Moore means business

Eye black covered cheeks, a devilish smile, an imposing build and the ability to unleash violence via an underhand delivery, yes, Jessica Moore's presence is commanding.

Opposing hitters flail their bats in futility at her repertoire of wickedly fast and deceptive pitches.

The ERA's of opposing pitchers increase as a result of her obtrusive power and plate presence.

And opposing coaches' strategies have to be completely augmented from the norm because of the most dominant athlete in the Mid-Valley.

Moore established early on at Sutter High that she was a player to watch and fear. That reputation grew over impressive sophomore and junior seasons, and reached its peak this year as she cemented her status as arguably the best softball player this area has ever seen.

She proved it with 504 resounding reasons. It's the number of players she sent back trudging to the dugout courtesy of a K in 2009. And the staggering number of strikeouts are just a sampling of Moore's ludicrous statistics that made her the Appeal-Democrat All-Area softball Player of the Year for the third straight year a no—brainer.

"Tremendously special; great kid; great attitude; great work ethic," Sutter coach Raoul Singh said of Moore, who has been the impetus of the Huskies dominance over the last four years. "When she developed and got her power, she became unstoppable."

And her play backs up Singh's superlative. This season Moore was in the circle for all 34 of the Huskies' games -- which were all wins. Thirty-three were complete games, 29 were shutouts and 18 were no-hitters.

In 210 innings pitched, Moore gave up just five runs, 24 hits and walked 16 batters. Crunch the numbers and it results in a microscopic 0.17 ERA and an almost unfathomable 31.5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio this season.

When opposing hitters face Moore, just fouling off one of her pitches elicits cheers. Getting an actual hit is a cause for celebration.

"The main thing is that you want to get a good at-bat and put the ball in play because the fielders are not used to it," said Wheatland coach Jim Vossler of Moore, who struck out 74 percent of the batters she faced in 2009. "You have to do whatever you can whether it's bunts or slaps or whatever.

"She's as good as I've ever seen."

And her path from a kid with promise to a Pac-10 athlete started just down the street from the Huskies' field, where she has lorded over since 2006. When Moore was 11, she started playing the sport for the first time for the Sutter-Area Little League All-Stars.

By 12 she was pitching, and "it caught on fast." She learned how to throw a changeup. Then came the other pitches — and the power.

Her rise ball starts almost subterranean and ends up in the outstretched hand of Huskies catcher Jolene Graham. Her fastball tops 70 miles per hour in less distance than a personal foul penalty in football. And her drop ball, her favorite, simply leaves batters dumbfounded — and Moore smiling.

"My parents used to make fun of me because I would be smiling (in the circle)," she said. "I'm really relaxed out there."

Pitching aside, Moore can also rake the ball all over the field. This season, she batted .505 with 52 hits (23 for extra bases), 44 RBIs, 39 runs and eight homers. Her career average is .494.

Her desire to step up to the plate is what led her to become an Oregon Duck over "Northwestern, Arizona State, Stanford, most of the Pac-10," and others that were looking at her, she said.

"I love to hit," said Moore who will play at the collegiate level without red-shirting next season. "One of the reasons I'm going to go there is because I can be a hitter."

But before looking to the next level, Moore had her sights set on one last accomplishment as a prep athlete — 500 strikeouts. and Singh made it their personal goal to reach that number.

"The whole time throughout the season I counted innings and counted games left and calculated how many I needed for 500," said Moore, whose challenge was only made greater by the fact that Sutter has a penchant for ending games early via the 10-run rule. "When I got to the 499th, I could taste it."

Her milestone came in the final game of the Huskies' unblemished season to provide a fitting cap to an incredible prep career.

"It seemed like a perfect ending to an amazing four years at Sutter," Moore said.