Many softball players dream about playing at Tennessee, which has reached the NCAA Tournament every year since 2004, including seven trips to the Women’s College World Series during that span.

So Cal Athletics’ pitcher Matty Moss can’t wait to represent the Volunteers and step into the circle at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium, but she has another big reason to be in Knoxville, Tenn.

“When I get older, I want to do something with the FBI,” Moss said. “I want to help little kids that have been in the human trafficking business. (Tennessee) Coach Ralph (Weekly) was an FBI agent and Coach Karen (Weekly) was a District Attorney.”

The Tennessee coaches have the softball knowledge and crime-fighting background, plus Tennessee has an amazing criminal justice program, which made it the perfect fit for Moss.

“They have this thing called the ‘Body Farm,'” Moss said, “which is where they put cadavers in different areas. They study how they decompose and stuff. It’s just a really great program. That was the big thing for me and my mom. I’m not going to go just to play softball. I want to get an education.”

For now, Moss will have to settle for handcuffing batters. Moss was a relative unknown on the national scene before leading Carolina Elite (S.C.) to a strong showing in Colorado and then a 17th-place finish at the PGF 18U Nationals last summer.

“When I was younger, I wasn’t the top recruit at all,” Moss said. “I don’t even think I am now, but I worked really hard in the cages with my mom. We’ve gotten a lot of things done. I’ve gotten faster. I’ve gotten better at my movement. I know I’m not going to be ready right when I walk on the field at Tennessee, but I know that the coaches are definitely going to help me improve.

So how did she make it to the next level?

“I work out a lot,” Moss said. “My body was a little scrawny and it wasn’t very muscular, so I lift, I run and I throw for long periods of time, just to make sure that I’m conditioned. I got a lot stronger physically and mentally. Even though I hadn’t faced those batters before, I knew I was going to come out here and do what I know how to do and it worked.”

Moss decided to put the travel in travel ball and go all the way across the country to join up with the So Cal Athletics (Calif.) where she has four future Tennessee Volunteers teammates on the roster. Moss, first baseman Taylor Rowland and outfielder Brooke Vines have signed with Tennessee and outfielder Jenna Holcomb and catcher/outfielder Maddi Pacini have verballed committed to the Volunteers.

“It took a couple of tournaments (to get comfortable),” said Moss, who well make a total of seven cross-country trips to play with the A’s by the end of this summer. “I came out for one practice during spring break this past year. We worked on my fielding a little bit because it wasn’t up to par. The team and I have bonded really welland there’s four other girls going to Tennessee. It’s good to get to know them and I like them a lot.”

Moss added said she gets a chance to face better competition on a day-to-day basis by playing with the A’s in Southern California.

“I decided this was a great opportunity and I needed to face these kinds of batters every single game, every single inning, because that’s what I’m going to face in the SEC,” Moss said. “It’s done a lot (to elevate my game). Back home I could get away with a lot because I throw a little bit faster. But here, even if you’re throwing hard, if you make a mistake, they’re still going to capitalize on it. Because it’s coming a little bit faster it’s going to go even further. I’ve had to really pinpoint my pitches and make sure they’re gong to the right spot.

Moss doesn’t get the chance to practice with her A’s teammates because she lives on the other side of the country, but she will be with the A’s for every tournament, including the So Cal A’s Invitational this past weekend in Santa Ana, Calif., where she helped her team reach the finals. Moss said she connected with her A’s teammates right away.

“This is my third tournament with them,” Moss said. “It’s really gotten to the point where I just come out and throw and just be a part of the team.”

Moss, who is clocked regularly around 66-68 mph, has a simple pitching philosophy.

“Just go out and attack ’em,” Moss said. “If I ever get into my head, I think that’s when I fail. That’s when I don’t go atthe batters as hard as I can. That’s really what I’m about is just being free on the mound, because that’s what I love to do. I feel like I’m flying out there.”

The South Carolinian will be racking up a lot of frequent-flyer points this summer, and she will be doing some serious flying on the field as well.

— Carlos Arias

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