For Moore (8-2), it was business as usual. A dozen strikeouts, no runs, one hit, one pickoff, two walks and about 10 pro scouts.

“Those guys aren’t a distraction,” said Moore. “You get used to it. I figure if I pitch a good game, they’ll be back.”

Expect the men with the notebooks and JUGS guns to return in time to catch Moore’s act in the first round of next week’s state playoffs. In his last 21 innings, Moore’s fanned 44, while allowing one run and five hits. The 6-5 lefty didn’t have his best fastball in subduing Mark Quinn’s fifth-seeded Comets (11-10), but he hit the corners consistently and kept his unhittable curve at ankle height.

Derek Barringer’s solid double to the center-field fence to open the fourth was the only hit Moore yielded. Eight different Comets fanned. North Stanly slugger Brian Long, who homered on a hanging curve by Moore early this season — the only round-tripper Moore’s allowed — went down on strikes twice.

“Daniel’s not a machine; he’s human,” said Woodburn. “But yeah, he’s good. He’s been doing it all year. The whole team feels confident any time he’s out there.”

Moore’s just thankful he didn’t have to pitch to Woodburn yesterday.

Woodburn, the Cavs’ leadoff man, found himself in a zone and did a fair impression of his hero, Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra. He started the game for the Cavs with a homer, launched a two-run triple to the right-field fence his second time up and clobbered another solo homer in his third trip. In his last at-bat, he beat out a roller to shortstop to complete a 4-for-4 day.

“I don’t know how you can have a better day than that,” said Moore. “Nate really got his power going.”

North Stanly pitcher Steve Vaughn didn’t pitch badly, but every time he made a mistake, the smoking Woodburn was at the plate and made him pay.

“He threw Nate fastballs waist high his first three times up,” said North coach Bill Kesler, “and he hit ‘em good. The big one was that first one. Nate put us out front, and with Daniel pitching with a lead, you like your chances. Daniel threw well and we played well. North Stanly is a team we respect. They’ve been coming on.”

Woodburn had hit one homer in his high school career prior to his timely outburst at historic Holt-Moffitt Field.

“I’ve been waiting to break out,” said Woodburn, a senior shortstop who bumped his batting average 34 points to .395 “I was pleased with the way I hit.”

It was a solid all-round effort by the Cavs, who dodged a few raindrops as they boosted their record to 17-5. They played errorless ball behind Moore, who fanned only one of the last nine Comets he faced. There were no spectacular plays, but plenty of good ones.

Woodburn added two acrobatic plays in the field; second baseman Erik Mowery made a nice running catch of a foul fly; catcher Brad Canipe blocked those down-and-dirty Moore curves and caught a towering popup; and Moore helped himself by bouncing off the mound to glove two grounders.

The only real question left about the Cavs, who will play in tonight’s 7 p.m. tourney championship game against Ledford, is how far can they go in the state playoffs. No one’s making that big a fuss about them this year because they’ve lost five times, but Kesler knows his charges could just as easily be 21-1 as 17-5.

“We’ve lost three one-run games (West Rowan, East Rowan and Albemarle) and that 13-inning game to South,” said Kesler. “East is the only team to beat us bad (10-0).”

One pretty good indicator of just how good the Cavs are against 2A competition is the fact that they’ve overwhelmed CCC opponents 128-6 en route to 13 straight wins. No league foe has scored more than two runs against North and the Cavs have posted nine shutouts.

“We’ve got a shot at going all the way,” said Kesler. “I thought maybe we’d do it last year, but we messed up a few plays and ran into a kid from West Wilkes who threw curves and sliders at the knees all night long. We’ll just have to see how the luck works out this year.”