Just for fun :)

We thought the season was over..

… but were taking the uniforms back out! Apparently out overall record of 17-13 for the 2009 season has landed us a spot in the ECAC tournament! We last minute found out that our season is not over and we will be playing tomorrow at Montclair University, tomorrow Thursday, May 7th. The game has a 5pm start, so if your in the area be sure to check us out! While I unfortunatly won’t be in attendence for the game, I’ll make sure to keep yall posted on how it goes. Wish us luck!

ECAC’s HERE WE COME!

Congrat’s “Joe”

Quick update!
Congrats to Jillian Lucas aka “Joe” for being named first team all conference and rookie of the year! Way to go kid! ❤

For more info check out http://skylineconference.org/

Athletics Awards Dinner

Last Thursday night, all the athletes of Purchase College participated in the Athletics Awards Dinner. It is an annual dinner held to honor all the athletes, coaches and graduating seniors. The Athletics Awards Dinner is always rather interesting. Your so used to seeing everyone in their work out attire or there uniforms, and then you go to the dinner and realize people have there own distinct style and clean up real nicely. There’s some people I swore I had never seen in my life, only to find out that in fact I had and they were simply my teammates.

This year as part of the softball team we congratulated our three seniors Emily, Pudge, and Nicole. They were all presented with a senior plaque. We also congratulated Jillian Lucas and Lindsay Froman with various awards for having an amazing rookie season.

Here’s a photo of the team out of uniform and looking great!

Senior Day!

Congrats to seniors Pudge, Em Stan, and Pinky! Early that morning we decorated the dug out, the fences of the field and even the seniors cars! We wanted them to feel like no seniors had felt before. In between game we had a cute ceremony for them filled with tears, gifts, and some of the kindess words. They will be greatly missed next season and we wish the best to all of them! LOVE YOU GIRLS 🙂 xoxo

Splits are nice

Sunday was the final game of the year for us against Old Westbury! Compared to our complete upset to them last year, I’d consider it a pretty successful game. We came to play and ended up spliting with them. The first game scored at 2-4, and while not being happy with that, we stepped up our game. The second game came and we beat them 6-5. WOO SOFTBALL! Emily Stanley also played a few different positions (including right field and catcher.. I was a bit nervous for her), ending her collegiate softball career having played every position on the field.

We may have taken that for granted…

With an upcoming game against Mt. St. Vincent, we were sure we would have no trouble sweeping two from them. We were having a great season and continued to hold the #4 spot for the playoffs. Ready to play last Friday (April 24th) we were shocked to learn that a victory over Mt. St Vincent may be harder then we had anticipated. While the games were close, sad to say we had lost both. The first we lost 1-4 while the second we lost 4-5. It’s safe to say it wasn’t a great day for us and softball. We continued to hold our heads high though, for the next day Saturday, we had to fight for a possible playoff spot with Old Westbury College.

I’ll post on the outcome of the game later.
Class calls. 🙂

Check out the official write-up HERE!

She shadows him, he shadows her.

The Hour reporter John Nash, recently did an article on Junior Kiersten Morsanutto called The Shadow Shine Out In The Sunlight.

The shadow shines out in the sunlight
Posted on 04/20/2009
email | print | link to this article

The shadow shines out in the sunlight

By JOHN NASH

Hour Staff Writer

PURCHASE, N.Y. — It was early March when a young lady walked into The Hour’s offices looking to job shadow a reporter for a course she was taking in college.

I ended up being that reporter and over the course of two separate days, Norwalk resident Kiersten Morsanutto was alongside as I did my job.

She asked the questions and learned my story as I sat here at our Main Avenue offices, putting together a sports sections for one of our weekly papers. She also got to see me in action as she tagged along during the thrilling double-overtime FCIAC boys basketball championship game between Stamford over Trinity Catholic.

During our time together, I learned just a little bit about her, though. I knew she attended Lauralton Hall, up in Milford, and she was an athlete, playing college softball at NCAA Divivision III Purchase College, just west of the border.

On Sunday afternoon, I headed down the Merritt Parkway to “job shadow” my job shadower as her Purchase Panthers played a Skyline Conference doubleheader against Farmingdale State College.

What I found was a story that was much more intriguing than I expected as Morsanutto runs far deeper than her .392 batting average, five home runs and 27 runs batted in.

A few months ago, she got to write a paper about me. (It earned an “A” from what I was told.) Now, it’s my turn to write a little something about her.

* * *

There is a hint of Hollywood in everything that surrounds Kiersten Morsanutto.

Part of it is her engaging 100-watt smile. Part of it is her flair for the dramatic. Part of it might even be the story of her life and the road she has taken to the here and now, a path dotted with spotlights and shining moments and even a few brushes with Tinseltown superstars.

A sister to three athletic brothers — Thomas, Alex and Dylan — Morsanutto grew up in Norwalk as an athlete who shined in all the sports she played.

During the spring and summer months, her days were filled with travel softball through the Norwalk Athletic Association. She also constantly jumped into the deep end of the pool as a member of the Norwalk Zeus Swim Club and it was Lauralton’s swim program that led to her continuing her education north of Norwalk.

Her athletic ability seemed to come so naturally that even when she took up the sport of tennis, according to her mother, the local club where she played promoted her from beginner’s lessons to matches in a short period of time because she just seemed to get it.

Her life, however, was part “The Natural” and part “The Player.”

By the time she was eight, she had already landed a small acting part in a 1995 film called, “Lethal Justice,” playing a character named Patricia Trent. You can find that information on IMDB.

When she was 10, Morsanutto was hired to be a double/stand-in for the Olson Twins — Mary Kate and Ashley — on the set of their New York City film, “It Takes Two.”

“They were nice, but they were really shy,” Morsanutto remembered. “I wanted to be pen pals with them, but (their handlers) wouldn’t let me.”

But it was those experiences that let Morsanutto connect with the idea of performing and movies and television.

Following her sophomore year at Lauralton, the call of the footlights proved to be especially strong and she had a decision to make heading into the spring of her junior year.

Softball or the stage; between the baselines or “Kiss Me Kate.”

“I had been on varsity, but I really didn’t get that much playing time and I really wanted to do the musical,” Morsanutto said. “So I quit.”

While Morsanutto swam for all four of her years in high school, she honestly thought softball was in her past. After graduation, she spent a year at UConn-Stamford before looking at Purchase as a place to take her to the next stage of her life.

During an open house at the school, the subject of softball resurfaced.

“I was hesitant at first,” she admitted. “We were talking to the athletic director and the softball team didn’t have a coach at the time, it was sort of in a transition period. They just said, this is when our practices are, so come out and see what you think.”

That fall, new head coach Steven Loscher had no clue who the new player was who showed up to be a part of the team — the only Connecticut girl on a roster full of New York staters.

“It’s funny because rarely does a kid come in and just show up at your doorstep and say, “Coach, I’m a player and I want to play,'” Loscher said. “I said, ‘Where do you play?’ and she said ‘Wherever you want me to.’ I tried her everywhere, infield, outfield, everywhere except pitcher.”

What Loscher found was somebody who could play the game.

“She’s a very valuable part of this team,” said Loscher. “She was last year, she is this year and she will be again next year.”

Morsanutto’s flair for the dramatic was apparent from day one.

In her very first game as a college player, Morsanutto had her team’s only hit in a 22-0 loss to Meredith College. Despite missing three straight years of competitive softball, she hit .339 her first season back (third on the team) and drove in 20 runs (second on the team) for the Panthers as they qualified for the Skyline Conference tournament.

This current season, she went 3-for-4 with two home runs — including a grand slam — and five RBIs as the Panthers won their season opener in Florida. That game kick-started a campaign in which she’s hit .392 with five home runs, 12 doubles and 27 RBIs in 23 games.

She currently leads the Skyline Conference in doubles and is second in RBIs.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Morsanutto said. “Last year, was my first home run ever and this year I’ve already hit five and the season isn’t even done yet. I just try to go out there and get hits, not try to hit home runs. Everything just seems like it’s fallen into my lap.”

She’s also glad to be back playing the sport she gave up three years ago.

“I never would have thought I’d play softball again after I quit in high school,” she said. “Not many people can say they play a college sport.”

Loscher only expects Morsanutto to keep getting better.

“She has good hand speed and I’m glad we’re going to have her back,” the second-year head coach said. “Regardless of how good she is as a player, though, she’s also a lot of fun. The kids really like her and she’s always upbeat.”
* * *

On the day I job shadowed my job shadower, Morsanutto needed that upbeat attitude and her 100-watt smile.

Let’s just say it wasn’t a good day for Purchase College’s No. 20 — an oh-for-everything kind of day with a handful of strikeouts in front of family and friends. To make matters worse, the Panthers were swept by Farmingdale, the first-place team in the Skyline standings.

“I would say today was her most disappointing day in a Panther uniform, but we all have those days — we all have bad days at the office,” Loscher said. “But she’ll rebound. She’s a solid player.”

“I’m so embarrassed,” she said. “I think this is probably the worst I’ve ever played.”

Still, her stats don’t lie.

She’s putting together one of the best seasons in the Purchase program’s history and she’s part of a 15-9 team which has already won the most wins ever in the program’s history with four more games to go.

Plus, while she’s already done intern gigs at News 12 and in the art department for the feature film “All Good Things,” starring Kiersten Dunst and Ryan Gosling, Morsanutto recently found out that she’s got an internship this summer for the Maury Povich Show, which starts taping in nearby Stamford soon.

“Oh yeah, I’m so excited about that,” she said. “My mom and I used to watch that show when I was younger. It probably wasn’t the best thing for somebody my age to be watching. But it’s a production internship and I’m thinking about TV production, so that’s great.”

Besides one bad weekend does not a career make.

After all, Kiersten Morsanutto still isn’t done.

I’m sure she’s got a Hollywood ending in there somewhere.

Credit- http://www.thehour.com

I’m a slacker…

I should have posted this awhile ago but I didn’t. Enjoy though!

The past week in review!

Here’s a quick review of the last week!

Wednesday 3/25/09 – We were supposed to have a game against City Tech, although they called a half hour before and said they weren’t coming. Thanks a lot CT! Nevertheless we decided to have fun and do an inter squad scrimmage.

Thursday 3/26/09- off

Friday 3/27/09- Home game against New Rochelle. We won both games. The first one at 14-0 and the second game scored at 10-0. This brings our record to 11-5 (overall.) WOO!

Saturday 3/28/09- 9am practice… lovely. It was a good yet quick one. Everyone hit did some fielding, put the tarp on, and went back to bed 🙂

Sunday 3/29/09- We had to be up at 7am to take the tarp off, so we all met at the field. It was pouring so we decided to leave the tarp on and reschedule the league game against Mt. St Vincent.

Monday 3/30/09- Class caused me to miss practice boo.

Tuesday 3/31/09- Super fun practice! We worked on fielding with a bunch of grounders and fly’s.

Wednesday 4/01/09- Happy April! No practice today:). Our captain thought it would be funny to text us all, saying we had a meeting with coach 20 minutes ago and he was bugging cause we weren’t there! The freshmen understood the joke while the returners all bugged haha. Happy April fool’s Day to you to EMILY!

Game tomorrow at St Elizabeth’s college in Jersey! Pretty pumped, although I’m missing classes all day.

Coming Soon: Videos/Pictures from the season so far!