Lewis and Moore represented Maple River on the National Stage.
As an "Old Guy" covering youth sports, my inner cynic observes a student’s entire athletic career come and go like the lifespan of a cicada. 99% of the time, all the blood, sweat, and tears put into athletics ends in a sudden loss to JWP, BEA, or JCC. Career over. Let the tales of glory days begin.
This past week, though, two former Maple River athletes not only took on Father Time but also battled the world in two sports that are not even offered by the MSHSL: curling and men’s fastpitch softball. Josh Moore competed in the Everest North American Club Championships at the same time rookie slugger Jeff Lewis helped Team USA qualify for the WBSC Men’s Softball World Cup Finals.
(Josh Moore (center) poses with his new teammates prior to taking on Canada).
Under the Bright Lights
Several years after John Landsteiner helped put Mapleton and the sport of curling on the map following a dramatic gold medal run, Josh Moore has kept the “Curling Capital of Minnesota” in the news. Wanting to capitalize on the sudden popularity of curling, CBS Sports broadcast the international match live and showcased “regular guys” from local clubs who made a Rocky-esque run from obscurity to television. “It was awesome,” Moore admitted. “You know, all the lights and stuff like that. They said some of the things that they were using technology wise had never been used in curling. If you go back and watch the videos, the LEDs that were on the floor looking upward had only been used before for the NBA All Star game.” Moore also confessed he was a bit starstruck with the attention given to them by CBS. “It's been something I've done my entire life, so once I got out there, it was just kind of all business. But I kind of took a second to just kind of step back, look around, and go, ‘Wow, this is crazy. All the people in the stands that are right here, all the people that are supporting me, all people that are watching, you know, I remember like, looking around at the color commentators that were down on ice, Matt Hamilton and Jennifer Jones. ‘Oh, they're, they're right here and they're watching us.’ It was just a really cool experience and I was so thankful to have the opportunity to be a part.”
While Canada ended up winning the match, Moore enjoyed the roller-coaster ride from the qualifying matches to the final. Although Moore had been out of competitive curling for several years, his recent move to Fargo saw the curling stones suddenly align. “We had a lot of fun together. We had good chemistry right from the start. So that really helped things. I think, going through our club region, which was the Dakota territories and nationals. I think we were something like 13 and 1. So we played really well, and just, you know, really enjoyed it. But, you know, it kind of, it didn't really sink in after we won the national championship and I was starting to kind of talk to my parents a little bit about getting the chance to wear like Team USA. That was really where it kind of set in.”
(Jeff Lewis (#18) will represent team USA in next summer's World Championships)
A Rookie Run
Jeff Lewis also represented the United States as a rookie on the Men’s Fastpitch Softball team. After the 2017 graduate finished his high school career in football, basketball, and baseball, he quickly transitioned into Junior USA softball before recently making the jump into a more competitive league. “We play competitive fastpitch softball. It's guys from all around the world come to basically the Midwest for the three months of the summer to play for club teams. We play for a team that's been based out of Fargo for around 20 years. We always have a few pickup guys. This year we had a couple guys from New Zealand. Years past, it's been Argentina that come over and then stay for the summer to play in this competitive league.” Although he’d been steadily preparing for the moment, joining the men’s team meant he had to put up or shut up. “This was my first go around at the men's team. So obviously the nerves were there of playing with new guys and the veteran guys, so I really wasn't sure what my role was going to be but somebody had told me earlier in the week that if you can hit it, they'll find a spot for you to play.”
Turns out…Lewis can hit.
The rookie slugger went on a tear that saw Lewis contribute to Team USA outhit its opponents 51-9, including two clutch wins over Japan. As Lewis modestly puts it, “I got on a pretty good streak and was lucky enough to keep it going.” From the first game against Japan, the new guy became a catalyst for the team qualifying for the championship round next summer. “I'd say the biggest one was the first Japan game. We knew going into the tournament that they were going to be the toughest team there. So that was kind of the one we kept building up to throughout the week with the earlier games of this is the one we need to be ready for. And I had a few hits before that game. ‘All right, well, we'll see what it's really about now,’ and being able to play well really helped the confidence. That's probably one I won't forget.”
A Family Tradition
For both Lewis and Moore, their second season of sports is rooted in family traditions. Even though Moore played traditional high school sports, it should come as no surprise that he ended up on television as a curler. “Growing up in a family that was very much so into curling for generations, I grew up around it. I was always down at the club, you know, watching dad and mom and league. My dad figured I was probably about five the first time that I ever played, you know? And he said at that time he goes, ‘You didn't have any muscle to you really. So you put your feet in the hack, grab the rock with your hands on the ice, and hope it ended up somewhere and spot that was usable.’ I grew up playing throughout juniors, I played with people out of Maple River. We had a team my last year at Juniors that was very competitive. So I played that until I turned 21 as the cutoff for that, and our team was all four from Maple River. So that was really cool.”
For Lewis, softball also began as a family tradition: “So growing up, my dad actually used to play. So as long as I can remember, Mom was dragging Mike and I to the ball field to watch dad play. So when he started transitioning out from playing, Mike was starting to get into the age of playing a lot more, and then the summer after I graduated, we played for a club team that plays five or six weekends a summer, and they were looking for another player. So it worked out pretty well that I ended up filling right into that role, and then basically haven’t stopped playing since.”
Jeff Lewis will continue next summer in the World Championship round in Prince Albert, Canada. Having had such success with his new team out of Fargo, Moore also looks forward to continuing the family tradition.
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