Leah Gore wants the country to understand what App State Softball is becoming, and she brings the competitive edge to back it up.
Leah Gore: Helping Push App State Softball Forward
Leah Gore plays the game with a presence that grabs your attention right away. Coach Jones called her a dog and said she plays like a sophomore with senior experience, and that description lines up with everything she brings to this App State team.
Her competitive edge did not begin when she stepped on to Boone, North Carolina soil. It goes all the way back to her upbringing. “I do not like to lose,” Gore told me. “I have always been the type that no matter what I am doing, I am trying to be the best at it or I am striving to be the best at it.”
That mindset began at home. Her family turned holidays into full games of wiffle ball with twenty or thirty people outside enjoying every bit of it. “My family is very competitive and very active,” she said. “We would always go outside and play games and have fun with each other.” That early foundation shaped the player she is today.
Last season only added fuel to that fire. Gore walked straight into college softball and produced like someone who had been there already. As a freshman, she slashed .311/.367/.590 with 11 home runs, 34 RBIs, and 10 doubles, and she started all 50 games. Those numbers give a young player real confidence.
“Being able to play as much as I did last year and being able to play the high competition that we did really made me grow a lot on my own,” she said. “I feel like it really translated into the fall.” Her growth is clear. Her confidence has sharpened. Also, her voice inside the program is getting stronger by the day.
One of the biggest takeaways in our conversation was her pride in App State Softball. She wants the country to understand what the program is becoming. “I want to prove what App State Softball is,” Gore said. “A lot of people outside of North Carolina are like what is App State. I want to show everybody what App State is and I want to help lead the team there.”
That part of our conversation gave me a shot to show my age a little. I have always known about Appalachian State, but it came from their dominant years in football. Back when the Mountaineers were at the I-AA level in the Southern Conference, winning national championships and taking down giants, they were a program I admired. I got the chance to witness Armanti Edwards and that program do special things almost twenty years ago. That era to me really built the foundation for how people viewed App State as a whole. The idea that you should always be ready to go when you see an App State team on your schedule.
Now the buy in is there for softball. The university has invested. The support is growing, and seeing that gives me the same feeling I had watching those football teams. I would love to see this program rise into a well respected mid major power, and players like Leah Gore are the reason that vision feels possible.
A big part of her belief in the program comes from the support system around it. I saw myself while visiting for two fall games. “There is no better support than what we have,” she said. “With the new field and the new hitting facility, sometimes I look around and think my gosh I get to do this every day.” That excitement is real. It also shows how much pride she takes in representing Boone.
Gore understands the game on a broader scale too. She sees the entire sport rising and the gap closing between mid majors and the top programs. She felt it last year after going to SEC stadiums and then returning home to the support in Boone. “It does not feel like as big of a difference as people think,” she said.
With the pro leagues forming and MLB support behind the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, she believes the game is only moving upward. For her personal path, she currently has a focus on academics and her family business, but she is not shutting the door on anything. “If the opportunity of a pro league comes to me, I am not going to say no,” she said.
Before we wrapped up, I asked her what she would tell younger athletes. Her answer came quickly. “Just be you,” she said. “Every time I step in the box or when I am catching, I tell myself that. Do not try to be someone you are not. You cannot be anyone else but yourself and you are perfect.”
That is Leah Gore, she is competitive, confident, grounded, and proud of what she is a part of. Leah Gore wants people to know App State Softball. With the way she plays and the way she carries herself, she is giving people every reason to start paying attention.
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