Coming into the 2019 Girls Soccer season, the Bethlehem Banshees were coming off four straight 5th Region Championships and two Final Four appearances, so with the Fab Five gone, many thought they were due for a major dropoff.
That didn’t happen and one of the reasons why was Midfielder Baeli Young.
After scoring just 10-goals in her first three varsity seasons with the Banshees, Young exploded for 36 in her senior year and along with Ginny Spalding and Kaelyn Walker (who combined for 47 between them) were a big reason why they able to make their fourth straight Region Final appearance.
Young, a two sport athlete usually throws herself into whatever she does and her performance on the basketball court the past several seasons has mirrored what she does on soccer field as she attacks any situation with a great deal of endless energy.
Although she has played both sports for some time like a lot of the girls in the Banshee athletic organization, Young has admitted to probably enjoying soccer a little more as that is what she will be doing under scholarship in her next academic life.
The girl, who started out as a Centerback when she began playing the game in her grade school years converted to a Midfielder and has been there ever since with a nose for the back of the net. On the past three Region Champions, Young admitted that watching and learning helped mold her senior persona as the beginning of her last high school training camp with the Banshees coach Dan Rossoll knew that she would have to take a bigger role in the offense with Maddie Sparks, Abigail Proctor, Carly Beam, Jordan Cross and Miranda Blanford now gone.
The Defense wasn’t an issue, just where would the scoring come from. Young, Spalding and Walker learned quickly that in a potential “Get Even” season for the rest of the 5th Region, the stories of the Banshees demise might have been a bit premature. The Banshees scored 120-goals in 2019, making it four of the past five years that Bethlehem had hit the century mark in goals scored.
Youngs 36 was proof that “Success Doesn’t Graduate” as the Bethlehem scoring train just kept on rolling.
Ironically, one of the few teams which found a way to control her was the Banshees District Rival Bardstown. In three games (all losses), the Lady Tiger defense allowed Young to bite them once for a goal. Ironically, the Lady Tigers head coach Martin Bodkin was also Young’s Club Soccer Coach as well. “He knows me as a player and as a defender. He knows me inside and out.”
Despite that glich, Young did play a big part in crucial games like her two goals in the Region Championship game against Central Hardin. Her first early in the second half tied the score at one apiece and her second less than five minutes later put the Banshees ahead. Only Lady Luck could change that.
For many reasons, Young gave credit to her fantastic season to the great team concept on the 2019 Banshee soccer team and for to that end is the same reason why they will probably just as good in years to come. Still, that’s also the reason why Young had a marvelous end to her four year varsity journey in high school and why she was the 2019 Regional The Sporting Times Fall Female
