By Joseph Staszewski
Taylor Moss got comfortable playing at the highest level at a young age.
The Archbishop Molloy senior has been doing so ever since the sixth-grade. Each year she got a chance to play or practice with the softball team her older sister Dana, a Molloy grand and current sophomore at C.W. Post, was on. It enhanced her skills, maturity and ability to handle high expectations. It prepared her to be one of the city’s best players and to earn a chance to play softball at Division-I Holy Cross.
“I think that’s kind of the reason why I’m where I am today, always playing up, always pushing myself,” Moss said.
The first baseman recently verbally committed to the Crusaders and Coach Brian Claypool. She picked Holy Cross, her dream school, over UPenn and Molloy College. Holy Cross, which plays in the Patriot League, also offered her a challenge academically.
In addition, Moss said when she met Claypool at a softball clinic in August, they hit it off. When they talked about batting, she realized they had similar views that power hitters like her need to be more worried with hitting line drives. The home runs will come.
“I agreed with everything he said,” Moss said. “We were on the same page. I felt like I could do well at that program.”
Stanners Coach Maureen Rosenbaum agrees. She thinks Moss, an All-Queens first team selection by TimesLedger Newspapers last year, will get a chance to make an impact at Holy Cross. Rosenbaum credited her maturity and ability to hit with power to all fields as a big reason why. He is Molloy’s third Division-I player in the last five years.
“I think she will be a great match for the school,” Rosenbaum said.
Moss, who plays her travel ball with Sudden Impact, never shied away from the big moment and produced in it. She went 5-for-7 with seven RBIs in two state playoff games as a freshman to help lead Molloy to its first CHSAA state softball title. A year later she drove in the tying run as part of a two-RBI day in the diocesan championship-clinching game against St. Francis Prep. Moss hit .418 as a junior.
“She’s hard to get out,” Rosenbaum said. “She doesn’t get rattled at all. She gets up to the plate and enjoys being up there in a situation where she can make a difference.”
Moss took than some confidence and determination into landing a spot at a Division-I school. Through all the tough days, she believed it would happen.
“It’s such an honor,” Moss said. “It’s always been a dream of mine since I was younger. It’s great to actually have the opportunity.”
