Full Story

By Gregory Sebastiao
Milford Patch
Kristen Morcone graduate from Milford High School in 2008 where she played on the softball team as a freshman and also on the volleyball team under head coach Linda Zacchilli. She helped lead the Scarlet Hawks to a league championship in softball, as well as a state championship in volleyball her senior year. She hit .411 with a .630 slugging percentage (in high school) and was named team MVP and a Milford Daily News and Worcester Telegram & Gazette All-Star as a softball player. Though both sports remained close to her heart, she had to decide between the two which she would pursue at the collegiate level; Morcone chose softball.

Now in her junior year at Long Island University's C.W. Post campus, Morcone is spending her time on the diamond as a catcher and second baseman for the Pioneers. In her freshman year, she played in 54 games and batted .244 with 32 hits, 13 RBIs and six runs scored. Her sophomore year, she split time with another catcher, but came up big at the end of a season as the team's designated hitter. She has recently been named a captain and looks forward to the start of the season.

Off the field, Morcone is studying to become a physical education or health teacher and spends her time away from her own sport by supporting the other athletic teams on Post's campus.

Favorite food: Spaghetti and meatballs

Favorite movie: The Sandlot

Favorite book: The Twilight series

Which position do you enjoy playing more: catcher or second base?

Catcher. I just like being in control of the game and what pitches the pitcher throws.

What have you been up to since graduating from Milford High School?

I'm majoring in physical education and health education, so it's a dual major and I stay pretty busy with school work. Right now I'm student teaching and observing at a school near C.W. Post. It's pretty fun in that department. There is a good department head and all the kids in the department are really good.

Softball-wise, I just got named captain last month, so that was a really big honor. I'm really looking forward to this season. We've had two good years so far. We made NCAA Regionals both years in a row and won our conference tournament, but we haven't really gone further than the regionals. We should have a lot of promise due to our strong freshman class and our new and outstanding coach.

Tell me a little bit about your first two seasons so far.

My freshman year, I started all 54 games at catcher and that was a really big responsibility—calling the game as a freshman—but I really enjoyed it. Last year, it was a little tougher for me because there was a freshman catcher and we were kind of battling back and forth for the starting spot and toward the end of the season I got a starting spot as the designated hitter. I think that was an honor and I really deserved that spot; I really shined in the last few games during the postseason there. So this year I am looking forward to battling back for a spot as catcher and the DH position as well.

Take me back through the process of choosing a college, what sport you were going to play and how you ended up at Post?

During the fall, I played high school volleyball and we had a really good season that year and it was really tough to decide between volleyball and softball—because that was the signing period for softball—but in the end I knew that I would miss softball more because I've been playing it longer.

I was looking at Assumption, UNH and other D-II schools, but at Post I had a friend who was from Milford and had a really positive experience there and she influenced my decision too. I really liked the coaching staff at Post as well.

When did you know you wanted to go into education, and more specifically, physical education?

I had coach Linda Zacchilli as a volleyball coach, and she was my physical education teacher in middle school as well as high school, and she really influenced me to become a physical education teacher; she was awesome. She was the one that was the deciding factor that made me realize that I wanted to be a teacher and be a good coach one day.

Could you tell me about your Milford High School experience and if you have any favorite moments from your time there?

I made the varsity softball team as freshman and that was an amazing experience. I looked up to the girls so much and they taught me a lot about how to be a leader, obey coaches and how to play the game the right way.

One of my favorite experiences was beating Hudson my senior year and also becoming league champs. We went to the state championship in volleyball, but we were never league champs. Also, making it to the state championship game for volleyball was unbelievable too, and that's what made it so tough to choose between the two [sports].

Who has influenced you the most in your life, whether on or off the field?

First and most importantly my parents; they never miss a game and they're constantly reminding me that school comes first and then softball. Also, I think the most influential person in my life has been Linda Zacchilli because she really made me decide that I wanted to be a teacher one day and wanted to be a coach. I saw how she affected and changed their [students/athletes] lives and I want to change lives like that too.