Boise State softball commit Shannon Keighran leads California's top ranked Saint Francis Lancers

Shannon Keighran spent a lot of time in ballparks growing up, so diamonds are definitely this girl’s best friend.

Keighran spent much of her formative years tagging around after her brother Patrick Keighran who plays baseball at the University of San Francisco and her oldest brother, Ryan.

“She’s a good girl – the youngest of three children,” mom Carol said. “And she chased around the other two for much of her life. She was the bat girl for her brother Patrick’s teams. She even dressed in a full uniform and talked to the umpires as she picked up the bats.”

Keighran’s penchant for tagging along after her brothers and her grit was evident early.

“When she was little, probably 4 or 5, we were in Hawaii and the boys were taking surfing lessons,” Carol said. “She wanted to do it but didn’t want to get her hair wet. So the instructor paddled her out, caught a wave, put her on his shoulders and surfed into shore. Her hair was perfectly dry.”

Now Keighran is a star junior pitcher and slugger at Saint Francis in Mountain View. Last year she led the Lancers to section and NorCal titles while going 14-1 in the circle with a 0.92 earned run average. She struck out 124 and walked 20 in 76 innings. She also hit .515 with six home runs and 25 runs batted in.

The Lancer has already committed to Boise State. 

“I love everything about softball, especially getting to know my teammates,” Keighran said. “And it’s about more than the game – you learn life lessons because you fail a majority of the time.”

Tireless and true

Saint Francis’ Mike Oakland has coached baseball and softball at the Mountain View school and has seen a lot.

“She has a great work ethic and is talented,” Oakland said. “And when you put those together, you get good results. She is tireless in the weight room and works hard on her pitching and her hitting. Her schedule is packed in the off-season – it’s really something.”

Saint Francis lost six seniors from last season’s 31-2 team, so it needs direction beyond Oakland.

“I’m trying to be a leader on the team,” Keighran said. “We’re trying to play as a team and communicate and not let the rankings go to our heads.”

Scorebooklive.com ranked Saint Francis No. 1 in the state last season. The Lancers (5-0) are top-ranked this season, too.

Family circle

When it comes to the West Catholic Athletic League of which Saint Francis is a member, the Burlingame-based Keighrans have all bases covered. 

• Patrick Keighran was a hard-hitting baseball player at Serra before heading to USF. 

• Oldest brother Ryan is a scholar who went to St. Ignatius and now studies aeronautical engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. 

• Dad Jim Keighran played baseball at Sacred Heart Cathedral and then at San Francisco State. 

• Even mom Carol went to a Catholic school, the now-defunct Presentation High in San Francisco.

The Lancer star also has two more fervent fans, grandparents Con and Cathy who attend many of her games.

But just because Keighran had a lot of success last year and has a scholarship in her hip pocket, don’t expect her to let up.

“Her work ethic is off the charts,” said Keighran’s private pitching coach, Martha Vargas. “She won’t quit until she wins.”

Said Oakland, “I’ve seen kids work and I’ve seen kids work at an elite level. Some kids think they have it, but they don’t. Shannon has it.”

John Murphy is an SBLive contributor and the sports editor of the Century Media Group of Southern California. Follow him on Twitter at @PrepDawg2. 

Photos below courtesy of Keighran family