Kevin and Heather Moody embrace during the medals and trophy presentation after they won a state title Thursday at Firestone Stadium. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Jeff Gilbert)
Head coach Kevin Moody, assistant coach Heather Moody and daughters Mickey and Sammie experienced a state title together Thursday when they defeated Lancaster.
Akron, OH – Long before Hilliard Bradley senior Mickey Moody was born, something of great softball significance happened to her parents.
Her dad, Kevin Moody, with the assistance of her mom, Heather Moody, coached Hilliard Darby to its only state softball championship, defeating Youngstown Boardman 3-1 in the Division I final in Ashland in 2000.
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Mickey’s older half-sister Carrese was a freshman on the team, serving primarily as a pinch runner.
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“He’s been talking about those stories for the whole 17 years I’ve been alive,” Mickey said. “So being able to be a part of those stories now is really cool.”
When the family tales are told, Mickey and her sister Sammie, a freshman who plays shortstop and bats second, will be featured characters. Dad is still the head coach and mom is still an assistant.
Only now, and for the 17 years the program has existed, the Moodys coach and play for Hilliard Bradley. On Thursday at Firestone Stadium, they helped lead the Jaguars to a 7-5 Division I victory over Lancaster and to the school’s first state championship.
“It is memories that we’re going to have forever, and we’ll talk about forever, and our kids will talk about forever, my kids and their kids,” Heather Moody said.
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Heather, who played college softball at Dayton, knows from experience that the thrills her daughters and their teammates experienced as state champions will never fade. Her sister played on the Darby championship team.
“Those girls get together and meet, and I think it’s just an experience that you can’t explain to anybody,” she said. “It is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I’m excited that I got to experience it with my people.”
Mickey Moody, a senior, got to share the diamond with her freshman sister Sammie for one season and a state championship.
Mickey was a baby when her dad became the head coach at Bradley. Fast forward 17 years and she was the starting pitcher this week for the Jaguars.
She dominated Centerville with seven strikeouts and allowed only two earned runs in the 12-4 semifinal win Wednesday. She started Thursday’s final, and while she allowed five runs, none of them earned, she did damage in the leadoff spot with two hits, two runs scored and an RBI. Sammie bunted for a single in the Jags’ three-run third inning.
“Having a couple kids with major influence on the outcome of the game was pretty cool,” Kevin said.
For Bradley and the Moodys to get the championship this year was perfect timing. It’s the only season the sisters will have together.
“Having a couple kids with major influence on the outcome of the game was pretty cool.” – Bradley coach Kevin Moody
“When we started the season, my youngest daughter’s like, ‘I finally feel part of the family in the spring,’” Heather said. “She’s always been shipped off while we were here, and she got to be a part of it.”
Mickey loved having her little sister around.
“It’s really special just being able to go home and talk about softball and just have everybody together all the time,” she said.
Kevin said he felt this could be a special season because of the athletes he had and the way they jelled early.
Heather saw it too. But did she ever dare imagine that she, her husband, her daughters and
the rest of the team she loves like family would be posing with the championship trophy in early June?
“Yes, I did,” she said. “This is a good group of girls. They get along really well, and I think team chemistry is huge. When you have a team of girls that support each other and straighten each other’s crowns, that makes that possible because everybody’s cheering for everybody else to be successful.”
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