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08/04/2016 12:00 AMAfter closing out a stellar career pitching for the Lauralton Hall softball team, East Haven resident Ireland Miesseau has decided to play a postgraduate season at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts in order to increase her prospects of competing in college.
“I chose Deerfield to bolster my odds to get to where I wanted to go. I want to better myself in academics, too, because that’s what will carry me,” says Ireland. “I was being recruited by Division I, II, and III schools, but none were exactly what I was looking for. Some was the area, others were not feeling like I belonged. The Deerfield community drew me in. It wasn’t just the level of competition, but the surroundings, because that’s important to me.”
Ireland played for East Haven High School as a freshman and was on the mound for a handful of games as she split time with fellow starting pitcher Talia Loda. As a Yellowjacket, Ireland had the chance to play alongside her older sister Mckenzie and that was an experience she really enjoyed.
“Honestly, it was cool because she caught and I pitched. It was cool to see her on the field because there was a difference between her there and at home,” Ireland says. “It was a hard decision leaving, but I had to do what was best for me. Lauralton had a good reputation to be a good academic school and top softball team in the state. Coach Amanda [Acampora] is talented, played DI at UMass, and is a recruiter at Softball Factory.”
Ireland transferred to Lauralton at the conclusion of her freshman season. She initially had a tough road there and was behind an older pitcher who kept Ireland off the varsity mound as a sophomore and part of her junior year. However, Ireland worked hard, took control of the starting spot midway through her junior season, and became the full-time starter as a senior.
“I started off as the starting left fielder with a small amount of pitching time. I worked really hard over the winter in my junior year, going to strength and conditioning—proved myself, so when I came back, it earned me a pitching spot,” says Ireland. “I started off splitting, but the senior at the time got an injury, so I was able to pitch almost all of the games that season. When she came back, we’d split games after that. That was one of my greatest accomplishments.”
When Ireland took over for the Crusaders this year, she went 20-6, recorded an earned-run average of 0.97, and had 245 strikeouts in 172.1 innings. Ireland, who was an All-SCC Quinnipiac and New Haven Register All-Area and All-State pick, also batted .319 with two home runs and 17 RBI.
“It was very important to me since I’ve been playing my whole life,” says Ireland. “To have that last season, going out with a bang, was great.”
Coach Acampora was very impressed with how Ireland put in the time and effort necessary to improve at the pace that she did with Lauralton.
“She was a very intense, strong pitcher. She’s somebody that committed to the sport and bettered herself,” says Acampora. “She was voted as a senior captain by her peers and did a wonderful job. She became somebody that we could rely on in a stressful situation.”
Ireland throws six pitches: a fastball, changeup, a curveball, screwball, a rise ball, and a drop ball. Ireland’s full arsenal of pitches has proved vital to her success.
“My strongest pitch has been my curve. I’ve worked a lot on it and have mastered it,” says Ireland. “It’s important to throw all of them because some days some pitches are or aren’t working. It gives you a wide variety of options to confuse the batters and take charge.”
Looking forward, Ireland hopes that her year at Deerfield Academy will help her improve even more on the hill, so that she can continue her softball career in college.
“I wanted to improve my SAT and ACT scores and want to improve my pitches by getting more spin and velocity on them,” she says. “Rather than letting batters hit, I want to show more command and strike out more hitters to show off to college coaches.”