Hall of Fame
Beth Finkey was a standout catcher for Shippensburg from 1986-1989. She is one of the best to ever play the position in Lady Raider softball history. Finkey was an all-region, all-conference and Academic All-American athlete who prided herself in her defense and finished two full seasons without committing one error – an especially difficult task considering her work was with numerous drop-ball pitchers.
Finkey was no slouch at the plate either, exuding tremendous plate discipline in addition to a .332 career batting average. According to the statistics, in 355 career at-bats, Finkey struck out just six times while drawing 33 walks. She totaled 52 RBIs, 13 extra-base hits and scored 62 runs.
During her freshman year in 1986 she was first team All-PSAC with a team-best .352 batting average. Finkey totaled 18 RBIs, scored 13 runs and hit two triples. She also struck out just twice in 71 at-bats and began to show her knack for clutch hits by breaking up a perfect-game attempt by Bloomsburg hall of famer Sue Kocher with SU’s lone single of the game.
In 1987, her average dipped to .282 but Finkey did score a career-high 25 runs that season and came through when it mattered – hitting over .500 in the NCAA Tournament. Finkey was a second team All-NCAA Region performer in 1988, hitting .311 without striking out once in a career-high 103 at-bats. She had seven RBIs and scored 10 runs.
During her senior year she hit .341 and was first team All-Region and first team Academic All-America. She hit the only home run of her career and totaled seven extra-base hits while slugging a career-high 21 RBIs. Finkey scored 14 runs and struck out just once in 88 at-bats.
Finkey helped the Lady Raiders achieve much success on the field. The team won 20 or more games all four seasons she was on the team. Shippensburg finished second in the PSAC tournament in 1986 and third in 1987.
The team also placed third in the NCAA Regional tourney in 1987. The team was 22-7 in 1986, 27-8-1 in 1987, 20-15 in 1988 and 20-11 in 1989. In four seasons the team was 89-41-1 for a winning percentage of .683 while Finkey posted a stupendous career fielding percentage of .992.
Finkey earned her master’s degree in geoenvironmental studies from Shippensburg in 1991 while working as a long-term substitute teacher at Shippensburg Area Senior High School. After working for the environmental consulting firm of Skelly & Loy and for Electronic Data Systems (EDS), she is currently employed as a senior technical business analyst and contractor for Dataquest Inc. Finkey has two daughters, Sarah (13) and Grace (9).
