When it comes to clutch hits, Ashley Moore keeps Aurora Central Catholic covered. ‘Know what you're gonna get.'
With the game on the line and your team in need of a big hit, who you gonna call?
For Aurora Central Catholic, a team boasting a lineup that's loaded with a handful of good options, the answer is pretty easy — and it's not Ghostbusters.
For the Chargers, it's senior first baseman Ashley Moore.
'She's been our steady, No. 1 consistent hitter all three years on the varsity,' ACC coach Mark Pasqualini said. 'It's not just the hits and production. It's everything like keeping total strikeouts down, total contact and having good at-bats.
'Very rarely does she go up there where, if she doesn't hammer the first pitch, she'll run 5-6-7 pitches deep in the count. It's been nice to have one hitter you know what you're gonna get.'
Moore has been Ms. Reliable at the plate since settling in on the varsity as a freshman and batting .425 with 34 hits that included her two career home runs.
Pasqualini marveled at Moore's consistency Monday as ACC prepared to start an indoor workout in the school's gym. A nonconference home game with Sandwich had been postponed as dropping temperatures and a strong wind sent the wind chill into the low 20s.
'She's generally going to regress to her normal,' Pasqualini said of Moore. 'She's gonna be right around .400, a little above, a little below. We can roll with that.
'It just shows in the stats. She's had 30-plus hits every year, and that's about one hit a game.'
It led to an offer from Hannah Tomasko, Waubonsee Community College's first-year coach, that Moore accepted earlier this school year.
As a sophomore, Moore hit .367 with 33 hits and earned all-state recognition. She followed that up with a .371 batting average last season on 34 hits, giving her exactly 100 hits for her career.
ACC (9-2) has had good luck with weather this spring, getting an area-best 11 games played without making a spring trip to a warm weather locale.
Moore's team-high 15 hits for the Chargers from the third spot in the batting order have her batting .385 with four doubles, one triple and eight RBIs. She's driven in 84 runs during her career.
She credited good friend and senior teammate Kate Gambro with helping convince her parents to choose ACC.
'She's really the reason I came here,' Moore said. 'I played softball with Kate and her younger sister Abby on a team coached by their mom at like age 7.'
Moore lives in Montgomery and attended a grade school in the Yorkville district. Kate Gambro, a Yorkville resident, attended another grade school in the district.
Their bond continued to grow through summer softball, however, continuing up to still playing travel for the Wheatland Spikes.
With only 17 players in ACC's program, Moore and Gambro were two of the four freshmen who received considerable playing time from Pasqualini, along with four sophomores.
'We have to have her in the lineup,' Pasqualini said.
Moore also can handle the designated player role and sees some time in the outfield for the Chargers, giving her coach options with his lineup.
'I've batted her third since she was a sophomore,' Pasqualini said. 'I put her in there and said, 'I'm gonna let you do your thing. I'm never gonna take you out unless you ask me to take you out. I know what I'm getting. I'll ride that out.''
Gambro pointed to her best friend's consistency, remembering a big hit during a 6-4 win in 10 innings at Joliet West.
'I was on second, and I just know she's either gonna get on or get a hit,' Gambro said. 'She hit one to the fence for her second double to score me with the winning run.'
And so it goes.
'If she was a big home run hitter, I would think about moving her,' Pasqualini said of Moore's spot in the batting order. 'But her swing is always on and it's line drive, line drive, line drive.'
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