Taylor softball player Courtney Moriarty hasn’t had to work her way up the depth chart.
Since arriving on campus in the fall of 2015, Moriarty, the center fielder on Center Grove’s state championship team as a senior, has started all but 17 of the 144 games the Spartans have played.
Moriarty’s durability is further evidenced by her 411 career at-bats and 260 innings pitched.
Eighth-year Taylor coach Brad Bowser, whose senior-dominated team of a year ago finished with a record of 39-18 and earned a berth in the NAIA national tournament, knew Moriarty would take on more on- and off-field responsibilities now that she’s an upperclassman.
To no one’s amazement, she’s started every game.
“Courtney is such a great athlete, and we just try to get our best athletes on the field,” said Bowser, whose squad owned a 22-10 record entering Monday’s doubleheader at Grace. “At the plate, she hits for power and runs real well, too. We know at any time that Courtney can hit a home run.”
Earlier this season, Moriarty felt less than 100 percent in the hours leading up to a home doubleheader against Huntington.
Instead of finding a comfortable place to sit inside the Taylor dugout, she played. Only after she returned home to visit family the next day did Moriarty visit a doctor and find out she had an upper respiratory infection and a double ear infection.
“I wanted to play. I hate missing games,” Moriarty said about the games in which she batted a total of seven times to go along with four innings pitched. “During the games I was fine. It was after the games I didn’t feel well.”
Moriarty averaged 28 pitching appearances per season her first two years — mostly as a starter. She’s on pace to take the mound 18 times this spring. Used primarily as a reliever, she leads the team in saves (3) and earned-run average (1.65).
The Spartans’ freshman class includes Lauren Kanai, who is Taylor’s leader in innings pitched, and two other pitchers who have helped relieve some of Moriarty’s workload.
“Courtney doesn’t pitch as much this year,” Bowser said, “but we need a better defense out there.”
During her time at Taylor she’s pitched, played first and third base and occupied two of the three outfield positions. Moriarty said center field is where she’s most comfortable when not pitching.
She is one of four former Johnson County players on the Taylor roster, the others being junior Andi Stewart of Whiteland and the Greenwood duo of senior catcher Davis Carter and junior Paige Wilson.
“This year has been the most challenging to me because I’ve had to adjust to not pitching as much. But I’ll do whatever it takes for the team to win,” Moriarty said. “I love playing center. I always want to run after the ball and try to make diving catches.
“I had a pretty decent one against Indiana Wesleyan, but what I would like to accomplish is to rob someone of a home run.”
Rob one. Hit one. That might be Moriarty’s dream outing — one there’s no way she’ll miss.
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A look at the career hitting stats for Taylor University softball player Taylor Moriarty:
Season;Starts;Avg.;HR:RBI
2016;40;.339;5;19
2017;55;.370;10;40
2018;32;.385;4;26
Totals;127;.365;19;85
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