Keeping Faith: Mingus softball honors late teammate
There’s a text message saved on John Brown’s phone, hidden deep beneath the piles of condolences. The date is May 3, 2021 and the sender is Faith Moore, a sophomore pitcher on Cottonwood Mingus Union’s JV softball team, whom Brown, the varsity coach, had called up for the postseason.
“Hey coach I wasn’t able to tell you this at practice because you needed to talk to Tabi, but from the bottom of my heart thank you for everything you do for not only me but for all the other girls. I truly do love playing for you and working with you. Thank you for pushing so hard and showing us we can do things in life that we never thought would be possible. Thank you for pushing yourself to come to practice when times are hard on you and your family and I have so much respect for you. I will make sure to put in the extra hours I need to, to make sure you get a state championship before I graduate. I hope you have a good night. Thank you for everything you do truly!”
One year later, Brown — now in his 22nd and final year as head coach — still makes sure to read the text every day. It reminds him of Faith and of the value of every interaction, every practice, every moment. It’s also the last text Faith ever sent him.
***
The morning of July 25, 2021, began with a panic in Cottonwood. Halfway between Prescott and Sedona, the town only has 12,000 residents. Mingus High School, with its 1,345 students, is the only high school. If you don’t know a given student there, you know somebody who does.
So, that morning, word quickly spread that Moore had disappeared. The details would be revealed over the coming days: Moore’s vehicle got stuck in a low water crossing and was swept away in rising floodwaters. She became separated from the vehicle in the water.
At the time, all that was known was that Moore was gone and search teams couldn’t find her.
Senior Ella Behlow, an infielder on the softball team, remembers it like a fever dream. Behlow’s dad, like so many others in the community, had gone out to help the police and SWAT teams search for Moore. Back at home, Behlow’s mom woke her up to keep her apprised.
“I just remember being like, ‘oh no, that didn’t happen,’” Behlow said. “It just didn’t feel like — it didn’t feel real.”
Behlow’s experience is hardly unique. Across town, her teammates and their families joined the scores searching for Moore. “A white fuzz,” as Brown describes it. “It was crazy.”
On day four, Brown was part of the group that eventually found her, aided by receding water levels.
“We had to scour tons of washes along the river banks and different things, looking for her what we hoped was gonna be an injured Faith,” Brown said. “It was a long four days of constant, grueling searching and crying and just trying our best to stay positive and eventually culminated in at least giving her family the closure of finding her.”
***
There is no perfect way to honor a lost teammate. Moore should be an infielder on Mingus, filling practices with laughs and levity, like she did last spring.
The Marauders, though, are maintaining her legacy in any way they can.
Throughout the regular season, Moore’s No. 8 red home jersey hung in Mingus’ dugout. When the team gifted the jersey to her parents on senior night, they replaced it with her gray away version,. After home runs, the Marauders drape a home run belt over the jersey.
“It’s like she’s there and we’re doing this for her,” Behlow said.
Although Moore wasn’t on varsity last year, everyone on Mingus has a favorite memory to share. They take the form of typical high school moments — rides to practice and after-school Fry’s runs — elevated to the front of their memory.
This year, they were supposed to forge more of those moments. After two years of developing on JV, Moore was ready to step up to varsity.
“It was obvious that that was her goal was to get in that varsity lineup,” Brown said. “This year, it was supposed to be her year to do that.”
Instead, Mingus plays on, scoring a 6-4 win over Greenway on Tuesday, sending them into the 4A quarterfinals Saturday against Canyon del Oro, three rounds from realizing Moore’s vision.
“It’s hard to talk about, but it needs to be,” Brown said. “We’ve gotta honor her and we are right now. … I feel like we’re doing it so she can see it through my eyes.”