Between Tides” podcast senior manager of Communications at Portage Learning, recently did an interview with Sarah and Geneva College’s Head Softball Coach Van Zanic. In his article Kolodziej writes:

“Coach Zanic has amassed 599 wins and his teams have reached the postseason in 21 of his 25 seasons leading the Golden Tornadoes.

[Zanic said] 'Sarah is the most dynamic player I’ve ever coached, but she’s also the most humble person I’ve coached. She accomplished more than just about anyone who's come through our program, yet she never changed. She never complained. She never sought attention. She simply worked harder than everyone else.'

Sarah smiles.

'Yes, we worked very hard but we also had a lot of fun. Coach Zanic taught me so much. Not just about the game, but about life.'

And those lessons would prove invaluable as she embarked on a unique dual-career journey.”

You can read Kolodziej's full article here: waves.portagelearning.edu/your-story/fields-of-dreams