Moran living the dream of every Cape Leaguer

By ROB DUCA

   He was just a kid ---- tall and lanky at 6-4, 195 pounds. He was confident, yet not entirely aware of the potential waiting to be unleashed from his right arm. At 17, Kevin Moran was simply hoping for an opportunity to prove himself.

     He hadn’t done a whole lot in his first three seasons at Barnstable High. He didn’t fire a no-hitter. Or fan 15 in a game. There weren’t any press clippings describing a dominant right-hander destined for greatness. When Moran arrived at a Perfect Game USA Northeast Regional showcase held at Wareham’s Spillane Field in the summer of 2006, he was the proverbial hidden gem waiting to be discovered and polished.

     And in the blink of an eye, or more precisely, with a dazzling display of two innings, his life changed. He faced eight batters, fanned seven and, most important, hit 90 on the radar gun. 

     Suddenly, he was somebody. The unknown had become a prospect, and the prospect had college recruiters drooling.

     “We were starry eyed when we got that kind of response,” remembers Moran’s mother, Paulette.

     Moran’s showcase appearance led to a scholarship at Boston College, which led to a summer with the Hyannis Mets (now Harbor Hawks) in the Cape Cod Baseball League, which on Tuesday led to his selection by the Chicago White Sox in the ninth round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

     Moran could be excused if he were hyperventilating. It’s been a dizzying ride.

     “There’s just so many kids who would give anything for this opportunity,” he said. “To think that I didn’t even pitch that much in high school. At BC, they always made fun of me for being on JV, because all those guys were studs throughout high school. I was a late bloomer. But I dreamed it. I really did believe it was possible.”

     And when the big moment arrived?

     “I had all those times when I was a little kid, in middle school and in high school, all the hours in the gym, working with all the different coaches and players ---- all that flashes before your eyes when you hear your name called.”

     Moran will decide next week whether to sign with the White Sox ----- who want to keep him a closer ----- or return to the Eagles for his senior season. If he signs, he’ll be headed to rookie ball in Virginia or Idaho. If he doesn't, he'll be back playing with the Harbor Hawks this summer.

     While the Perfect Game Showcase got him noticed and he enjoyed a few noteworthy moments with the Eagles, the Cape League might be considered his coming-out party. He posted a stingy 1.93 ERA, with 20 strikeouts in 18.2 innings for the Mets, and not even a mediocre junior season with the Eagles (8-5, 7.92 ERA) dissuaded the White Sox from crossing him off their list.

     Still, Moran was concerned about the effect his up-and-down college season would have on his draft status. As he struggled with alternating between starting and closing, he could feel his stock dropping on a daily basis. But once he returned to closing, and he was back on the mound in the ninth innings, going old-school with high stirrups and drawing attention to his neck rolls and pre-pitch gyrations, his confidence was restored.

     He fired 3.1 innings of no-hit baseball to defeat Miami in the ACC Championship game, and then impressed scouts in pre-draft workouts in Philadelphia and Milwaukee.

     Still, draft day was an exercise in patience.

     “It was like Chinese water torture,” his mother said. “The second round started at noon and they didn’t call his name until the ninth round, which was around 3:30. By that point, we were numb.”

     “It is brutal,” Moran agreed. “It’s such a crapshoot. No one really knows what will happen. I was 278th overall, which is a high draft pick. I can’t imagine being picked in the 36th round like one of my best friends at school. That’s like 1,038th overall. It was like torture sitting there waiting for your name to be called.”

     Moran isn’t the first player to credit his Cape League experience for paving the road to the big leagues. It happens just about every summer. Some kid you’ve never heard of shows up and raises eyebrows, with his arm or his bat, and scouts begin looking at him in an entirely new light.

     “The Cape League is a bridge to getting drafted,” he said. “General managers come down here, scouting directors. It’s the place to go to get drafted.”

     He’s nearly four years removed from the day his life was altered in what amounted to finding a winning lottery ticket on the side of the road.

     “He had no idea what that day would mean,” his mother says. “I remember what a big step it was when he went to BC. It was a little overwhelming for him. His uniform was flapping in the breeze. He was only a freshman. But every year he grew and matured. He’s still 20, but he looks way more like a man.”

     And he might soon be a pro.
 

Rob Duca, Senior Writer (rd0779@comcast.net)