BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – St. Mary’s of Lancaster softball won the Monsignor Martin regular season title and senior Bella Becker was a big reason for the Lancers’ success this year.

“It’s a great feeling just to know you tried your hardest and everything you’ve done to this point is just working and it’s all meaning something and it’s all adding up and it’s getting bigger and bigger to something else,” Bella told News 4 Sports.

That’s exactly what Bella is seeing with her softball career. She was St. Mary’s leadoff hitter and center fielder.

“I love the drive, I love just the motivation and all my teammates and I just love the sport, it just gets me so pumped and amped and I’m just always so excited when it’s game day,” Bella said.

Bella signs her letter of intent to play softball at Edinboro.

And head coach Erin Hufford has seen Bella’s progress even outside of her time at St. Mary’s.

“Before she was at St. Mary’s I gave her lessons privately so it’s been a really nice experience to see her grow from that kid in the cages to an excellent leader on the field. She’s one of our three captains this year and she is a great leader by example and a vocal leader,” Coach Hufford explained.

“I try to be as motivating as I can and really give everyone inspiration. Everyone on this team has amazing drive and I see it in them and I know they can do better and I know hard days come and I never dealt with that good when I was younger and then I learned how to deal with it and I just want everyone to see that it can get hard but you can get through it,” Bella said.

Bella also excels in the classroom maintaining a 3.9 GPA, making her our May female scholar athlete.

“Being able to maintain my high grades and knowing, not having any question in my brain on if I’m gonna pass or if my grades are good,it’s just easier to like cruise through sports and cruise through school,” Bella explained.

Bella will continue her softball career at Edinboro while majoring in Biology. She also received an award for inclusion and diversity in the community. Not only does she love softball, Bella also played volleyball at St. Mary’s and helped the team win back-to-back state titles.