Getting To Know Marissa Muoio & Brittany Hammer
3/29/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
10 Questions with sophomores Marissa Muoio and Brittany Hammer.
1. How did you get involved in softball?
Marissa Muoio: I started out playing tee ball when I was five in my town. Then I moved on to softball I when I was about 7 years old. I didn't start catching until the summer after seventh grade when our catcher got hurt and our town summer coach had us all tryout to see who could throw from home to second base. I was the only one who reached, so that became my new position.
Brittany Hammer: Growing up in Iowa, there was no girls' softball. My twin brother, Zach, and I played little league baseball together for several years starting when we were about five or six years old. I had also been a competitive gymnast at the time, which was always my primary focus. Then, when I was nine years old, I suffered a severe compound fracture in my left arm during an uneven bars routine. Several months later, my family moved out to Lancaster, Pa. After moving to Lancaster, I decided to find a sport that kept my feet on the ground, and baseball seemed like a good place to start. I went to sign up to play that next spring, and this time was told I had to sign up for girls' softball. It's weird to think that I've spent about half of my life playing this sport now, and I have absolutely no regrets.
2. Why did you choose Seton Hall?
MM: I always kind of knew I was coming to Seton Hall. Both my dad and my aunt went to Seton Hall and my brother graduated last year. I also came because of the 4+2 Speech Pathology program.
BH: I had always had a goal to play in the BIG EAST Conference, and I had received interest from and visited several schools in the conference. Seton Hall, being so close to New York City, offered a great opportunity for not only playing collegiate softball, but also for my decided major - marketing and public relations.
3. What challenges have you had to overcome on the softball field?
MM: Softball can be so frustrating because you can fail so much yet still be considered a good player. The offensive part of the game has always given me trouble and just trying to overcome my own mental doubts about my hitting has definitely been the most difficult.
BH: I had to pitch my senior year in high school, after not pitching regularly since eighth grade. We still made the league playoffs and won our first playoff game.
4. What was your favorite experience here at Seton Hall?
MM: My favorite experience at Seton Hall was definitely finding out that I made the team my freshman year. Walking on to a Division I BIG EAST softball team was something I could only dream about. I remember finding out and driving over to my high school coach know to let him know I made it. I'm so thankful to him because he really opened the door for me and encouraged me to give it a shot. I don't know what I'd be doing without softball; hanging out with my teammates is the best part of my day.
BH: Some of my favorite experiences would include my pair of homeruns hit while playing for Seton Hall - my first collegiate home-run at St. Peters last spring and then also the home-run off pitcher Jen Mineau of Fordham this past fall.
5. What is the greatest lesson that you have learned from softball?
MM: The greatest lesson I've learned from softball is perseverance. Sometimes it requires a lot of patience and it doesn't happen overnight, but if you put the time in, you'll eventually see results.
BH: I would say softball has taught me several very important lessons, the first being to always lead by example. I always try to carry myself - on and off the field - in a manner that other players and individuals would want to follow. Also, softball is a team sport - you win as a team and lose as a team. And finally, you need to enter every game prepared, focused, and ready to give it your all - leaving everything you have out there on the diamond.
6. What accomplishment in your softball career are you most proud of?
MM: I'm most proud of being a walk-on and making the team my freshman year. It was a huge dream of mine to be able to continue to play in college and something that I had only ever considered to be too far out of my reach. I'm on my third year in and it still feels pretty surreal when I think about it.
BH: Here at Seton Hall, I feel as if it is an accomplishment in itself to be recruited to play for a Division I BIG EAST program. Earning a starting position as a freshman was something of which I was very proud, and then also being named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll later that season. Finally, to cap off my freshman season, I was named Freshman Scholar-Athlete of the Year at Seton Hall - an academic accomplishment in which I take pride.
7. In your free time, what do you enjoy doing besides playing softball?
MM: Besides softball, I love doing improv performances for whoever will listen which most of the time is my teammates, pulling pranks, talking in random accents, cooking feasts, tilling my vegetable garden in the summer, and reading.
BH: When I'm not rolling around the infield, I'm probably doing some other type of sport. I'm one of those people who get bored pretty easily, so I like to always be moving. I love to run - it's relaxing and gives me time to think and take a break from the world. I golf a little, swim, and play some tennis, too.
8. If you weren't on the softball team here, what other sports team would you most likely be interested in being on and why?
MM: If I didn't play softball here, I would definitely be interested in playing golf. It was the first sport I learned how to play when my grandpa stuck a club in my hands at the age of four. He would shave down his old clubs and put new grips on for me so that I could have clubs my size that weren't Fisher Price. We would take weekly trips to the driving range and have putting competitions on his green in the basement. I think it's a great lifelong sport and I still love to play in the summers.
BH: I would most likely be involved in either tennis or swimming. My brother and I always play tennis in the summer, since we both used to play at least semi-competitively. As for swimming - people always tell me I look like a swimmer. We have a pool back at home, so I actually find myself swimming quite often for training purposes over the summer.
9. What is your major and why did you choose to study that? Do you have educational aspirations beyond your undergraduate degree at Seton Hall?
MM: I'm a junior in the 4+2 Speech Pathology Program. The undergrad program is focused on elementary/special education. So I will graduate with a B.S. in Education next year. However, I am also taking 18 credits worth of pre-requisite courses in Speech Pathology that will prepare me for a graduate program in Speech at either Seton Hall or another university.
BH: I am a Business-Marketing major, with a minor in Public Relations and Journalism. I have always loved to write and express creativity in whatever I do (you can probably tell through the crazy headbands I wear everyday). In this field, I feel like I would be able to do both. I eventually want to be involved in sports marketing and journalism. Sports have played such a huge role in my life thus far, and I feel like giving up my connections to the sports world isn't even an option. I plan on attending graduate school after I finish my undergraduate degree here at Seton Hall University. I've been researching several universities with well-known business schools, and I hope to attend one of the universities that are considered to be in the top-10 in the country.
10. What goals do you have both on the diamond and in the classroom during your career here at Seton Hall?
MM: My goals this year with softball are just to keep my teammates laughing and contribute any way I can. In the classroom, I want to continue to make the Dean's List and absorb as much as I can in my Teaching Field Experience.
BH: On the diamond, I have both team and personal goals that I would love to accomplish here at Seton Hall. I would love for us to win the BIG EAST conference, the conference tournament, and make it into NCAA Regionals. Personally, when my softball career here at SHU is over, it would be nice to have been considered as one of the better shortstops to come through South Orange. Hopefully, playing well, being consistent, and being a leader will lead to that type of future recognition. I also hope to accrue individual BIG EAST honors, BIG EAST honor roll, as well as other all conference honors. Being a student-athlete creates some challenges for staying on top of your course work, and my goal is to achieve at least a 3.50 GPA every semester, and making the dean's list as many semesters as I can. I would love to be considered for athletic recognition, post-graduate opportunities and scholarships because of my strong scholastic performance.
