Moores on Different Sides Now

Dale Moore spent the past 10 summers on a softball field coaching his daughter Jamie. Every two years, they each moved up an age division so Dale could continue to oversee Jamie’s career.

Then this summer, the inevitable happened. Jamie, a former Alemany High catcher, graduated to the next level of Amateur Softball Assn. competition: Women’s Division.

Jamie’s move forced Moore, 43, who has two ASA national titles, to decide whether to move up a division with Jamie or stay behind.

Apparently Moore draws the line with coaching 18-year-olds because he decided to stay with the 18-and-under Panthers Gold for the third consecutive year while Jamie plays for the Orange County Legacy, a women’s open team.

“I thought about [coaching Jamie in Women’s Division],” Moore said. “[But] there isn’t as much dedication in that division. It’s [more] fun trying to get the girls scholarships.”

Moore’s fun is mired in success. All but one player--more than 25 girls--who has played for Moore in the past three years has received an athletic scholarship from a Division I university.

“And we’re not counting the last one out yet,” Moore said.

Moore, who owns a Granada Hills tile company, is near the end of his first season without his daughter, but little has changed in the way of his success.

Panthers Gold, which finished second last season in the prestigious 18-Gold (also known as Junior Olympics) national tournament and is ranked No. 2 by Travelball Magazine, is 50-7-1 and will compete in the national tournament Monday through next Sunday in Oklahoma City.

Moore’s teams have finished in the top five in each of the past five seasons, and there is no reason to believe 1997 will be different.

The Moores crossed paths this summer when Panthers Gold entered a women’s tournament in which Legacy was the host team. Despite its youth, Panthers Gold won the eight-team women’s tournament, beating Legacy, 2-1, in the championship game.

It was the first time the Moores sat in opposite dugouts. Dale said he had mixed feelings but acknowledged “it was fun.”

Panthers Gold is comprised mainly of Orange County players, but it has four outstanding players from the region--Liz Sanches of Cal State Northridge, Corrie Roberts of Harvard-Westlake and recent graduates Tracy Passafiume of Saugus and Hope Robertshaw of Crescenta Valley.

Jamie Moore, who signed a letter of intent to play at Palm Beach Community College in Lake Worth, Fla., out of Alemany in 1995, sat out the 1997 college season but hopes to return in 1998.

After one season with Palm Beach, Moore returned home to the Valley to work on an Associate of Arts degree at Mission College and preserve three years of eligibility for a Division I school.

She hopes to earn a degree after the fall semester and transfer to Northridge in the spring.

Moore, a Times’ All-Valley selection in 1994 and ‘95, batted .440 with 56 runs batted in and was an All-American for Palm Beach.

The 14-and-under Stealth has won 81% of its games since February, was the first team in the division to win a national qualifying tournament, has seven players from the team that won the 12s national title last season and counts a 16-and-under tournament title among its accomplishments.

Yet, despite its success, the Stealth remains unranked by Travelball Magazine.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Lynda Antonacci, Stealth manager.

The Stealth (68-13-3), led by pitcher Elena Ferrero of Van Nuys, is young, with 11 of 16 players age 13. That’s why the coaches and players consider themselves underdogs, but certainly not longshots.

“They feel very strongly about winning,” Antonacci said. “They are keeping in mind that they are a 13-year-old team this year. “[But] my feeling is that on any given day you can win.”

The Stealth, which is headed to Rockford, Ill., for this week’s national tournament, is batting .325 with an on-base average of .515 and is led by Katie Reifman (.333) of Agoura Hills.

Several other area teams are headed to national tournaments around the country.

The Valencia Choppers will join Panthers Gold in Oklahoma City in the 18-Gold Division.

The 18-and-under Stealth and Valley Breeze, ranked No. 2, will play in Tulsa, Okla.

Woodland Hills Stealth, ranked No. 3 and led by the battery of Maureen LeCocq of Chaminade and Sara Hall of Calabasas, will play in Fresno in the 16s nationals with the Simi Valley Rampage, led by Brittney Green of Simi Valley.

The Ventura County Pumas, led by Newbury Park slugger Oli Keohohou, will join Stealth and the Valley Breeze in the 14s at Rockford, Ill.

The Mid-Valley Magic will play in the 12-and-under tournament in Midland, Texas.