Lisa Moore was 8 and playing in a girls’ softball league in Fountain Valley, Calf. when she asked her coach if she could pitch.
“I had no clue what I was doing and I walked every batter. I was really down,’’ she recalled. It was the start of something special in the circle.
When her family moved to Texas, Moore practiced pitching against the wall of the garage in her backyard. As an eighth grader, she learned to throw a rise ball in a summer league.
After moving to Wellesley prior to her freshman year, she struck out a state-record 1,078 hitters over four seasons for the Raiders while compiling a 70-8 career mark (1987-90). Now 44 and known by her married name, Lisa Watts, she was the Globe’s three-time player of the year for softball.
“My dad, Tom, caught for me in the backyard and would warm me up for my high school games when he could get out of work,’’ said Watts, who also credits her mother, Pat, for “my competitive spirit and drive.’’
Her strikeout total, since eclipsed, ranks third all-time in Massachusetts.
“It was a fun time and also a little stressful as I was getting close to the record, but my teammates were always there, trying to relax me’’ said Watts, who resides in Medfield with her husband Tom and their three sons, Sean, 10, Brian, 7, and Robby, 5.
A Globe All-Scholastic volleyball player her senior year, Watts also played varsity basketball before enrolling at Princeton University.
She played two college seasons at Princeton, starring on the mound for the Tigers, who won a pair of Ivy League titles. She was the league’s rookie of the year and a regional All-American the following season.
Her single-season strikeout record at Princeton stood for 15 years but she made the tough decision to not play after her sophomore season.
“My major, computer science, took up a lot of my time so I decided to focus on my studies and be more involved in the college community. The lessons I learned through sports I channeled into other aspects of my life,’’ said Watts, who graduated Princeton in 1994.
She worked at Fidelity Investments in Boston and attended Harvard Business School.
After living in Texas -- where Tom received his MBA and Lisa worked with two technology startup companies – the couple returned to the Bay State in 2003.
Watts worked with the EMC Corporation in Hopkinton before devoting time to raising her family. She plans to return to the business world in the near future.
She continued to play slow pitch softball in company leagues and after moving to Medfield, held pitching clinics for girls.
Watts is surprised her strikeout total is still among the best-ever in Massachusetts.
“It’s kind of amazing. People I bump into still mention it,’’ she said.
“Sports was a huge part of my life and I’m trying to pass on that love of sports to our boys.’’
