Over the years, Meghan Moore established herself as the consummate student-athlete. She hardly took a day off since the time she came in as a freshman. Moore has been a standout softball player since a young age, but also played two other varsity sports during her time in a Washington uniform.

Moore’s Lady Pack athletic career came to an end on May 16 at Eastern Randolph. She scored a run in the game as Washington rallied with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the third-round matchup at 5-5. The hosting Lady Wildcats ended up walking off with a run in the bottom of the seventh.

“As soon as it happened, looking around on the field and seeing everyone’s facial expressions, it was obviously sad,” Moore said. She was one of nine seniors that helped take Washington’s softball program to new highs over the last two years.

“But even if we went to the championship game, everyone knew our softball careers were going to come to an end in high school. Everyone wasn’t expecting to lost that early … but we knew it was going to come sooner or later.”

The typical day begins early in the morning. Moore would wake up for school and spend the day in the classroom. Right from there, she’d go to practice — volleyball in the fall, basketball in the winter and, of course, softball in the spring. Summertime would be more relaxed, although she’d still spend plenty of time honing her softball skills.

Moore’s softball career will be continuing at Pitt Community College, but she knows she’ll never find a connection like she had with her eight fellow seniors. Her and the overwhelming majority of “The Nine” played either with or against one another from a young age.

“Working with the girls I had, it was all nine of us all the time,” Moore said of her favorite part of her softball career. “We didn’t make it as far as we wanted to (this season). We had a goal and we didn’t meet it, but we met a whole bunch of other goals.

“… What really hit me the night we lost was that I’ll keep playing, but playing with those girls, I won’t be able to do again. Right now, it hasn’t sank in because I’ll think, ‘We’ll go to practice Monday. It’s no big deal.’ … It’ll hit me harder when I’m on the field without them.”

Moore helped Washington to the 2-A eastern regional championship a year ago. She was dominant at the plate with a .369 batting average. At shortstop, she was an integral and consistent piece of a strong Lady Pack defense that helped carry the team farther than it had ever gone.

That will go down as a significant part of Moore’s athletic legacy at Washington, but there’s so much to it. She picked up volleyball when she was in the fifth grade and eventually grew into one of the Lady Pack’s most valuable players.

It was natural that she got so good considering how much she enjoyed the sport.

“Volleyball was the most fun sport I played. I love softball, don’t get me wrong, but volleyball, with the girls I played with, was the most fun sport ever,” Moore said. “It got my mind off things. It was very competitive, but it was a fun competitive. If you mess up one time in volleyball, it’s easy to comeback. If you miss a ball in softball, it could cost you the game.”

Between volleyball and softball, Moore spent her winters on the basketball court. She went in for tryouts in sixth grade with little knowledge of the sport.

“I did not know what a layup was when I tried out. I didn’t know a thing about basketball,” she laughed. “They said, ‘Do a layup,’ and I said, ‘I don’t know what that is. I remember that like it was yesterday.”

Moore said she enjoyed her sophomore year on junior varsity the most. She made a lot of new friends who convinced her to keep with it. It didn’t come without its challenges, though. Moore had always been a key player for volleyball and softball, so being a bench player on varsity was an adjustment.

“It was hard because we had three different coaches,” she added. “Then, my senior year, I have one more year so why not finish it off? It kept me in shape for other sports, too. I looked at basketball as not as competitive a sport, but something I could fall back on and have fun with. I took it serious, but I had fun.”

When summer comes to a close, Moore will be heading to PCC to begin her college softball career. All the time she’s spent balancing school and three sports will help her as she juggles college classes and softball. However, Moore said it will be a bit strange focusing on only one sport.

“Ever since sixth grade, I’ve been staying after school practicing,” she said. “It’s going to be really different, but I guess that’s going to give me more time to focus on softball. I’ve learned a lot in my high-school career in all my sports.”

There are traces of Moore’s legacy in the classroom, on the hardwood and plenty on the softball field. She’s done well to prepare herself for all kinds of future success in college and beyond.