The chants of “Let’s go Shade” came from the Humber softball team's dugout as players were counting the pitches by Shade Hansen who was inching closer to her second no-hitter.
The Lambton Lions’ batter swung in the fateful Sept. 14 game and missed. Hansen’s teammates erupted in joy and swarmed her.
“It was super exciting, I was super-duper happy,” the Humber Polytechnic Film and Media student said. “But I also think, you know, it wouldn’t have happened unless my team was behind me.”
Hansen, a lover of team sports, started playing baseball at a very young age but eventually realized softball was the path she needed to take.
“It’s a fun sport, you cheer, you’re loud, you get rowdy with all your friends on the team. Honestly, it’s just great for your mental strength, and also just like knowing yourself,” she said.
Hansen made zero errors in the circle, giving the opponents no runs, and allowing the Hawks to attack.
From the start, Humber batters were focused and built an early 3-0 lead.
The Lions struggled to catch the Hawks as they could not find the rhythm of Hansen’s pitches, who added two more strikeouts to the sheet at the top of the second.
By the end of the inning, the Hawks added another run to their score and were up by four by the end of the second.
The Hawks won the first game of a double-header 11-0 as Hansen recorded nine strikeouts over five innings. The game was called with two innings remaining.
Currently, she leads the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) conference with 80 strikeouts and is the first Humber pitcher to record more than 200 career strikeouts.
This exceeds the total number of strikeouts of six teams in the league.
Hansen said she didn’t realize the accomplishment until someone told her immediately after the games.
“They go, ‘Good job,’ and I’m like, ‘Thanks!’ And they go, ‘You know what you just did?’ I go, ‘Nope!’” she said.
Hansen said the team’s assistant coach Brandon Costa had quite an unforgettable reaction to her achievement.
“He goes, ‘Let’s walk over to your parents.’ I go, ‘Okay!’” Hansen said.
“He points to the sheet and he goes, ‘This is what she did.' And he hands it to my parents. I’m like, ‘Thanks, Costa,’” she said.
Humber softball’s head coach Duaine Bowles said the staff feels at ease whenever Shade steps on the mound.
“Every single time she steps out there it's business, it's business every single time, and she has a lot of fun doing it,” Bowles said.
“I just love watching her go out there and be herself,” he said.
Hansen said balancing academics and athletics can be difficult at times. She said she appreciates Humber’s athletics department's support for student-athletes.
“There are a lot of good outlets that I could go to for help, especially through varsity,” Hansen said.
“We have our varsity coordinator who I can talk to, and I try to make good connections with my teachers,” she said.
She also said making friends within your program and not taking school so seriously is important to remember.
Bowles said every day Hansen arrives at the diamond, all they want is for her to do her best, and as long as that’s in mind, that’s what matters most.
