by Malcolm Butler
When Kasten Furr trots out to shortstop this afternoon when the Bulldogs open the Conference USA Championship against Middle Tennessee, he will do so knowing his family and friends are in the stands rooting for him.
It’s a little different feeling this year for the fifth-year collegiate ball player, who played the first four years of his career at UNO – a more than four-hour drive from home.
And it’s something he doesn’t take for granted.
“It’s been amazing,” said Kasten who transferred back to Louisiana Tech last summer. “My family didn’t get to travel too much to New Orleans to watch me play so getting a chance to see me play this year is awesome. I see them sitting above the first base dugout. I always know where they are at. It’s cool seeing them being able to see me live out my dream.”
Kasten, the son of Chip and Heather Furr and older brother of Tech softballer Allie, has been a staple in the Bulldogs lineup this season. He has started all 56 games at shortstop while batting .290 with 61 hits and 65 runs scored.
And as fun as this season has been for the former Ruston High Bearcat, it’s been just as enjoyable – if not more – for his family.
“It’s been amazing,” said his mother, Heather. “I’ve watched him play more this year than I have over the past four years. For Kasten to have everybody that he knows, this community, behind him has been special.”
Special may not be strong enough word.
Kasten grew up going to Bulldog baseball games with his maternal grandfather Fred Jewell, a longtime Tech baseball season ticket holder who passed away in 2017. Kasten remembers those days fondly.
“Sure, I remember. I wish I could have gone to more,” said Kasten. “Tech was always playing when I was playing. I played a lot of baseball growing up. I went with him to the (Tech) games when I could. He always had his front row handicap parking spot. We would get there before batting practice started. He loved Tech baseball.”
Love may be a better word.
“It was undeniable,” said Heather of her late father’s passion for Bulldog baseball. “He wouldn’t miss a (Tech) game. He basically would sometimes miss Kasten’s game to go to a Tech baseball game.”
Although Kasten was still playing for the Bearcats when his grandfather passed away, his mother knows how much it would mean to him for his grandson to be wearing the Tech uniform now.
“(Fred) wanted Kasten here,” said an emotional Heather. “He passed away before Kasten ever committed to UNO. Every time I walk into the Love Shack now …. The few times he has hit a home run, I’m like ‘That was for Fred.’”
Fred was such a mainstay in the old J.C. Love Field that when he passed away in 2017, the Louisiana Tech administration and Tech baseball staff honored him by placing flowers in his reserved seat.
It was a small but impactful gesture.
“It would mean the world to him being able to see me play,” said Kasten. “I know it means the world to his wife (Daphne), She comes to every game she can. Every time I see her after the game she is crying saying, ‘Granpa would be so proud.’ I know he would be.”
It truly is a family affair for Kasten and his clan. Parents. Siblings. Grandparents. Aunts. Uncles. Cousins. They all show up in force to watch their senior Bulldog.
“I got a letter from his step grandmother (Daphne) the other day,” said head coach Lane Burroughs. “It really was unbelievable. It was the old school letter on three pieces of paper. Just the words she said about (Fred) always wanting to see Kasten play here were moving.
“She said that although he has passed away, she is able to watch him and knows just how much it means to the family. It was one of the best letters I’ve ever gotten. That’s what it is all about. I know how much it means to him. He doesn’t have to tell me. I know how much it means to his mom and dad and his entire family.”
Kasten has been an integral part of the Bulldogs success, ranking among the nation’s leaders in runs scored and playing a solid shortstop as well.
Burroughs attributes his success to a number of factors.
“One thing about Kasten is he is a pane of glass,” said Burroughs. “He is never too high. He is never too low. Even when he makes a mistake … you wouldn’t know it when you walk in the dugout. Whether he got a big hit or made a crucial error, you would have no idea. He is steady and so professional. He has a routine, and he never varies from it. To me it’s a professional approach. It’s maturity.”
After batting leadoff for a large portion of the season, Kasten was moved down towards the bottom of the lineup over the latter third of the year. He responded by hitting safely in 16 of the last 18 games of the season, another sign of his maturity.
Coming back home has had its benefits for Kasten, but it has also come with pressure. He admitted to having some doubts last summer even after making the decision, but the results and the experience for him have been proof that it was the right call.
“I definitely had some doubts, but it had nothing to do with the school or the coaches,” he said. “It was all me. But it has been way more than I ever imagined. I knew we were going to win a lot of games, but to win 40-plus games and the conference title … it’s been the best senior year that I could ask for.”
Even Burroughs understands the complications of returning home, but he is sure glad Kasten did.
“I know coming back home to play means pressure,” said Burroughs. “You have to worry about, ‘What if I don’t play?’ It doesn’t look good. There is pressure with family being here and all his friends.
“Right out of the gate you are playing shortstop, and you are leading off. That’s a lot of pressure, even if you are playing 1,000 miles away from home. He has handled it about as good as anybody I have ever seen. He is a huge reason why we won the championship.”
With the regular season championship under their belts, Kasten and his Bulldog teammates begin the postseason journey today. Their eyes set on claiming the tournament title and the automatic berth in an NCAA Regional.
It means more baseball for Tech.
And at least a few more opportunities for Kasten’s family and friends to see him lace up his cleats, don the Bulldog logo and run out on the same field where he grew up watching Tech games with his grandfather.
“Being able to play my senior year in front of my family and friends and people who know me, it’s been pretty cool,” said Kasten. “And when you add in the season that we have had, and it makes it all surreal. I am not ready for it to end.”
Neither is his family and neither are Bulldog fans.
