Kurt Casali

[ic59]

Kurt is the grandson of former (and long time) Iona staffer, Marian and her husband Lou, and the other day he was drafted #317 by the Detroit Tigers. I figure that was either the nineth or tenth round. Kurt is a catcher for Vanderbilt, and I'm sure his grandparents are still celebrating. Congrats to Marian and Lou.

[callahan1984]

Curt is quite a player. Had a season-ending injury last year and has done very well since his recovery;


Curt Casali

Class: Senior

Hometown: New Canaan, Conn.

High School: New Canaan

Height / Weight: 6-3 / 220

Position: C

Bats / Throws: Right/Right

Career Highs
Hits: 4, most recently vs. Florida State (6/11/10)
Runs: 3, most recently vs. Illinois State (3/6/10)
RBI: 5, most recently vs. Georgia (4/30/10)
Walks: 3, vs. Lipscomb (4/20/10)
HRs: 1, most recently vs. Lipscomb (3/11/11)
Strikeouts: 3, at LSU (5/9/10)
Stolen Bases: 1, most recently at Auburn (4/1/11)

Coach Corbin Quote: Having Curt back in our program for a fourth year is certainly a boost to our team and specifically our pitching staff. There are not many kids who possess the size, arm strength and catching ability that Curt does. Besides being a quality catcher, Curt has distinguished himself as one of the better offensive players in our league. He will start for us behind the plate and hit in the middle of our order.

2011: Posted his third straight multi-hit game with three hits at Auburn 4/3... Drove in a run going 2-for-4 at Auburn 4/2... Collected a season-best three hits driving in two runs at Auburn 4/1... Slipped to 0-for-12 in his last four games with 0-for-3 performance against UT-Martin 3/29... Scored a run but went 0-for-2 at Arkansas 3/27... Walked twice and went 0-for-3 at Arkansas 3/26... Went 0-for-4 in loss at Arkansas 3/25... Knocked in two runs for the third straight game going 2-for-4 against Mississippi State 3/19, 11 RBI in last six games... Doubled for the fourth straight game drving in two runs in win over Mississippi State 3/18... Doubled for the third straight game going 1-for-4 with two RBI against Purdue 3/15... Reached base in nine straight plate appearances snapping the streak going 3-for-4 against UIC 3/13... Went 3-for-3 with a double, RBI and two runs scored against UIC 3/12... Hit the team's first grand slam of the year going 1-for-3 in win over UIC 3/11... Did not start but went 0-for-2 with a run scored as a defensive replacement against Kennesaw State 3/9... Went 1-for-4 in blowout win over Wofford 3/8... Singled twice going 2-for-3 with a run scored in win over Brown 3/6 in second game of doubleheader... Fell into 1-for-15 slump with 0-for-4 against Brown 3/6... Struck out twice and went 0-for-3 against Brown 3/4... Hit his third double of the year driving in one run in win over WKU 3/1... Went 0-for-4 in Sunday loss to Stanford 2/27... Doubled and went 2-for-4 for the second straight day against Stanford 2/26... Went 2-for-4 with a double in win over Stanford 2/25... Went 0-for-3 against Belmont in home opener 2/23... Drove in his first run of the year but went 0-for-4 in second game of doubleheader against USD 2/20... Started as DH for first time and went 1-for-4 vs. USD in first game of doubleheader 2/20... Collected apair of singles in win at SDSU 2/19... Went 0-for-3 with a strikeout Opening Day against USD 2/18.

2010: Hit .309 with 13 doubles, 8 home runs, 42 RBI in 52 games as a junior...Batted .500 (7-for-14) with six RBI, three doubles and a home run in three games against Florida State at NCAA Super Regional (6/11-6/13), including 4-for-5 game in Friday game (6/11)... Went 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored the game's winning run against Louisville in the bottom of the 10th at the Regional Championship (6/7)... Went 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored against Louisville in elimination game NCAA Regional (6/6)... Went a combined (4-for-12) with an RBI and run scored in final regular season series against Arkansas (5/20-5/22)... Hit .333 with three RBI, five runs, four extra-base hits (three doubles and a home run) and three walks in three game sweep against Mississippi St. (5/14-5/16)... Went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI and two runs scored against Louisville (5/11)... Hit sixth home run of the season, a three-run shot and scored two runs in Friday night game at LSU (5/7)... Connected on three-run homer and drove in two more with two-RBI double, to finish with season-high five RBI in 17-5 win over Georgia (4/30)... Went a team-best 5-for-9 with four runs scored, three walks and seventh-inning game tying home run in three-game series against Tennessee (4/23-4/25)... Went 2-for-3 with two runs scored in Friday game against Auburn (4/16)... Missed 13 games during the middle of the season due to hamstring injury... Recorded a pinch-hit single in only at-bat against Wofford (3/30)... Was 4-for-5 with two RBI, including a home run and three runs scored against Illinois State (3/6)... Four hits and three runs scored against ISU tied a career high... Went 2-for-3 with three RBI, three runs scored and a home run against Tennessee Tech (3/3)... Went 6-for-11 with two doubles and two runs scored in three games of Dodgertown Classic (2/26-2/28)... Was 5-for-10 at the plate with six RBI, four runs scored and three walks in season opening series with Niagara (2/19-2/21).


2009: Hit .336 with 62 runs scored and team-high 59 RBI on the season... Tied for the team lead in home runs with 10 and ranked second on the team in on-base percentage (.442)... Started every game during the season, playing at first base and DH... Launched 10th home run of the season and second home run in as many days with seventh-inning bomb against LSU in SEC Championship game (5/24)... Went 2-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored in 11-1 route over Arkansas at the SEC Tournament (5/23)... Drove in two runs with 1-for-4 effort against LSU (5/20)... Went 1-for-3 with a double, walk and two runs scored in second game of UT series (5/15)... Notched two hits and an RBI in three at-bats in Friday game against Tennessee (5/14)... Reached base twice with double and walk in series finale with Georgia (5/10)... Went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in game two of Georgia series... Went 2-for-5 with an RBI and run scored in Sunday game against South Carolina (5/3)... Drove in a pair of runs with two runs scored in 2-for-4 effort in series opener against South Carolina (5/1)... Collected two hits in four trips to the plate ... Went 3-for-5 with a home run, three hits, and two RBI against Mississippi Sate on 4/26... Went 2-for-4 with a home run, two hits, two runs, and three RBI against Mississippi State on 4/25... Had a hit and a run against Mississippi State on 4/24... Contributed a hit and RBI against Louisville on 4/22... Combined for three hits and RBI in doubleheader against Alabama on 4/18... Contributed one hit en route to shutting out Morehead State 8-0 on 4/15... Went 3-for-3 at the plate against Arkansas on 4/10 with 3 hits and RBI... Fueled Commodores comeback from 9-2 deficit against Florida (4/5) with a 3-for-5 day including two doubles and three RBI ... Went 2-for-5 with solo homer, sixth of year, in win over Belmont (4/1) ... Tied a career high with three hits (3-for-4) night against Auburn (3/27). Also stole home for first career stolen base (double steal) ... Went 2-for-5 with a double, RBI and run scored against Austin Peay (3/24)... Collected two hits in the same inning against Belmont (3/18), finishing 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored... Went 2-for-4 with two RBI in Sunday game with Ole Miss (3/15)... Went a perfect 3-for-3 with a homer, two RBI and two runs scored against Lipscomb (3/10)... Went a combined 7-of-14 (.500) with six runs scored, four RBI and a pair of homeruns in series with UIC... Went 1-for-4 with three runs scored in series finale with UIC (3/8)... Hit a perfect 3-for-3 while driving in a run and scoring a run in Saturday game with UIC (3/7)... Went 2-for-3 at the plate, including a two-run homerun in second game vs. UIC (3/6)... Posted third multi-hit game of the season with two hits, two runs scored and homerun against UIC (3/5)... 1-for-2 with two runs scored, two walks and one RBI versus Lipscomb. Drove in career-high five RBI while going 1-for-2 with a double and two walks in Sunday game against Vermont (3/3)... Went 1-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored against Vermont (2/28)... Drove in three runs and scored one run with a double in 2-for-5 effort against Western Ky...Hit second homerun of the day in nightcap of doubleheader against Stanford (2/21)... Went 2-for-4 with one homerun, one double and two runs scored in first game of DH against Stanford (2/21).

2008: Batted .317, with 13 runs scored and 13 RBI...Made first collegiate appearance against Arizona State (2/23), going 1-for-1 with two runs scored and a walk...Made first career start against Xavier (3/2), going 3-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored...Had perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate, scored three runs and had an RBI against Louisville (3/4)...Scored two runs and had a hit against Illinois-Chicago (3/9)...Hit first home-run of his career against Western Carolina (3/12), while driving in two runs ... Hit walk off two-run homer in bottom of the 12th against Middle Tennessee (3/26)...Came in as a pinch hitter against Austin Peay (4/9) and went 1-for-1...Tied a career best with three hits against Lipscomb (4/15) with two RBI...Was 1-for-2 against Western Kentucky (4/16)...Went 1-for-4 with two RBI against Austin Peay (4/22)...Started at DH against Florida (5/16), going 1-for-3 ... Hit .172 with a double, triple, and homerun in 30 games for Hyannis in the Cape Cod League over the summer.

High School: Tabbed the second best prospect out of Connecticut/Rhode Island by Baseball America entering the June 2007 draft ... Named a first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball in 2007 ... Also participated in the Playstation All-American game ... Was a star on the baseball diamond as well as on the gridiron for New Canaan High ... Named first-team All-State in baseball 2005-07 and in football 2007 ... Helped lead baseball team to conference championship as a junior ... Quarterbacked football team to state championship in football as a senior ... Named the New Canaan Sportsman of the Year in 2007 ... Lettered four years in baseball, three in football and two in basketball ... Team captain in baseball for two years (2006-07) and one in football (2006) ... Enrolled at Vanderbilt over the summer.

Personal: Curtis Michael Casali ... Born 11/9/88 .... Son of Cathy and Louis Casali ... Has two siblings, Andrew and Chase ... Majoring in corporate communications... Favorites include Chipper Jones, Tom Petty, Third Eye Blind and the movie The Shawshank Redemption ... Favorite vacation spot is The Hamptons and Cape Cod ... Chose Vanderbilt because of the baseball program and academics and the position they will put him in to develop into the person he wants to become.