Senior athlete trades soccer ball for softball

This story first appeared in the January 2018 edition of The Hilltop.

“Accomplish what you want in life. Don’t be afraid to take on challenges, because challenges can be fun and you never know what doors God can open for you,” Holly Martinez Moorman, softball walk-on, said.

Martinez Moorman transferred to Corban her sophomore year from Chemeketa Community College.

Since she played soccer at Chemeketa, she was recruited for the soccer team.

Now, in her senior year, she has decided to pursue softball as a walk-on and to use her speed from soccer.

“Soccer is more challenging, just because I am involved in everything,” she said. “There isn’t a time where I just sit out, sit on the side and watch, and, because I am just a runner and I don’t throw at practice for softball, a lot of times I’m just a ghost runner, going to bases for them.”

Moorman believes soccer and softball are like comparing apples and oranges. She has played both before, so she’s able to know that each sport has its own methods.

“As I’m getting more accustomed to practice, there are things I can go do on my own that correlate to base running,” Moorman said. “I’ve been given drills from my coach, so, when the softball team is throwing or they’re taking grounders or flyballs on the outfield, I can be off on the side doing base running drills.”

Her soccer coach, Likius Hafeni, appreciated her talent when he first started coaching her. He has seen her grow athletically, academically and spiritually.

“The first year she did great; she was newcomer of the year,” Hafeni said. “She came off the bench, which is where she started, but she worked hard and she worked her way up in the first year (junior year).

“When she came here, she knew the Lord, but she was still a little bit not strong, but over the last two years she has really grown in the Lord.”

Abigail Farler, Martinez Moorman’s softball coach, was excited by her talent and personality. Even though Farler wasn’t acquainted with Martinez Moorman before, it was the softball players who had scouted her and brought the idea to Farler.

“It was a process in determining if Holly could join the team,” Farler said. “I had her do some workouts, and I discussed it with my assistant coaches and my players, who believed she was meant to be a part of the team.

“I had talked with her soccer coach, who gave her a great recommendation, and I had talked with Holly about my vision for my team, and I was pleased to find that she had the same vision.”

Both coaches believe Martinez Moorman is a hard worker, in and out of practices. They see her determination and her encouraging attitude.

“I believe she is ready to be in this team and give it her all,” Farler said. “ She’s prepared and knows the values of both the team and her academics and is able to handle both.”

Martinez Moorman wished she had become a dual athlete earlier in her college career, but, according to Farler, she might not have been ready until now.

“I think this is the right time for her because sophomore or junior year she would have had spring soccer and that really was her passion, something she came to Corban for. I think this is exactly the right timing for her to have a different experience for her final semester here,” Farler said.

Hafeni believes it is key for athletes to be passionate about their different sports if they want to be dual athletes.

“She’s a team player; she adapted with the other team well,” Hafeni said. “She was able to come and get along with people.”