A league of her own: NC's Moore has jersey in Baseball Hall of Fame

NEWARK ― As the baseball-loving Klockner family made the May trek from Newark to New York for the Baseball Hall of Fame, it was a journey 25 years in the making.

Actually, more like 35 years if you count Tricia Klockner Moore's years spent playing baseball at Mound City Little League.

Moore, now Newark's law director, grew up playing baseball with brothers Todd, Brian and Mike, so she didn't go the softball route during her formative years. That would come later as a stellar player for Newark Catholic and Saint Mary's College near Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. But baseball suddenly materialized again in 1997 with the South Bend Belles of the Great Lakes Women's Baseball League, a stint that earned her jersey a spot in the Hall of Fame.

"John Kovach, archivist of Saint Mary's, was in awe of the old All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, and he reached out to the softball players about playing for his team in the Great Lakes Women's Baseball League," Moore recalled. "It wasn't professional, but it had a lot of great players. I was always out playing baseball. It was something I have played my whole life. So the transition was fairly easy."

She played one season for the Belles, during her freshman year at Saint Mary's in 1997, and it was quite the experience.

"I remember going to the national tournament, and it was teams from all over the country," Moore said. "Arizona, Florida and everywhere. You would never think there were that many women who were such good players. Our team was full of athletes who could all hit, run and throw."

In a 19-3 win against the Virginia Flames, she drove in three runs. They ended up the 10th-ranked team in the country.

Moore continued with her softball career as a four-year starter at Saint Mary's, also nicknamed the Belles, playing shortstop before moving to second base due to an arm injury. She's high on the school's list for most triples in a career and season. That followed a career as a four-year starter at NC, where she graduated in 1996. Before she graduated from Saint Mary's in 2000, preceding a law degree from Michigan, Kovach, who has written two books on women's baseball, contacted her again.

"He came to me, and wanted to submit my jersey for a Baseball Hall of Fame exhibit," she said.

It became part of the Hall in 1999, and Kovach had managed the South Bend Blue Sox women's team for 20 years as a tribute to the team of the same name, a charter member of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in 1943. The league became the basis of the popular "A League Of Their Own" movie, which came out in 1992 and starred Tom Hanks and Geena Davis.

This spring, the Klockners finally made the trip to Cooperstown, and it was a special occasion. Especially for Moore's dad Bob, whose father Harry coached him and his brothers in little league at St. Louisville, sparking a lifelong passion for the game that saw him playing and managing the Newark Diamonds up until two years ago, when injury finally derailed him at age 74. Wife Jeanie was his loyal scorekeeper.

"It was a great situation," Bob said of seeing the Hall of Fame exhibit for the first time. "It was kind of hard to believe, but I was not surprised by it. And now her jersey is associated with all of those at Cooperstown."

For him, there was no option other than Tricia playing baseball at Mound City.

"I thought she would be a better softball player if she played baseball for as long as she could," Bob said.

Observed Jeanie: "She was playing all summer with the boys out back, so it was just natural. I was just excited she could play again" (with the Belles).

Tricia and her brothers played for Coca-Cola at Mound City.

"I made the all-star team when I was 12, and we won the Farm Tournament," she said.

Moore is not alone with her baseball endeavors. Also making the Cooperstown trip were her sister, Maria Molnar, who brought along daughters Elizabeth and Emma.

Maria also enjoyed quite the career in Mound City baseball before moving on to start for four years in softball at NC. She made the all-star team, and now Elizabeth is a star baseball player at North Newark, where she's on the select all-star team and pitches.

Not surprisingly, Moore idolizes "Iron Man' Cal Ripken, even attending a spring training game in Florida, where he quizzed her on his book that she held. She has Ripken memorabilia in her city hall office.

"Cal reminds me of my dad," she said. "With the longevity and playing through injury. We don't have many players like that any more."

Bob was so determined to keep the Newark Diamonds going that just two years ago Tricia, now 47, was recruited to play in the outfield. Her husband Matt Moore, who played little league baseball but not in high school, was also called into action at one point, while Bob's sons also regularly played with the team.

"She played just as well as the guys," he said. "She hit the ball well, threw the ball well and fielded the ball well."

He does not want this baseball legacy to end and plans to have surgery at age 76 to relieve his sciatica pain.

"I want to play until I'm 84," Klockner proclaimed.

As of April 22, 1999, his daughter's legacy is cemented in Cooperstown.

"The best thing is, I now have a lifetime pass to the Hall of Fame," Moore said.

dweidig@gannett.com

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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: A league of her own: NC's Moore has jersey in Baseball Hall of Fame