By Rob Potter
LOCH SHELDRAKE — June 8, 2007 — Fred Moore, a member of the Tri-Valley Central School Class of 2007, will continue his baseball career close to home.
Moore, a Woodbourne resident, signed a national letter of intent on Wednesday afternoon in the lobby of the Harold L. Gold Founder’s Hall on the Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) campus to become a member of the Generals’ baseball team.
During the recently completed scholastic baseball season, Moore posted a .459 batting average, hit four home runs and had 35 RBIs. In addition, he had on-base percentage of .481 and a slugging percentage of .743.
For his three-year varsity baseball career with the Bears, Moore had a .376 batting average, hit 11 doubles, stole 31 bases and registered 57 RBIs.
Moore also played four seasons of varsity soccer at T-V and two seasons of varsity basketball. In addition to playing for the Bears’ baseball team this spring, Moore also participated on the school’s track and field team. He competed in the high jump, javelin, long jump and triple jump events.
Before the official signing took place, SCCC Athletic Director Chris DePew and Head Baseball Coach/Assistant AD Mike Marra thanked members of the SCCC administration and the building and grounds department staff members for all of their time and hard work in the creation of the new on-campus baseball field.
DePew noted that the Generals qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XV tournament this spring and that hopefully Moore and his Generals teammates can improve upon that next spring and maybe reach the regional championship game.
Marra noted that Moore “is an excellent student, an excellent baseball player and he comes from an excellent family.”
“We are extremely excited to have Fred join our baseball program,” Marra said. “His athletic ability and unparalleled competitive nature will allow him to impact our lineup immediately.
“We needed an experienced catcher from a top-notch program to come in and play right away,” Marra added. “We knew that [T-V] Coach John Rusin’s players are more than prepared to win a championship at the next level.”
After the signatures of SCCC President Dr. Mamie Howard-Golladay, DePew, Marra, Moore and Moore’s father, Fred Jr., were on the letter of intent, the soon-to-be General tried on his number 25 jersey.
Moore, who plans to major in criminal justice at SCCC, is looking forward to playing collegiate baseball.
“It’s a big step,” he said.
Even though he played several sports during his four years at T-V Moore said that “baseball is number one” for him.
And the choice to play baseball at SCCC was relatively easy for Moore.
“I felt that it would be a little cheaper [to attend Sullivan] and it’s closer to home,” Moore said.
Naturally, the decision to play in his home county will allow Moore’s family – his father, his mother Susan and his sister Lacey, who is a 2005 T-V graduate – the opportunity to see him play baseball more often than if he had chosen to attend another college.