Stephanie Morse of Warwick Veterans scores in a 2006 game against Coventry. The catcher is Michaela Cady. Morse has been an All-Stater in fast-pitch softball for three straight years.

Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

There’s the All-American selection in soccer.

There are the banners in her high school gym that herald she was the Rhode Island Gatorade Softball Player of the Year in both 2007 and 2008.

There is the academic transcript that reveals she ranked fifth in a senior class of 275 students this year at Warwick Vets High.

But maybe what best tells who Stephanie Morse is, are the words written by Vets math teacher, Vicki Venditelli.

“I am Stephanie’s probability and statistics teacher,” Venditelli wrote. “This is an elective course, which is very challenging. Many students end up struggling or dropping out. She [Morse] has one of the highest averages in all the years I have taught the course. But if that is not enough, let me also tell you that if it weren’t for Stephanie’s kind, friendly and helpful personality at least three students would probably be in danger of failing.”

Venditelli went on to tell how Morse, on her own, took the three students who were struggling in the course “under her wing” and arranged group homework sessions in addition to individually tutoring the students.

“I like to help people,” said Morse.

She certainly helped make the last four years enjoyable for her classmates, Warwick Vets faculty members and Hurricanes sports fans.

“She is one of the greatest kids that I have even been around,” Vets principal Gerry Habershaw said about Morse. “She has a love for her school and her classmates.”

“Stephanie is an amazing student who finds time to excel in sports, academics and in friendship,” added Venditelli.

That combination of nationally recognized athletic performances, outstanding academic achievement and caring personality has earned Morse selection as the 2008 Providence Journal Honor Roll Girl.

Morse’s selection marks the first time in the 32-year history of the Honor Roll Girl award that a Warwick Vets student has been named the top Rhode Island senior high school female student-athlete.

Morse has the distinction of being one of the few athletes in R.I. Interscholastic League history to be an All-American in one sport and a two-time Player of the Year in another nonrelated sport.

This spring she was named the state’s Gatorade Softball Player of the Year for the second straight year and also earned her third straight first-team All-State honor. In 18 Interscholastic League games this season she hit a career high .525. It was the third straight year she hit over .430. She also drove home 20 runs for the third straight season and also scored 15 runs this season. An outstanding defensive catcher, she also played shortstop this season, despite having a stress fracture in her leg.

Also a multi-talented soccer player, last fall she earned her third straight girls soccer All-Star honor and was the only Rhode Island player named to the National Soccer Coaches Association Girls High School All-American team.

“I love soccer,” said Morse, who will attend Assumption College where she plans to play soccer.

In between her soccer and softball seasons, she also earned all-division honors in girls indoor track.

Her academic achievements were as impressive as her athletic accomplishments.

In 28 academic courses, most of which were honors courses, Morse earned 24 A’s and only four B’s. One of those B’s came in an exploring art course in her freshman year.

“I’m not an artist,” said Morse, with a laugh.

She is, however, a teenager who has always loved a challenge.

“In high school I wasn’t sure if I should take the honor courses, but my parents said give it a try and see how they go. So I took them and I ended up doing well.”

“I had to push myself, but I hate letting people down so I did the work,” said Morse, the daughter of Dave and Lucy Morse.

That same determined attitude also was the hallmark of Morse’s athletic career.

She grew up playing baseball rather than softball. There were a few other girls in her Little League, but when she turned 13 and moved into the Warwick PAL Babe Ruth ranks she was the only girl in the league.

“I loved it,” Morse said about the challenge of playing against teenage boys. “Because you were a girl, they didn’t think you were going to be good. It definitely was a challenge, but it was fun.”

On the soccer field, rather than worrying about her individual statistics, she took on the challenge of playing whatever position the team needed the most for specific games.

“She played any position on the field, always putting the team first,” Vets girls’ soccer coach Tom Flanders said about how Morse’s unselfish attitude played a major role in Warwick staying in the hunt for the Division I girls state soccer title throughout most of the season.

“I just like helping people and I love playing sports. I’m a big family person and our soccer team was like a family,” said Morse.

Her helping attitude extended beyond the athletic fields and the classroom. She was a member of group of Vets students who participated in a community service program, which both worked with students in local elementary schools and help raise money for the needy by raking leaves throughout the city.

“We used the money we raised to buy Christmas presents for kids whose family couldn’t afford them,” said Morse. “It was fun and you helped people out.”

“She’s a teacher’s dream,” Paula Goldberg, a Vets faculty member and coordinator of the Community Service Program said about Morse.

jgillool@projo.com