Published: May 15, 2008 11:01 pm      

COLLEGE SOFTBALL: NT's Miranto, Canisius look for Golden ending

BUFFALO — We’re approaching the end of an era at the Tonawanda News.

For over a decade, the athletic exploits of North Tonawanda’s Miranto family have been chronicled in their hometown newspaper. It began with Mike, the Tonawanda News basketball player of the year in 2000 who later came back to help coach the Lumberjacks, and continued with twin siblings Scott and Katie, multi-sport stars who specialized in football and softball, respectively.

In the last year, Mike moved to Montana to pursue coaching at a small college, and Scott concluded a standout career at St. John Fisher College. Now, Katie is putting the finishing touches on one of the best softball careers in Canisius College history.

With the Golden Griffins (38-12) set to make their 10th NCAA tournament appearance today, facing defending champion Arizona in Hempstead, Miranto ranks among the school’s all-time top 10 in 10 different offensive statistics, topping the list in hits (226) and runs scored (161).

The shortstop’s senior campaign so far includes a sparking .416 batting average, single-season records for hits and runs, a top-10 national ranking in triples, a share of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year award with Niagara’s Felicia Coffey, most outstanding player recognition at last weekend’s MAAC tournament, and a spot on the academic all-district team for the second straight year.

Each accomplishment has been put into print, and circulated around the neighborhood where Miranto grew up playing baseball with her brother and the other boys.

Miranto recalls first seeing her name in the Tonawanda News when started playing T-ball at 6. “You get so excited when you’re a kid and you see your name in the paper,” she said this week.

Some of the excitement wore away, as Miranto batted over .400 in all six of her varsity seasons at NT, was named New York state softball player of the year in 2004, and continued to excel on the diamond at Canisius.

“But I don’t think you can get sick of (being in the newspaper),” she said.

She did get genuinely excited when told that teammate Mallory Aldred made it into this week’s Faces in the Crowd feature in Sports Illustrated for setting the NCAA Division I record with 15 saves.

“That’s a huge honor for her and our whole team,” Miranto said. “I think it was (Aldred’s) quote that if it we weren’t winning, she wouldn’t be able to get any saves.”

Miranto said this is the best of the three NCAA tournament squads she’s played on, with Aldred as a reliable closer — unique in college softball — complimenting MAAC pitcher of the year Juliette Bowers, and an offense with six batters hitting over .300, led by Miranto, Jenny Maheu (.409 batting average, 67 hits), and newcomers Lauren Hope (school-record 38 stolen bases) and Michelle Fridey (school-record 45 RBIs).

“Everyone is feeding off of everyone’s success,” Miranto said. “That’s been a big boost for me. In the past, every at bat seemed like it was do or die.”

“One thing Katie’s focused on this year was not letting things get her down,” coach Mike Rappl said. “In the past, she’d have a bad play, or didn’t get a hit when she wanted it, and she let it affect her. She’s recognized that being a leader is more than just going out and playing. It’s keeping yourself up when you’re not playing well, it’s handling adversity and showing the rest of the team that you can work through it. And she’s done that very well this year.”

The Griffs will try to add to their school-record win total and survive the double-elimination regional that also includes Hofstra and Long Island. But with Canisius never before having advanced past this point, and national championship contender Arizona in the field, it’s likely Miranto will find herself as a former student-athlete by Monday.

Despite being urged to pursue a professional career overseas, Miranto said she’s probably “done competing” once the season ends. Instead, she will head to Orlando, Fla., to intern at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex, as part of her graduate study in sports management.

“We’re really going to miss her,” Rappl said.

So will the Tonawanda News.