Longtime softball teammates lead Penn as freshmen

Jen Moore and Clarisa Apostol both attended Bishop Eustace Preparatory High School. They both play softball for Penn. And they have the top two batting averages on the team. But they are nothing alike. Moore strikes fear into the heart of opposing batters. She stands just 30 feet away from home -- halfway down the third-base line -- in her position at third, a scowl on her face. "I would hate to have her breathing down my neck when I'm batting," Moore's younger sister Christina said. "She's just right there." Apostol, meanwhile, plays with a smile on her face. Her warmup routine with senior Narda Quigley in left field even includes a 360-degree touchdown dance and ensuing spike -- with a softball, of course. "She doesn't look tough," Moore said, "but her spirit for the game is tough. People are scared of me. People aren't scared of [her]." Although Moore and Apostol play with vastly different styles, both have produced results offensively and defensively. Moore, a power hitter, is hitting .300 and leads the team in doubles (seven), RBIs (14) and slugging percentage (.500). Apostol, a speedy leadoff hitter, leads the team with a .333 batting average and 15 runs scored. In addition, she has not committed a single error this season in leftfield. Differences between the two are not limited to their play between the foul lines, however. Moore is the confident one. She can be outspoken, opinionated and occasionally lacking in diplomacy. "She's strong in every way -- emotionally and physically," Christina Moore said. "She's determined and stubborn." The Atlo, N.J., native also has no shortage of hobbies. She has played organized basketball, soccer and field hockey. She skateboards and plays the guitar. And she is a cigar connoisseur. "I smoke and study cigars," said Moore, who prefers Ashton cigars. "I study how they wrap them, where the wrappers come from, the taste of them. I go to the bookstore and read Cigar Afficionado all the time." Apostol, on the other hand, is rumored to have never been angry in her life. She takes everything with a grain of salt and remains ever tactful. The Wharton freshman was also her high school's valedictorian and class president. "The thing about her is she is pretty successful in anything she does and it always amazes me how carefree she is about everything," said Apostol's brother Jeff, a College sophomore. "She seems to have fun in everything she does." The two teammates first met four years ago in high school, but Moore remembers Apostol from youth softball. "We played against each other when we were like 14," Moore said. "We didn't really know each other but I recognized her because she threw weird." In high school, Moore and Apostol were part of a Bishop Eustace program that won three New Jersey Parochial A State Championships while compiling a record of 101-13. Although Penn's softball program is improving, it has been difficult for the two freshmen to not win 89 percent of their games. "You never realize how pampered we were," Apostol said. "But the coaches want us to keep that attitude. I just don't see how this [Penn] team could have gone 0-12 [in the Ivies last year]." At Bishop Eustace, Apostol played junior varsity in her freshman year, while Moore stepped into a starting role immediately, wasting no time in impressing her high school coach. "In her freshman year she was trying out for third base," Bishop Eustace softball coach Mike Sacca said. "A line drive hit her dead in the stomach. She picked it up and threw the ball to first base like it was routine. I knew right then and there that she was special and I wouldn't have to worry about third base for the next four years." Apostol, meanwhile, was not even sure if she would play softball at Penn until the spring of her senior year. But Quakers coach Carol Kashow's trip to Bishop Eustace -- to recruit Moore -- changed Apostol's mind. On back-to-back plays, Apostol impressed Kashow by making a diving catch in the outfield and swatting a home run. Assured that softball would not hurt her grades, Apostol made the decision to play left field for Penn. Next year the Quakers will have another Bishop Eustace player on the team, shortstop Crista Farrell. But the re-creation of the Pennsauken prep school's left side of the field has already begun with Moore and Apostol this year. "It's so much more comforting when you start out and you don't really know everybody and I look over and Jen's still there, two feet from the plate," Apostol said. Despite all their differences, Moore and Apostol have two things in common. One is that they hate to run. This is especially surprising for Apostol. Moore calls her "Legs" because of her speed, but like her fellow Bishop Eustace alumnus, Apostol loathes running. "Softball's where it's at because we don't run," Moore said with a grin. But they had no problem staying hours after practice last Thursday for a game of home run derby. And the other thing Moore and Apostol have in common? A love for the game.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.