Maddie Moore ’25
Maddie Moore thought her career was finished. In October of 2019 — just two weeks after her verbal commitment to play softball at Clemson — an ACL injury and a meniscus tear in her knee threatened her dreams of playing on the collegiate level.
However, the California native realized the injury was taking more of a mental than physical toll on her recovery. “My superhero rescued me,” says Moore, referring to her mother. “My mom always reminded me that I was more than just a softball player. She kept me sane.”
Moore credits the continuous support of her family with her recovery and her road to Clemson.
“My mom and dad have been nothing but supportive when it came to my softball goals,” she says. “They never once have said that my dreams were too big. When it came to the whole recruiting process, they dove in headfirst and never gave up on me.
“All they asked was, ‘Are you sure?’ My answer was very quick: ‘Yes, I’m sure.’ With that, we started the next chapter of my life.”
Moore fully recovered and took the 2,621-mile trek across the country for her first year at Clemson. Dreams intact, she now shines as an infielder for the Tigers. Shining in the classroom as well, Moore is majoring in sociology and minoring in women’s leadership, hoping to pursue a career in developing women’s athletic wear to encourage body positivity. After experiencing so much love and support from the women in her life, she wants to give back on a larger scale.
And as a female athlete, Moore feels like she understands what she, her teammates and other women in athletics want to wear, whether it’s in the game or in the gym.
“I really want to help support women with body confidence — to make every woman feel good about themselves if they are working out or just want to wear the clothes as loungewear,” Moore says. For her, the dream is to work with Nike.
“Body positivity is really important to me.”
For now, Moore is content to focus on school — and softball, of course. In 2022, she started 57 games as a freshman, racking up a 0.927 fielding percentage and scoring 25 runs with 11 RBIs.
This past season, she started all 61 games at second base with a 0.980 fielding percentage and finished the season with 46 recorded hits, including a three-run homer out of left field against Oklahoma in the Norman Super Regional.
She has big plans for the remainder of her Clemson career: “I want to make it to the World Series! And I want to continue to have fun with my best friends and keep growing the love for this sport.”
