Carly is the first South Australian to play in the Women’s Baseball World Cup, but she vows not to be the last

When Carly Moore steps up to the plate this week, she will become the first South Australian woman to represent Australia at a Women’s Baseball World Cup.

The 27-year-old catcher said learning she had made the team was a mixture of relief and “a lot of pride”.

“I think I let out this big sigh,” she said.

“It’s been three years leading up to this moment.

“All the hours in the gym, all the hours … training, all the extra games on the weekend, staying back, getting extra reps in, it just really reassures me I was doing the right thing.

“I did everything I could to get here.”

Moore said that out of the 20 players on the Emeralds team, 14 had never been to a world cup – but they would use that to their advantage.

“What we do have is a want to win,” she said.

“We’ve got some really gritty players, and I’m excited to see what everyone has in store.”

On the diamond from five

Moore started playing tee-ball aged five and made the switch to baseball at seven.

However, she moved sports again, to softball, due to a lack of a women’s baseball league in the state.

“Then [around] 2016 they started a women’s league,” Moore said.

“I came back to baseball and I haven’t looked back.”

In addition to captaining the South Australian state team, Moore plays for the Woodville District Baseball Club in their women’s Division 1 and men’s Division 3 teams.

She said baseball was different to other sports in that it was “not so intense physically” but “mentally”.

“To someone from the outside if might look a bit boring but when you really know what’s going on, one play or one hit can really turn a game,” she said.

Moore than meets the eye

Baseball SA’s high performance manager, Austin Gallagher, said Moore contributed to the team on and off the field. 

“She’s got speed, she’s got a good arm, she’s very good behind the plate defensively, but as far as leadership qualities, that’s her number one tool … the ability to lead by example the right way,” he said.

“She’s not going in there as a rookie, she’s going to go in there as somebody people are going to look up to.”

Gallagher, who has worked with Moore for three years, said when he found out Moore made the team, he was “jumping up and down”.

“I’ve first-hand seen the stuff she’s done and [it’s] a credit to her work ethic,” he said.

“The outreach that she’s had from her local club, and the number of young women who started baseball because of her, the way she goes about it, I can’t say enough about her character.”

Moore hopes her spot on the national team would inspire more South Australians to take up baseball.

“We definitely see a lot of east-coasters on that team … but I really hope this is the start of a lot of SA players that will play for the Emeralds,” she said.

“I’m hoping this is the opening of the floodgates.”

Next stop, Thunder Bay

The Emeralds will face the US, Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Hong Kong.

Only the top two teams and a wildcard from both groups will go through to the finals next year, making six teams in total.

“It’s pretty expected that the US will be the top of our pool, and Canada and us are pretty close contenders,” Moore said.

“So that last game [against Canada] should pretty well dictate who comes in that second place.

“I’m also just really excited to see where I sort of match up towards them [the US], because the way I describe my training, they’ve been doing that for years.”

Moore said her key to success was remaining calm.

“One of my old coaches told me, ‘Don’t ride the rollercoaster, try and keep it flat’,” she said.

“‘Don’t get too high, don’t get too low, just stay within yourself and when it gets tough, just grind through and hope there’s going to be a better day’.”

The Emeralds will play the United States in Thunder Bay, Canada, on Tuesday.