"I don't think I could see having a life away from baseball," he said. "And this group of players has been so special to me."
Moore has been a pretty special player during his four years at Centre. He has been the Colonels' leading hitter throughout his four-year career, and he needs only 14 hits to reach 200 career hits, something only 14 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference players have ever done.
He moved one step closer to 200 with one of his most important hits of the season late Wednesday night, a game-winning single in the bottom of the 11th inning that allowed Centre (11-14, 4-4 SCAC) to salvage a doubleheader split with Hanover and snap a five-game losing streak.
"He's just a very good hitter, and he's grown into a pretty good leader for us," Centre coach Mike Pritchard said.
Moore has been voted to the all-SCAC first team three times and has been voted the Colonels' most valuable player three times. But the most significant balloting may have been the one in which his teammates unanimously voted him as one of their three captains.
Moore is one of only five seniors on a young Centre team, and he said being one of its leaders has been both challenging and rewarding.
"You have to make sure you're ready to play, and you have to make sure the younger guys aren't nervous and overanalyzing things too much," he said. But he said the positives have far outweighed the negatives. "This is probably the most fun I've ever had playing baseball," he said. "These guys are like my family."
Recruited by Rall
The family looks far different than it did when Moore came to Centre in 2003, and not just because of the players who have come and gone in that time.
Moore was recruited to Centre by former coach Ed Rall, and said Rall was one of the reasons he chose the school. But Rall was replaced by Mike Pritchard after the Colonels went 4-29 in Moore's freshman year.
"It was tough because we all liked coach Rall and respected him as a coach and a person," said Moore, who also said he still stays in touch with Rall. "It doesn't happen often in Division III, but sports is a business, and sometimes change happens. Coach Pritchard has done a great job, and he's doing his best to make his mark on the program." And Moore said his entire experience at Centre has been as good as he hoped it would be.
"I felt like Centre was the place I wanted to spend my four years in college, and I haven't regretted it one day," he said.
Moore and the Colonels are trying to establish some consistency in an up-and-down season. They won six of their first nine games, then lost six in a row before beginning conference play.
They swept Oglethorpe in their first four-game SCAC series, then were swept by Rhodes last weekend. They'll play four games Friday and Saturday at DePauw.
"The main thing we need to do is get back to basics," Moore said. "Baseball's a simple game. We're so young, I think we've been pressing a lot on the field."
Moore said even though it has been "kind of a difficult season," the Colonels' goals of winning 20 games and reaching the SCAC tournament for the first time in his career are still very much within reach.
Moore was in a slump in the first half of last season. He was hitting only about .220, but a torrid second half left him with the second-highest average in the SCAC at .421. But there has been no slump this season. He leads the Colonels not only in batting average but also in total hits (35), doubles (10) and slugging percentage, and he is second in RBIs (26).
Starter since freshman year
Moore hit .422, .412 and .421 in his first three seasons at Centre, and his career average is .422. He started all but four games as a freshman and has started in every game since.
"At the plate I'm just trying to do anything possible to help my team," he said. "And I trust the guys behind me (in the lineup). I've always had a lot of help from my teammates. I don't have to worry about doing everything."
Moore has one eye on the calendar, fully aware of how close he's getting to his final game.
"I'm already dreading May 5. It's going to be a really emotional day for me," he said. "But I'm coming to terms with the fact that everybody's career has to come to an end."
He plans to pursue a master's degree in sports leadership at Kentucky with the intention of getting into coaching, and he said he'd love to start out at Centre. "I want to get my feet wet, and I don't know of a better place I could be," he said.
