In working with the Texas Leadership Charter Academy Arlington softball team every day, coach David Beaver is reminded of why he got into coaching and of all the little rewards that have kept him in the game for roughly the last two decades.
“With this group, it’s not hard to keep them moving in the right direction and to see all your hard work coming to life,” Beaver told Texas Scorecard. “They’re so driven and motivated that the culture we’ve set for the program is off the charts. With the work ethic we’ve established, win or lose, the girls have set the tone for how it’s going to be.”
Just three years after starting the program, Beaver raves about how the Eagles are now one of the most respected programs in town and how Charter Academy is known as a “softball school.”
With a roster comprised of two sophomores, two freshmen, six eighth-graders and three seventh-graders and playing against mostly junior-varsity level competition, the Eagles stand at 5-4-5 this season with wins over their two biggest rivals and having outscored all city competition by a combined 20-5 score.
Program “founding sisters” Savannah Schappaugh, D’Asia Dallas, Anna Colyer and captain Charlize Gobbins have set the tone for Charter Academy.
An eighth-grader, Schappaugh is the Eagles’ top hurler and has vowed she won’t stop working until she helps bring a state title to the school.
“The improvement she’s made from last season to this one is unimaginable,” Beaver added. “She’s totally committed to all her goals.”
Freshman Colyer has transformed herself from a bench player into an everyday regular who plays more than one position and Dallas, an eighth-grader known to her teammates as Grandma, is the team’s lead-off hitter and one of the main cogs of the offense.
“With D’Asia it’s funny,” Beaver added. “They call her grandma because she moves so slow off the field, but once the game starts she’s lightning fast.”
Finally, Gobbins, a sophomore catcher, is the team’s best hitter and overall player.
“I can’t say enough good things about her,” Beaver said. “With all the attention on her, she just goes out and does the job. I’m looking for her to keep getting better and better.”
