He pitched yet another one-hitter — that’s five of them this season — as North whipped Southwestern Randolph 4-1 Friday in the Western 2A finals in front of what had to be the biggest baseball crowd in Cavs’ history. And he pitched it as effortlessly as most of walk down the driveway to pick up the newspaper.

“Once we got three runs in the second inning, we sat back and got comfortable,” said always candid North coach Bill Kesler. “I wasn’t worried that they’d beat Daniel after that. At 3-0, we (Kesler and pitching coach Paul Benfield) went on cruise control.”

And why not? Moore hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any game this season. Yeah, it’s never over ‘til it’s over, but when Kesler insisted this one was in the icebox the minute that “3” lit up on the Cavs’ side of the scoreboard, it was hard to argue with him.

Kesler wasn’t just blowing smoke when he said he never fidgeted — not even once. He was Joe Cool on Friday compared to his nervous, pins-and-needles performance in Tuesday’s 7-6 pressure-cooker win.

“Well, I knew two of Southwestern’s best hitters were lefties,” said Kesler, referring to leadoff batter Squeaky Warren (.438) and Lane Hunt, who had hammered homers in five straight games. “And lefties won’t usually do much against Daniel. Once Daniel went through their lineup one time, I could see there wasn’t that much to worry about. Their guys with big swings weren’t going to catch up to him, and their guys who were just poking at the ball, trying not to strike out, weren’t going to hit it very far.”

A prime example of Southwest’s “Poke-mon” style came right away. Southwestern’s second hitter, Taylor Browne, simply stuck his bat out and spoiled a half-dozen Moore deliveries. The visiting crowd whooped it up on each and every weak foul ball as if it were as good a run, but Moore just kept staring at catcher Brad Canipe’s glove. Moore wound up walking Browne, but didn’t get flustered. He just shrugged, got the next two guys and strolled to the dugout.

Asked if Kesler had given him a scouting report on the opposition, Moore smiled and shook his head.

No,” I was just going to go after them,” he said. “I wasn’t going to worry about who any of their guys were. You worry about a hitter and you mess up trying to get too perfect. I just let it all loose.”

Boy, did he let it loose.

Southwestern managed to hit one ball out of the infield — a soft, looping single by Warren in the third that fell just out of the reach of diving centerfielder Nick Childers.

Moore’s fastball had to be nearing 90 mph in the later innings and his darting curve was mission impossible for Cougar hitters. They had no chance.

“It was one of his best outings,” said Benfield. “He worked out front and was very consistent. His curve was accurate. His fastball had a lot of pop. Just overpowering.”

Moore’s demeanor impressed even more than his heat. He was responsible for some wacky occurrences during the course of the game— his first balk of the year, a couple of wild pitches, an error on a pickoff throw and a wild baserunning blunder — but through it all, he was stone-faced. Expressionless. Even with that monstrous crowd watching his every move and bellowing to beat the band.

“That’s just how Daniel is,” said Benfield. “Calm and relaxed. His teammates feed off that calm. It helps all of them.”

“It’s like,” said shortstop Nate Woodburn, trying to find just the right words, “that Daniel’s got a job to do and he just goes out there and does it.”

For Moore (12-2), the season has been a non-stop highlight reel. He has 161 strikeouts after piling on 11 more last night. In 83 and one-third innings, he’s allowed a ridiculous total of 27 hits. That’s just a shade more than two hits per seven innings.

And last night, he was even “Moore” than usual. The importance of the game and the packed house brought out the very best he had to offer. It was an outing that people will talk about for the next decade.

“This was my last game on this field,” said Moore. “I didn’t want anyone to leave here disappointed.”

They didn’t.

In the locker room after the game, Moore, not even breathing hard, showed little outward evidence that he’d just manhandled one of the hottest teams in the state.