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August 18, 1999
Salisbury Post; Rowan County, NC

Local News

Moore shows stuff

BY MIKE LONDON
SALISBURY POST

             

It’s a fact that every day more and more people are finding out about North Rowan High pitcher Daniel Moore.

Moore, obviously, is no secret in this area any more. A 9-0 high school season and Rowan County Player of the Year honors — followed by a 9-2 American Legion season— ended any chance Moore had of remaining anonymous on trips to the grocery store.

Moore’s face and 6-foot-5 frame have become quite familiar to Rowan baseball fans, but expect to see quite a few unfamiliar faces behind the backstop at the North ball field whenever he pitches this spring.

Those strangers will be carrying radar guns and wearing caps identifying themselves as scouts from major league baseball teams and major colleges.

“A bunch of people are going to be coming around to see Daniel,” predicted Allen Wilson, the New York Mets scout, who is best known to area fans for his work as East Rowan coach Jeff Safrit’s assistant.

Wilson only saw Moore pitch a few innings against East last season, but had an opportunity to check out his work with the Rowan Legion team this summer on a regular basis.

Then, in the recent East Coast Pro Showcase, Wilson was treated to seeing Moore pitch against some of the nation’s top prep players.

This was the fourth year of the Showcase, a festival sponsored by major league baseball and hosted by UNC Wilmington. Seven organizations (Cubs, Mets, Orioles, Rockies, Marlins, Devil Rays and Diamondbacks) fielded teams in the five-day extravaganza that brought together 150 of the best and brightest players from the states east of the Mississippi River.

Wilson, a former minor league player for the Mets and Braves, coached the pitchers and catchers for the Mets team, which was made up of players from Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.

Moore was a member of the Diamondbacks team made up of the cream of the crop from both Carolinas.

The caliber of players in the Showcase is exceptional.

“The talent level is something,” said Wilson. “It’s nice to be able to tell a kid something, then watch him go out there and not just try it, but be able to do it. If you’re at the Showcase — and only players invited by scouts are there — you’re gonna get drafted or play Division I ball. Seventy percent of the players at last year’s Showcase (including No. 1 overall pick Josh Hamilton from Raleigh) were drafted. The rest got college scholarships.’’

The Showcase is something of a baseball meat market, the diamond equivalent of the big-time basketball camps that West Rowan stars Scooter Sherrill and Donte Minter frequented this summer.

“On Wednesday, there were 150 pro scouts” said Wilson. “There were so many radar guns popping up, it was like the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.”

Only 35 or 40 radar guns sighted in on Moore, because he couldn’t get to Wilmington until Friday night, and didn’t get on the mound until Saturday — the final day of action.

Moore missed the first four days because Rowan schools started the Wednesday of Showcase week. He and his family drove down on Friday night, and the Diamondbacks handed him the ball to start a game on Saturday.

“They gave me a uniform and I pitched four innings,’’ said Moore. “I guess I had that uniform on maybe three hours.”

But Moore used that brief time in the spotlight to open a lot of eyes that hadn’t seen him before.

“I was the winning pitcher in that game ” says Moore modestly. “I wasn’t nervous at all; it was fun.”

Wilson offered a little more detail.

“Daniel did nothing but help himself,” he said. “In Legion ball, I never clocked him higher than 83 mph. But he’d had time to recharge his battery a little. He’d been away from ball for a couple of weeks. And he must have been pumped up the scouts and the competition.

“His first pitch at the Showcase, I got him at 84. I said to myself, ‘The boy is feeling good today.’”

And soon Moore was feeling even better.

“He touched 86 a couple of times,” said Wilson. “It’s the best I’ve seen him throw.”

After Moore’s outing, Wilson went by to say hello to him. A few minutes later, Wilson was saying hello to a few dozen of his fellow scouts. They knew Wilson, like Moore, was from Rowan, and they all wanted to know all about the left-handed kid who had shown up at the last minute and casually tossed some smoke bombs.

“I told them that Daniel’s a great kid, a great student and a hard worker,” said Wilson. “A lot of people were very interested. Daniel’s that prototype tall lefty. That’s something everyone wants and no one has.”

Moore confirmed that after returning home he received calls from N.C. State, UNC and four other colleges. He plans a recruiting visit to Chapel Hill on September 4 and to Raleigh on October 16.

If Moore, who’s currently playing soccer for the Cavs, winds up going to college it will likely be to one of the ACC schools. The other possibility — and it’s a distinct one — is the major league draft.

“If Daniel works his butt off this winter, he could add another couple of miles per hour to his fastball,” said Wilson. “If he does that, his life could be really, really good.”

n

NOTES: Other than Moore, Piedmont pitcher Scott Manshack was the only area player to participate in the Showcase. ... Wilson also ran into T.C. Roberson High’s Chris Narveson, who played hoops against West Rowan in the Western Regionals in Hickory last March. “He knew where I was from and told me that we had a pretty good basketball team out at West,” said Wilson. “I asked him about Scooter, and he just rolled his eyes.” ... Brett Peiffer and Brian Hatley, both of East Rowan, are spending the fall playing on a high-level Charlotte-based team that plays in weekend tournaments.

 

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