‘She’s tearing it up.’ Merced County softball star off to fast start this spring
Naomi Moore continued her assault on softball pitchers in the Central Valley on Wednesday afternoon. The Golden Valley junior collected three more hits as the Cougars defeated Atwater 4-2.
Moore has been a terror at the plate, hitting .659 through 11 games this season. Moore is hitting for power, collecting five doubles and four home runs so far.
“She’s tearing it up,” said Golden Valley coach Ross Cruickshanks. “She’s definitely been our best player without a doubt.”
Moore was a starting outfielder as a freshman on the 2019 Golden Valley team that played Oakdale in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship.
As a sophomore, Moore played just three games before the Cougars season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a junior she’s one of the top hitters in Merced County.
“Last year kind of sucked,” Moore said. “We had a couple seniors who wanted to play their last year. Playing with them would have been a good experience. This year I’m glad we get to play with our seniors. We were super excited that we get to play a season.”
Moore is a big reason for Golden Valley’s 8-2 start this spring.
Moore leads the team with 11 RBIs and 19 runs scored.
“She’s been getting the big hits,” Cruickshanks said. “When we played Clovis West she hit a home run and made a diving catch to end the game.”
Teams are starting to notice. Against Merced and Atwater, Moore says she saw a steady diet of outside pitches. Opposing pitchers are doing everything they can to keep her in the ballpark.
“I just have to adjust,” Moore said.
The outside pitches didn’t keep Moore from hitting two singles and a double against the Falcons. She doubled before freshman Bree Barner delivered a big two-run double during a three-run fourth inning for the Cougars.
Barner went the distance in the circle for Golden Valley against Atwater, pitching in and out of trouble all game. The Falcons left eight runners on base against Barner.
Moore is a two-sport athlete at Golden Valley. Soon she’ll be transitioning to volleyball. She says she has aspirations of playing either softball or volleyball in college.
“I want to do something to make my parents proud,” Moore said. “I’ve been working hard since I was 7 to get where I’m at. Right now, my focus is on softball.”
That’s not what opposing pitchers want to hear.
“I’m seeing the ball well and I feed off my teammates’ energy,” Moore said. “When we have a lot of girls on the team going, we’re like, ‘Let’s do it.’ I think we all feed off each others’ energy.”
