SPENCER — North Rowan High pitcher Daniel Moore made a verbal commitment to attend a
Division I school on Tuesday — an announcement that comes as no shock at all to those
who have tried to hit against him the past couple of years. Moore was a little shocked at himself,
however, when he arrived at his decision to go to, of all places — the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“It’s funny,” Moore
said. “I grew up pulling for anyone they played. I always cheered against Carolina a
lot more than I ever pulled for anyone else.
“I wanted N.C. State to beat
them in basketball and I wanted Florida State to kill them in football. In baseball, I
never thought much about it, because that’s not on TV until they get to Omaha and the
World Series.”
A lot of schools made scholarship
offers to Moore in recent weeks — among them South Carolina, UNC Charlotte,
Appalachian State and East Carolina. Ivy League schools like Dartmouth, Columbia and Brown
wanted the 6-foot-5 lefty as well, because Moore is as tough in the classroom as he is on
the mound.
“It was a great honor just to
get letters from the Ivy League,” Moore said.
But the school the Tar Heels
ultimately had to beat out for Moore, who went a combined 18-2 in high school and American
Legion ball this year, ironically was N.C. State.
Both institutions went after Moore
hard following his dazzling performance in the East Coast Pro Showcase in Wilmington last
month.
“When I went down to the
Showcase I saw who all was there watching me, and I just hoped that I could pitch well
enough and show enough,” said Moore.
He did. Both the Tar Heels and
Wolfpack had invited him for campus visits within a week of his Showcase showing.
Moore visited Carolina on
September 4 and witnessed their football loss on a late field goal to Virginia. (Moore
didn’t reveal if deep inside he was secretly cheering for the Wahoos.)
Then, last Saturday, he rolled
into Raleigh for a look at N.C. State.
“I really made my decision in
the car on the way back from N.C. State,” said Moore. “I realized I
couldn’t possibly do any better than what Carolina had to offer. The coaches and
players I met there were great. The facilities in Chapel Hill were first-class. I realized
it was just a great opportunity.”
Before any final verdict could be
reached, however, Moore’s dad, Jack, who was a pretty fair hurler himself a
generation ago, insisted that Daniel call three key people before he announced a decision.
Moore dialed Rowan Legion coach
Jim DeHart, who gave his blessing.
“He said I couldn’t go
wrong at Carolina or N.C. State,” said Moore. “But he also said he thought I
made the best possible choice.”
North coach Bill Kesler said
essentially the same thing, emphasizing the opportunity that Moore had at his fingertips.
The third phone call was to
Daniel’s older brother, Sandy, who just completed a successful pitching and academic
career at Catawba and is now a graduate assistant at Virginia Tech.
This call was a little different.
You know how brothers are.
“He told me I’d better
keep working,” said Daniel. “He started reading me a couple of pages out of the
‘How to Pitch’ book, and told me all the things I needed to do to get ready for
the ACC. I couldn’t get him off the phone. But I appreciated it. Sometimes, you need
to hear that stuff.”
And no need for Sandy to worry.
Daniel’s always been willing to work. That’s what has separated him from the
pack (no pun intended) as much as his ability to throw baseballs 86 mph.
“Oh, I know I’m not all
the way there yet,” said Moore. “But it is nice to know my hard work so far has
paid off — that’s it’s all been worth it.”
A lot of people helped Moore get
to this point. His family, of course. Kesler and DeHart and North/Legion pitching coach
Paul Benfield and Catawba/Legion coach Jim Gantt. Those are the obvious ones.
But there were others behind the
scenes.
His Mocksville AAU coach, Dink
Smith; Vincent Connolly, the North soccer coach, who always accommodated Moore when he had
baseball obligations; and Steve Swell, the Diamondbacks scout who helped Moore get to the
Showcase.
“And my teammates,” said
Moore. “Every one of them.”
The pro draft will still be out
there next June, but his big decision made, Moore isn’t losing sleep over that
possibility.
“If I get drafted, I’ll
listen just in case anyone makes an outrageous offer,” said Moore. “But really,
I’m 99 percent set on college.
That means when the pro scouts
bring their radar guns to Spencer this spring, Moore can laugh and enjoy the moment and
the madness without any undue pressure to impress.
“It’s a relief to know
what I’m going to do,” said Moore. “It wasn’t a big burden, but there
was still some weight there.”
Moore can’t officially sign a
letter-of-intent until Nov. 10. Until then, there’s a fall soccer season to enjoy and
after that, what should be a scintillating senior year with the baseball Cavs.
Expect quite a few of those
Cavalier fans to show up wearing Carolina blue.
Even the ones who used to pull
against them in everything. |
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