Jim Maher was nervous this winter.
He wasn’t the only one.
“I think I made everyone nervous,” Deacon Moore said with a grin.
It’s easy to see why.
But first, let’s set the scene.
While trying to beat out a bunt against Nottingham midway through last season, Moore extended his leg to reach the base – “I probably shouldn’t have” – hyper-extended his knee, did a semi flip and tore his ACL.
“I knew it was bad but I didn’t know how bad it was,” the Lawrence High senior. “When they told me, it just hit me like ‘Oh my God, I’m really out for a long time.’ It was really tough but I just came out and tried to support my teammates every day.”
He worked overtime to rehab and Maher knew one of his top players would be back for the baseball season. What the coach didn’t realize, is that basketball would come first.
That’s where the nerves came in.
Due to his efforts to heal, Moore made himself ready to play hoops. Cardinals basketball coach Jeff Molinelli appreciated his dedication but advised the Rider University commit that baseball came first, and being on the court might be risky to his knee and scholarship.
“He wanted to make sure I was 100 percent,” Moore said. “He gave me his full support that if I wasn’t ready, then don’t do it. But I was gonna play no matter what and I appreciate that he let me do what my body told me I was capable of doing.”
Moore’s decision was out of dedication to his dad, Aaron, a Rider professor and sports fanatic who is a contributor to Basketball Times.
“My parents have sacrificed so much for me in my career,” Deacon said. “When I was younger, my dad created all these travel teams and practices. He really led me to succeed in basketball and baseball so I played for him. He gave up so much just for me to have an experience in basketball. I thought about him when I played.”
And so, in the Cards season opener at Notre Dame, Moore was in uniform and a jittery Maher was on hand to watch his prized senior.
“I saw him that first night and he seemed to be moving around fine,” he said. “But was I nervous? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. He’s got a chance to get 100 hits in his career. I was nervous. No doubt about that.”
Moore survived the season healthy and for his efforts was one of three recipients of the Christian Somma Courage Award at the CVC basketball banquet.
And as of Apr. 20, everything was going just fine on the diamond.
Through 10 games the ultimate utility man/pitcher was batting .464 with seven stolen bases, nine runs scored and six RBI. His first five mound appearances featured four solid efforts and one rough outing that bloated his ERA to a deceiving 4.59. He struck out 14 in 10-2/3 innings and had not walked a batter.
After he tries helping Lawrence to some post-season success, Moore will focus on his career up the road on Route 206.
Which he thought might be in jeopardy after his injury.
“That definitely crossed my mind — ‘Will they still take me?’” he said. “The coaching staff was very supportive. They told me that they know I work hard and I’ll get back to where I was, and I feel like I’ve done that.”
Maher vouched for that. Over the course of 500 high school wins, the skipper has seen some blue collar players, and Moore ranks right up there.
“He has an unbelievable work ethic,” Maher said. “He’s at Centercourt every day hitting. He works at the game hard; he’s a competitor.”
And he is selfless, especially playing hoops. Moore is unlike his baseball coach, who never met a shot he didn’t like in high school while playing for Hamilton’s famed Barton & Cooney rec team.
Speaking with a grin at the irony of his statement, Maher noted that “He’s a throwback. On the basketball team he won’t score. He would play defense, take a charge, get a rebound. In the ‘me’ world we live in now there’s not many guys like him.”
Moore, along with his District 12 All-Star teammates Drew Dobkin, Shane Mitchell, Connor Willever, Aiden Poot, Seneca Sumners and Aiden Crowley, are the first group to play all four years under Maher, who took over in 2023.
In their first three seasons they went 64-21-1 with a Colonial Valley Conference Tournament title and trip to the Central Jersey Group III finals. Whether or not they obtain that elusive sectional or state title, the experience has still been outstanding for Moore.
“I look around and I’m playing with kids I’ve known since I was five years old,” he said. “It’s just truly awesome to share success with them. We really know how to pick each other up.”
And unlike many little league teams, where the stars split up and go to private schools to play, the LLL nucleus stayed together.
“That was never even a thought for us,” Moore said. “Lawrence has given us everything. Lawrence has given us the ability to succeed, so why not try to give back to the community and have one of the best teams we’ve ever had here.”
Moore also had the pleasure of playing with his older brother Kellen, now a sophomore pitcher at Lafayette.
“They got along really well when Kellen was here,” Maher said. “They rooted hard for each other. They’re very close that I could see. They push one another.
“In fact, I remember one game, he got on Kellen and I laughed. He goes ‘C’mon Kellen, stop being a (bleep) out there!’ That’s when he was a freshman and I thought ‘This kid’s a little different.’”
Moore shrugged it off, saying the entire Cardinals team is like that. When one guy isn’t playing hard, the other guys let him know. Deacon may have gotten on his brother, but Maher was correct about their relationship.
“This summer I was very immobile and couldn’t do much; it was tough,” Moore said. “Without Kellen I don’t know if I’d be on this field right now. He really helped me find my way back to baseball. At some points there were times that I was frustrated. It was tough this summer but I talked to Kellen, talked to my parents and I said ‘Hey, this is what I was made for so I’m gonna go do it.’”
A four-year starter, Moore entered the season with a .372 career average that included 11 doubles, three triples, 48 runs scored and 16 stolen bases. After missing the last month of last year and a summer’s worth of travel ball, it was uncertain how he would come back.
Until he went 6-for-12 his first three games.
“It doesn’t look like he’s missed a beat,” Maher said. “He’s swinging the bat well. He’s looked great his first few times on the mound. He’s a very versatile player. You could play him at third, at second, at any outfield position. He plays some first base for us when Aiden (Poot) pitches. With Williver out (due to injury) we had to move him around at different spots.
“He’s just so valuable to us. He’s our leadoff hitter and number two pitcher, and that was a lot to lose last year for the conference tournament and the state tournament.”
Although Moore did not play over the summer, he attended practice and games with his travel team in the fall.
“It was good for me; not for the physical part of it but just the mental part of being engaged in baseball and putting my cleats on once again,” he said. “It got me back in the mode to play.”
Once back in uniform, however, he still had to do some fine tuning.
“Not just at the plate, but I had to regain my feel for the game,” Moore said. “We had a scrimmage and I pinch-ran, and I got picked off third base. That never happened to me! I took a second and I thought ‘I gotta refocus.’ I had to re-learn how to have a feel for the game.”
After spending a few games working out the kinks, Moore regained his comfort level and claimed that “This is some of the most fun I’ve ever had on a baseball team with these kids.”
He was hitting better than ever through Lawrence’s 6-4 start, as his speed, bunting prowess and ability to hit to all fields made Moore a tough out.
“He’s a strong kid,” Maher said. “He doesn’t strike out much and puts the ball in play.”
Moore was recruited by Rider as a corner infielder, outfielder and pitcher. He said the fact his dad in there played into his decision but the Broncs success was actually a deciding factor.
“My dad’s been around the program, he works with the athletic department so I’ve had a familiarity with Rider, I know the coaching staff,” he said. “The coaching staff is awesome and I know a couple kids on the team and all they have is good things to say.
“And point blank — they win. They recruit New Jersey guys. I see myself in a lot of their players. Maybe not the biggest, maybe not the most skilled, but I just know how to win and that’s how I’d describe myself.”
It’s a an apt description.
Although he does have the tendency to make some folks nervous along the way.
Lawrence senior Deacon Moore, a Rider University commit, has rebounded from a torn ACL to lead the Cardinals with a strong all-around season at the plate and on the mound.,
