The ball leaves the pitcher’s hand. Coppell senior softball infielder Mallory Moore’s eyes follow the ball unaware that her teammates’ eyes have been locked on her, their leader “Mama Mal,” in awe.
The perfect softball player does not exist, but Moore comes pretty close.
It all started with T-ball, the sport Moore joined at age 4 to follow in the footsteps of her father Wesley Moore, a former college baseball player at Tarleton State University. She soon joined the Coppell Girls Softball Association.
“I started playing with people that I went to school with and I made really good friends through that,” Moore said. “Now, I’m playing with people at high school that I played with when I was 7. It’s just a cool journey playing with these people and seeing everybody grow.”
When she was 9, Moore joined the Eagles Fastpitch Softball Club, a select team. It was at that point that softball took a formidable spot in her life.
“The end of fifth grade is when we started traveling a lot, starting to get really serious with lessons and deciding this is a sport that I’m gonna do all year round,” Moore said. “It was not a part-time thing anymore — it is what I am doing all the time. I craved that feeling of success.”
The next few years were filled with endless practices and commitment to bettering her fielding skills, work that led to Moore making the JV softball team as second base in her freshman year. She paid extra attention to then-senior shortstop Ellebelle Zimmerman, trying to absorb her every move to improve herself.
“She was a great role model because I learned so much of how to talk to the players and such,” Moore said. “She was just a big confidence booster for me as a second baseman.”
When sophomore year came around, Moore stepped up to fill the shortstop position as a varsity player, a position she maintained as a junior.
“It was a big jump because I went from being on JV and suiting up for a few varsity games to then being a varsity starter,” Moore said.
Focused on playing to her fullest capabilities on the field, a leader started to take form in Moore.
“All the people around Mallory in our program, they can look at her because she’s not the biggest person on the field,” Coppell coach Robbie Moen said. “She’s not the strongest, she’s not the fastest but she’s one of the best players we have because she does everything so well.”
It was almost inevitable when Moore was named a part of the all-district team at the end of both her sophomore and junior years. Additionally, Moore received the co-MVP title in her junior year with then-senior catcher Medleigh Danchak.
“It was really exciting because usually it’s a senior and I just wasn’t really expecting it,” Moore said. “It was cool to celebrate that moment with her.”
With so much talent and accomplishments, it’s no surprise Moore received multiple college offers at the beginning of her junior year. Moore signed with Emporia State University in Kansas.
“It felt like home,” Moore said. “The players were nice, the coaches were super thoughtful and they spent the whole time with me when I was there. They told me I was their priority, I was who they wanted and made me feel special.”
The offer gave more to Moore than just a career: it gave her a new perspective on playing.
“It gave me a lot more confidence just knowing that what I’ve been doing and all the effort that I’m putting in is seen by other people,” Moore said.
Moore led her team through wins and faults throughout her career.
“She’s just such a good coach,” junior first baseman Cecilia Bourque said. “She’s really good at making you feel good about yourself whenever you make good plays and she’s there whenever you do something wrong. She’s also the person that, if you don’t have a play, she’s the one to be like ‘hey, we need this.’”
Moore is more than just a good softball player now. She is the desired team member.
“Her personality is very, very outgoing,” Moen said. “She’s not a loud talker, but she is very social, very communicative. If you could take the ideal softball player and a young woman and draw a sketch, you’d come up with someone like Mallory.”
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