Former Ruston High School baseball standout Kasten Furr has faced adversity before.
Now he’s doing it again, courtesy of Hurricane Ida.
A 2021 second-team All-Southland Conference third baseman for the University of New Orleans, Furr saw his first season as a Privateer shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
That didn’t stop him from starting 11 of the 12 games in which he played in 2020, hitting .138 with eight walks and three runs batted in.
Furr heated up at the plate for UNO last season, earning all-conference accolades after batting .318 in 201 at bats with 11 doubles, a home run (that came on Feb. 27 against Louisiana-Monroe) and 12 runs batted in.
The speedster led the Privateers last season in runs (48) and stolen bases (10).
“After the COVD-shortened season where I only got 11 starts, I just didn’t feel like I played my best,” Furr said. “But last season I felt like I did have a breakout season, especially compared to the year before.”
The two-time All-State selection as a RHS Bearcat was already working toward the 2022 UNO baseball season when Ida suddenly stormed through New Orleans a week ago Sunday, leaving all of the metropolitan area without electricity.
“We had just started weightlifting last week and were about to get into fall practices and then the hurricane hit,” said Furr, who returned home to Lincoln Parish before the hurricane hit south Louisiana. “So I’m back home right now just seeing how everything plays out.
“I’ve heard the outfield wall is down, but other than that the field is fine.”
Furr said he decision to attend college at UNO was all a “matter of want.”
“I hadn’t heard much about UNO until I got on campus,” Furr said. “But the coaches wanted me and I fell in love with the place. That’s all I can ask for — being somewhere I’m wanted and where I want to be.”
For now the only contest the accounting major is playing is the waiting game. But he’s hopeful it won’t be long before he can get back to New Orleans and back to focusing on his studies and the upcoming 2022 baseball season — one during which he intends to continue improving his play.
“I have goals to jump everything I did last year,” Furr said. “I’m just getting started.”
Courtesy photo
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