Deer Lakes grad Tia Germanich making difficult decision to choose bowling over softball pay off

Tia Germanich grew up in two worlds.

One was softball. She played throughout her youth and, eventually, starred for Deer Lakes, earning second-team all-star honors from the Valley News Dispatch after her senior season.

With her talent came opportunities to play in college, mostly from Division III schools.

The other was bowling. Germanich comes from a family steeped in the sport. Her grandparents, Joe and Polly Schwarzel, co-owned Deer Lakes Bowl in Cheswick before selling it to Germanich’s parents.

Polly Schwarzel also was an accomplished bowler and was inducted into the Pennsylvania State United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame in 2016.

“Ever since I could walk, I’ve been throwing a ball down the lane,” Germanich said.

She helped Deer Lakes win the 2022-23 WPIBL team championship and, as with softball, college attention followed.

But which one to pursue? She felt a tug in both directions.

Ultimately, Germanich chose bowling and signed with Mercyhurst, which is competing in its first season in the Division I ranks. Germanich has been an integral part of the Lakers’ success as they qualified for the Northeast Conference championship, which will be March 21-23 in New Castle, Del.

Germanich twice has been named the NEC Newcomer of the Week, wasting no time showing she would be a factor. She won the award in the first week of the season, averaging 202 as Mercyhurst finished fourth of 11 teams in its invitational.

Then, in January, she compiled a team-high 198.6 average as the Lakers collected a pair of wins — one of them against NEC foe Duquesne — at the Northeast Classic. Entering the weekend, her average stood at 185.5.

Even as she was making a splash in collegiate bowling, softball wasn’t far from her mind.

“Honestly, it was a very tough decision,” Germanich said. “I was a softball player at heart, and I still am. But when it came to what was going to be best for my future, I can bowl after college. … After talking with my family, we decided it would be the best opportunity for me and my future.”

It helped that Germanich had a connection with Mercyhurst. She was getting lessons from Mike Shady, the coach for Team USA, who happens to be the brother-in-law of Lakers coach Mike Machuga.

Machuga certainly knew a good bowler when he saw one. He is a former touring pro, with two PBA Tour titles on his resume. In Germanich, Machuga believed he was getting someone who could help his burgeoning program immediately.

Germanich said Machuga’s stature in the bowling world plus his approach to handling players were big selling points in swaying her to bowl at Mercyhurst. And give up softball to do it.

She said she struggled with her mental health during the first semester, but Machuga was understanding and even told her she could take a tournament off if she needed.

“He became like a second dad to me,” she said. “Me and him are pretty close whenever it comes to that side of things. He’s a wonderful guy and an even better coach.

“He asked me what goals I wanted, where I wanted my future to be, what I wanted in it, and he told me he’d get me there.”

From a bowling standpoint, Machuga said Germanich — as with most of his bowlers — didn’t require much tinkering in terms of technique. It was more about strategy and making the proper adjustments to ever-changing lane conditions.

“It’s so important in bowling to be playing the lanes the way they need to be played, not the way you want to,” he said. “It’s not like darts. When I say I’m going to shoot the 20 on a dart board … I do it the same way whether I’m doing it in Australia or Alaska.

“In bowling, everything changes so fast and is so different not just from day-to-day or bowling center to bowling center but lane to lane and the changes that happen from Game 1 to Game 5.”

Germanich has helped position the Lakers as a legitimate threat to win the NEC. Duquesne entered the season as the favorite and sits atop the conference standings, but the Lakers, in third place, appear to be up to the challenge.

On Valentine’s Day weekend, during the second of two NEC meets, Mercyhurst defeated Duquesne in the Baker portion of the tournament. That came after the Lakers tied the Dukes for the top spot in the opening NEC meet in mid-November.

And, if the Lakers don’t capture the NEC title this season, Germanich is confident one is on the horizon. Only two seniors will graduate, and she is part of a strong freshman contingent along with Mackensie Livingston (Freeport), herself a recipient of an NEC Newcomer of the Week award.

“The freshman class that (Machuga) recruited in — in my opinion, not trying to be biased — we’re probably one of the best freshman classes that could have possibly happened,” Germanich said. “I’m definitely excited to see what he brings in next year and the year after that and the year after that.”

In the longer term, Germanich hopes to bowl professionally, and, as she turns her focus to that goal, she admitted the separation from softball “does take a toll.” But Germanich has been helping out the Deer Lakes program when her schedule allows, and being able to stay around the game, she said, helps ease the sting.

She has chosen her path, and she aims to pay homage to her grandmother along the way. Polly Schwarzel died on New Year’s Day 2015, and Germanish keeps a photo of her in her bowling shoe. Whenever she steps onto the lane, she pauses to reflect.

“I have to live up to that name,” Germanich said. “I take a little moment to myself and remember why I’m here and who I’m really here for. She would be proud, no doubt.”