Big collegiate payoff for Antioch's Moore, Duehr

At 7 years old, Lauren Moore had already been playing softball for three years.

It was then, she says, that her parents told her that earning a scholarship someday would mean she could attend college for free.

The young girl was confused.

"I didn't know what 'free' was," Moore said.

She does now. And the Antioch senior surely knows that nothing in life is free. While the hard-hitting third baseman accepted Loyola University's scholarship offer this summer, she worked for it.

"It's not until you get older that you realize how hard it is (to earn a scholarship)," she said.

Moore will play Division-I softball and so will her Antioch teammate, good friend and fellow hard worker Olivia Duehr, who happens to live down the street from Moore in Antioch.

Duehr, a junior pitcher, has given a verbal commitment to Northwestern University. She and Moore played this summer with the Northbrook-based Illinois Chill Gold.

"I've pretty much grown up with her," Duehr said. "We've been the best of friends throughout high school."

The best friends think alike when it comes to their softball. Both called their respective scholarship offer a "dream."

Duehr, who was captain of the Daily Herald's Lake County All-Area team last spring after helping lead the Sequoits to a 32-3 record, has eyed Northwestern since being inspired by the Wildcats' run to the Women's College World Series during her eighth-grade year.

While Northwestern was the first school to offer her a scholarship, she says she was also drawing interest from Wisconsin, Nebraska, Loyola, UIC, Illinois State, Florida State and Oklahoma State.

When NU presented her the chance to play for its softball program, she didn't have to think twice. The Wildcats went 31-15 in 2009.

"It's been my dream school ever since I knew I wanted to play college softball," Duehr said. "I just knew that's where I wanted to be."

She's been going to camps and clinics at Northwestern, she says, since eighth grade. Come the fall of 2011, she'll be a Wildcat.

"I like that it's going to be a great education," said Duehr, who's taking three honors classes this semester. "It's close to home, I'm going to play in the Big Ten and I'm going to get to compete for a national championship."

Duehr went 18-2 last spring in her first full season on varsity, pitching 12 shutouts and posting a 0.56 ERA. She was also dominant in the batter's box, hitting .442 (50 hits) with 9 home runs and 39 RBI. She also stole 12 bases.

"I'm being recruited more as a hitter, but pitching isn't out of the question," Duehr said. "I'm still going to work with the pitchers, but I'm mainly going as a hitter."

Moore is definitely a hitter. While she posted solid numbers as a junior, batting .287 with her 12 extra-base hits including 3 homers, Antioch coach Jeff Tylka says she's capable of a lot more offensively.

Moore boasts a strong arm and went 78 chances, Tylka noted, before making her first error of the 2009 season. She committed only 2 errors all spring, with Tylka adding that her arm "basically took away a team's ability to bunt."

Loyola was the first school to make a scholarship offer to her. The Ramblers' 28 wins last spring were their most since they won 31 games in 2004.

"It's close to home so I can come home on the weekends, and it's Division I," Moore said. "I love everything about it. I love everything around there. And the coaches are really nice."

Those coaches, she says, think she can make an immediate impact.

"They said they could see me breaking records and starting for four years," she said.

She's just thrilled for the opportunity to play at the next level.

"It's crazy," she said. "This has been a dream ever since my parents described what a scholarship is."

She appreciates that more than ever.