The crowd went wild, the band blasted its music, cheerleaders danced, it was almost a scene out of a movie.
On a night when seniors Jack Wonderling, Grace Kostley, Aidan Sturnick, and Ethan White were celebrated on senior night for the Unified Bocce team, it took an amazing shot by one senior to make the evening a perfect one. Senior Grace Kostley’s final shot in sudden death completed a 2 game to 1 comeback Spartan victory in front of an overjoyed crowd in the old gym.
It wasn’t looking good for the Hempfield Spartans with 12 minutes left in the second game. Losing the first game 8-2 and down 5-1 with short time left, Derry Area had their foot on the gas pedal cruising to the finish line. It took 3 rounds of bowls to get the score to 5-4 still in Derry favor, it was the last hope to bring the game to the golden bowl. Ian made the perfect shot and got Hempfield the win with a score of 6-5. It all came down to the golden bowl or the last 4 shots per team. It looked like a sure Hempfield win, but tragedy struck and it seemed as if Derry’s last shot got them the win with their ball barely inching out Hempfield’s ball. There was still hope, Grace; she had the last shot of the night and the pressure of the moment didn’t get to her as she made the most amazing shot. The shot hit the smaller target ball which made it ricochet off the back of the playing field and perfectly back enough to a previous Hempfield ball and secure the win.
For Coach Trabucco the atmosphere was inspiring. “It was amazing to see so many groups come together to support our Unified Bocce team. The atmosphere was full of Spartan spirit!”.
For Coach Montell, the victory was bittersweet; “It will be sad to see our seniors leave after watching many friendships develop during the season”.
From the pre-match to the enthusiastic crowd, to the last second victory. The Unified Bocce Senior Night ended perfectly thanks to “Amazing” Grace Kostley.
