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Get on board with Extra Inning Softball’s regular feature, The Last Inning!
We are scouring the Internet and Social Media and keeping our ears to the street for the latest going on in the softball community.
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Here’s our TLI for Thursday, April 21:
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EXTRA SPOTLIGHT: KIRSTEN FINARELLI
Extra Inning Softball begins running the 2025 Extra Elite 100 on May 23, so TLI is taking a look as some of the top 2025 prospects in the nation and today we look at C/1B/3B Kirsten Finarelli, who has been making an impact for Newtown Rock 18U Gold-Garvey and as a freshman for Lake Lehman High of PA…
EXTRA SPOTLIGHT Q&A
Name: Kirsten Finarelli
Hometown: Lehman, PA
High School: Lake Lehman High
Club Team: Newtown Rock 18U Gold-Garvey
Graduation Year: 2025
Height: 5-foot-10
Position: C/1B/3B
Nickname: Kir
Twitter: @KFinarelli
Honors: National Junior Honor Society; Principal’s Honors for first three quarters of freshman year; and 12U USSSA All-American (unable to attend due to Covid).
Travel Ball Fall Stats: .444 AVG, .480 OBP, 1.347 OPS, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 5 HRs and 21 RBIs.
High School Highlights: .609 AVG, .700 OBP, 1.261 SLG, 1.961 OPS, 3 HRs and 12 RBIs in seven games so far this season.
Tell us about your travel team/organization and how you became involved with them?
Coach Joe Garvey reached out to me last winter when I was in 8th grade and invited me to come down for an indoor workout. The second I got to the Newtown Indoor Facility I was welcomed with smiles. Coach Garvey, Coach (Dan) Santelli and every single one of the players made me feel welcomed instantly. I worked out with them over the course of the winter and they invited me to play full time on the 18U Gold team.
To say I was nervous was an understatement, but Coach Garvey and Coach Santelli had full confidence in me as a player. They gave me an amazing opportunity to play for an incredible team and I couldn’t be more grateful. I had a great time playing in my first fall season, and I’m really looking forward to this summer where we will be taking on some of the best teams in the United States.
Can you talk about playing against older players at the 18U level?
It has been quite an honor to play at this level with such accomplished players on the Newtown Gold team. They have taken me in and made me feel like an equal even though I am so much younger than many of them. Playing with them has taught me that I can compete with the best and feel like I am completely supported.
Because I am so young, they call me “Freshy,” because I am just a freshman and started playing with them when I was 14. They are there to catch me when I fall and give me the confidence to stand at the plate and compete against the best. I have bonded with them so much that I can’t imagine playing with any other group.
Can you talk about playing at the varsity level for Lake Lehrman High and how you did as a freshman?
Because of the crazy weather, we have only played a few games in my first high school season. I am really lucky to have my high school coach. Her name is Nicole Chipego and has coached me since I was really young. She was my little league coach and took our team to the Pennsylvania state championship tournament. We didn’t win the championship, but we had so much fun and made great memories. She was herself a player for the University of Oklahoma and played for Coach Patty Gasso in her second year as head coach.
Coach Chipego has been there with me since I was a little girl and has guided me ever since. Her knowledge of the game and constant encouragement has given me an amazing foundation and love for the game. There aren’t many girls who have had the opportunities I have had and been able to play for such amazing coaches.
Who is your sports hero and why?
Jen Schroeder. Her catching camp, The Packaged Deal, has helped me a lot. I have always looked up to Jen Schro because she was a great student as well as a great catcher. I take school as seriously as I do softball. She has taught me a lot about catching and being a positive athlete.
Do you have a secret talent/skill?
I am rather a decent artist and can draw really well.
What’s your most memorable softball story?
My favorite softball memory was our state playoff run in Little League. What makes it so memorable is it’s where I hit my first ever out-of-the-park home run. It was a fun moment to hit my first one, because of the cheers from the parents and my teammates. It was the first time my teammates ran out on the field to meet me as I came home. That is a memory that I will never forget. I was lucky that Coach Chipego, Coach Spudis and my Aunt Alexis were all coaching and were there to see me hit it.
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