Latest / Kendall County News - Shaw Local / Record Newspapers Athlete of the Week: Kayla Kersting, Yorkville, softball, senior

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Record Newspapers Athlete of the Week: Kayla Kersting, Yorkville, softball, senior · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Record Newspapers Athlete of the Week Kayla Cursting, Yorkville Softball
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  Speaker 1: Senior Written by Joshua Welde. This article is being read
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  Speaker 1: by an automated voice brought to you by Everlett. Name
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  Speaker 1: Kayla Cursting, School, Yorkville Senior Sports Softball. Why she was selected.
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  Speaker 1: In four wins last week, Cursting batted seven fifty nine
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  Speaker 1: for twelve with three doubles, a triple, a home run,
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  Speaker 1: nine run scored and seven RBIs. She was selected the
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  Speaker 1: Athlete of the Week in an online vote. Other nominees
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  Speaker 1: were Parkview Christian Baseball's Christian Molder, Sandwich Softballs Abigail Johnson,
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  Speaker 1: and Oswego East Track and Field's Leila Brisbane. Here is
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  Speaker 1: Kursting's interview with sports editor Joshua Welge. You had a
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  Speaker 1: great week last week hitting wise and also with the
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  Speaker 1: four wins. How are you feeling at the plate and
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  Speaker 1: how good was it to get started in conference? Well, Cursting,
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  Speaker 1: at the plate, I feel confident and composed, focusing on
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  Speaker 1: keeping things simple and trusting the work I put in
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  Speaker 1: during the off season. Starting conference play strong with four
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  Speaker 1: straight wins felt amazing and shows what our team is
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  Speaker 1: capable of. We haven't won the conference since twenty twenty three,
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  Speaker 1: so getting back to the top and winning it is
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  Speaker 1: a big goal for us this season. The team has
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  Speaker 1: been on a great run the last weeks. How's it
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  Speaker 1: come together? How did the spring break trip benefit you? Cursting?
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  Speaker 1: Over the past couple weeks, we have really come together
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  Speaker 1: and played team softball. We've had several comeback and close wins,
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  Speaker 1: and that is thanks to how close knit we are
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  Speaker 1: and the trust we have in each other on and
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  Speaker 1: off the field. Our spring break trip definitely played a
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  Speaker 1: huge role in this, as it gave us time to
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  Speaker 1: bond and build strong chemistry with each other. You've moved
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  Speaker 1: from first to hitting third. Do you like the move?
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  Speaker 1: Does it change your approach? Cursting, I'll hit wherever in
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  Speaker 1: the lineup that is best for the team. Over the
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  Speaker 1: past four years, I've batted in just about every spot,
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  Speaker 1: but that doesn't change my mindset. I'm just focused on
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  Speaker 1: doing my job for the team, whether that be getting
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  Speaker 1: on base, bunting, or hitting runners in. As for moving
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  Speaker 1: from first to third, it definitely gives me a different
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  Speaker 1: look at the plate with there being more chances to
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  Speaker 1: bat runners in and switching from a getting on base
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  Speaker 1: mentality to focusing on hitting the opposite field to bring
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  Speaker 1: in runs. Your team seems to have a lot of
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  Speaker 1: fun things like that pig and stuff. Who comes up
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  Speaker 1: with this stuff? And how does it keep the team
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  Speaker 1: loose cursting. It all started my freshman year when Matty
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  Speaker 1: Reeves and Coach Leadbetter made our team pig Wilbur. Wilbur
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  Speaker 1: is covered in memorable and motivational sayings and we bring
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  Speaker 1: him out for every home run after every win. We
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  Speaker 1: also have a tradition of Wilbur pictures where the key
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  Speaker 1: players of that game take a picture together with him.
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  Speaker 1: Last year, Coach Regnier, a few teammates and I went
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  Speaker 1: to our local pet store and picked out our live
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  Speaker 1: team fish Aura. Because of crazy Illinois weather and travel challenges,
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  Speaker 1: Aura only comes to big games and is our good
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  Speaker 1: luck charm. We also have a team Chicken named Betty Lou,
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  Speaker 1: and we are looking to add a team Goat this year. Honestly,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not sure how all these props come about. They
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  Speaker 1: just do. You'll be playing college next year. Do you
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  Speaker 1: watch the college game a lot? Besides future teammates at Iowa?
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  Speaker 1: Are there players you like to watch Kursting. Yes, I
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  Speaker 1: try to watch as much as I can. I feel
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  Speaker 1: like there is so much to learn just from watching
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  Speaker 1: the college level. Also, I recently went to the University
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  Speaker 1: of Iowa to watch a home series. One player I
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  Speaker 1: really enjoy watching is Jordi from Ball. Even though I'm
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  Speaker 1: not a pitcher. I admire how she is an athlete
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  Speaker 1: that can do it all. She can hit, run the bases,
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  Speaker 1: play the field, and pitch. She also has such a
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  Speaker 1: great work ethic and mentality, and you can just feel
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  Speaker 1: her presence the moment she steps onto the field. You
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  Speaker 1: being a senior, now, if you could pass along advice
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  Speaker 1: to younger teammates or a younger you, what would it
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  Speaker 1: be cursting being senior now? One piece of advice I'd
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  Speaker 1: give to younger players and teammates is that failure is
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  Speaker 1: inevitable in softball, but it's not whether you fail, but
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  Speaker 1: how you respond. Use those moments to learn, grow and
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  Speaker 1: come back stronger. Most importantly, love the game, and the
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  Speaker 1: game will love you back.