Not one. Not two. Yes, three!

At Friday’s Marian-Tamaqua football game, Jennifer Bensinger joined her sisters, Heather and Jessica, as a members of the Tamaqua Area High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

Jennifer was a standout pitcher for the Blue Raiders, averaging 12 strikeouts per game, with nearly 600 Ks for her career, and during her dominance, her ERA was 0.47 with 22 shutouts. She led Tamaqua to a share of the Schuylkill League championship.

“One of my favorite memories is pitching my fifth no-hitter to break Heather’s school record. She was an assistant coach for our team at the time, and she called my pitches from the dugout that day,” said Jennifer. “We had a happy sister cry after the game.”

From the graduating class of 1999, Heather Bensinger Patrick was also an outstanding pitcher for the Blue Raiders. She went on to pitch at Penn State-Hazelton where she led the school to a state title with a 30-0 record from the circle. She finished her college softball career at Mansfield College.

“They had pitchers ahead of me at Mansfield,” she said. “I just wanted to play, and the only spot on the field left was center field which I had never played before. So I took it and did pretty well.”

Jessica Bensinger Halabura, a 2023 inductee, excelled in two varsity sports: soccer and softball. As a freshman, she was the first girls soccer player from her school to be selected to the All-State team, and was an All-Area First Team D1 selection as a soccer midfielder.

After her senior season in which she scored 20 goals, she was selected to the ESPN magazine’s All Area Girls Soccer Team as a midfielder.

On the softball field, she batted .450 that same year. The following year, she led the Raiders to the North Schuylkill League championship, and the first District 11 playoff win in school history. As a junior, when Tamaqua won the District title, she was named MVP of the league.

“I think my better sport was soccer,” she said. “I was more of a passer, setting up my teammates’ goals rather than a scorer.”

Her softball performance was equally outstanding, allowing her to feature her hands and arms instead of her legs.

“I played catcher,” she said, “while both of my sisters were pitchers. I was tough to run on because I had a good arm throwing out base stealers.”

All three sisters are still very much involved with softball as coaches of travel teams and middle school teams in Tamaqua. Before Friday’s game, they expressed their excitement about attending the pregame ceremony and standing together while holding their commemorative plaques.

“I’m super proud of Jen’s induction,” said Heather. “We are a really close group of sisters, and to be able to enjoy this moment will be very special for me.”

“This will be a super cool moment for me,” said Jessica. “All of us put a lot of hard work to get to this achievement. This is absolutely amazing to have Jennifer inducted. She truly deserves this.”

“It’s certainly an honor to join my sisters in the Hall,” said Jennifer. “We never played our sports for the awards, but we were very competitive and had great careers at Tamaqua.”

Three sisters have left their mark at Tamaqua High School and on Friday, they celebrated together at the Hall of Fame ceremony.