Moorestown High alumna Caroline Muccifori remembers like it was yesterday.
“When you achieve your goal, you’re just so happy,” she said. “I think about it all the time, and my dad still sends me videos from it.”
Muccifori became the first softball player in school history to collect 100 career hits in 2017, an achievement she described as hard to get. The big game against Burlington Township on that May 3 was not only a high for Muccifori, but a wild experience.
No one was even supposed to practice that day, Muccifori recalled, but the game got squeezed in. Before she managed her 100th hit, she went 0 for 8. For her first at bat, she had a single. For her second, she fouled until she snagged her 99th hit. Her third at bat, a triple, got her to 100.
“It was just so fitting, because it made it that much more special,” Muccifori recounted. “I almost tripped over second base because I was so excited. I remember I got to third, I hugged Mulv (former MHS girls softball coach Bill Mulvihill) and then I looked at my dad, and that’s what made me lose it, because my dad was so excited.”
Muccifori, who is always motivated and determined to be the best she can be, doesn’t like to take ‘no’ for an answer. She played soccer, basketball, softball and flag football before eventually focusing on basketball and softball. As a kid, she always watched her older brother play baseball and loved to run around the field with him.
Muccifori and her family never missed a Phillies or Flyers game; anything sports related was right up their alley. Her favorite sports memory was when she and her dad watched the Phillies take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2008 National League Championship Series.
“Manny Ramirez was right there in the outfield, and he was just acting like a goof,” she remembered. “I’m thinking, ‘This guy is a professional athlete, and he’s got his glove on his head. He’s sitting down.’ And I’m (thinking), ‘What is happening right now?’
“But they (the Phillies) beat the Dodgers and that was the playoff that took us to the World Series.”
While the girls in her grade had singer Justin Bieber posters in their rooms, Muccifori – who described herself as a tomboy growing up – had a Troy Polamalu wall decal. She credits her family for her athletic abilities, specifically her dad, who won a tennis state championship when he was in high school.
But her brother and mom – who drove her to every sports tournament – also turned Muccifori into the athlete she became. Her brother imparted knowledge, and she got speed from her mother.
She owes it to her family, she insisted, for always supporting her no matter what sport she played.
“You just have to keep reminding yourself to be patient and keep doing your thing, because you know you’re doing all of the right things and it’s going to happen,” Muccifori advised. “You literally have to believe in yourself. Practice makes perfect.”
At all her games, her dad would record every at bat and every swing for footage to analyze after. Her family had a batting cage in the backyard where Muccifori practiced hitting. She credits Mulvihill – who encouraged Muccifori to play on softball tournament teams – for fueling her ambition to take her skills to the next level.
Former MHS girls basketball coach Chris Hill is someone that Muccifori has always looked up to, especially now that she coaches basketball. Muccifori considers herself lucky that she’s received so many great experiences and lessons from her family, Mulvihill and Hill, two of her favorite coaches.
Muccifori now teaches fourth grade in Brigantine, a job she loves more than anything in the world. But she also misses hitting balls with her dad and brother because that’s what ultimately made her a great player.
“I fully believe that if you are giving 110% every day and you try hard and you put the effort in, you can achieve anything,” she noted. “Nobody will ever get mad or upset if you try hard. I am somebody who truly believes that, and I think the things I have done in sports and in school show … I can speak from experience when I say to try hard.
“It’s giving that full effort and then some.”
“You just have to keep reminding yourself to be patient and keep doing your thing, because you know you’re doing all of the right things and it’s going to happen,” said Caroline Muccifori (center, behind banner).
