Scata turns on the power at Keene State

Senior Melissa "Mo" Scata of Medway is taking aim at Keene State's career home run record; two more will tie the mark. (KEENE STATE COLLEGE)

Medway's Melissa "Mo" Scata, a senior catcher on Keene (N.H.) State College's softball team, is on the verge of setting the program's career home run record as the Owls head into the start of their conference schedule.

With 22 career round-trippers, Scata sits just two homers shy of the record set by Carrah Fisk (1996-99), niece of former Red Sox star and Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk.

"My dad called me Mo because his favorite player was Mo Vaughn," said Scata. "It just stuck. I don't answer to Melissa that much. Only my mom calls me Melissa."

Scata started the season with a home run against Illinois College, during the opening game of Keene State's spring trip to Florida, and it turned into a bit of an adventure. Because the field in Fort Myers does not have a fence, Scata had to leg it around the bases, with a little prodding from the squad's head coach, Charlie Beach.

"When I rounded third, Coach Beach had me speed it up a little," recalled Scata. "Last year, I was thrown out at the plate. I wasn't letting that happen again."

Beach said he hasn't done much to change Scata's mechanics at the plate. "I just let her swing the bat," said Beach, whose team is scheduled to open its Little East Conference slate Saturday with a double-header at home against Western Connecticut State University. "She has a great compact swing and good bat velocity."

Scata, who has been named to the conference's all-star team three times, was a four-time Tri-Valley League all-star at Medway High and the team's MVP as a junior and senior.

"I didn't hit many home runs in high school because most of the fields didn't have fences," she said. "I'm not the fastest runner going around the bases."

Scata hit seven home runs as a college freshman and followed that up with a breakout sophomore season, when she hit 12 home runs and tied the school's single-season record with 41 RBIs.

Although she batted .340 last spring, Scata's power numbers fell significantly. "I think it was the combination of not getting good pitches to hit and trying too hard for the long ball," said Scata, who finished with just two home runs.

However, she said, she is taking a new approach this season.

"I'm not pushing it," said Scata, who batted .448 with the homer and 14 RBIs to help Keene get off to a 9-1 start on its Florida trip. "I'm just trying to hit the ball hard. When the record comes, it comes."

But her main focus is getting the Owls back to the NCAA Division 3 tournament.

"I've been there twice and I want to go back again," she said. "I want to end my career in style."