Amy McCurdy had a landmark senior year for Community R-6 softball.

McCurdy earned all-conference, all-district, all-region and all-state honors for the 21-12 Lady Trojans who played for a district championship. Her standout year continued this summer as she  played in two showcase games and won the National Softball Association Southeastern World Series championship with her St. Charles travel team Premier Sports Academy 18U Weinrich.

McCurdy said she is no stranger to playing softball during the summer as she has at least five years experience playing travel ball. This was her last season before transitioning to the next phase in her life when McCurdy plays for Quincy University.

“This past team, I had the most friends that I’ve had,” McCurdy said about her most recent travel ball seasons. “The first year (with them) and this year were my favorite years.”

Before earning more accolades, McCurdy had opportunities based off the accolades she already earned as a Lady Trojans. She played in the MHSFCA senior showcase game at the University of Missouri and then the Missouri vs Illinois game later the same week at John Wood Community College in Quincy. 

McCurdy said girls had to be all-district honorees to just be eligible. She posted a .464 batting average, a .524 on-base percentage, 42 runs, 30 RBIs and a 1.122 OPS as a Lady Trojan senior so the recently departed Kendra Murphy recommended that McCurdy sign up to be considered for the senior showcase.

“It was a very big honor,” McCurdy said. “To see how many other girls got nominated to do that was very cool. To be with people that were new to me, I love that. I love meeting new girls and new people.”

While her team lost both showcase games, McCurdy said it was a fun experience for her and everybody else on her team.

“They were all super-talented,” McCurdy said. “They all dove for the ball whenever they needed to. It was very good talent all around.”

During McCurdy’s travel ball season with 18U Weinrich, McCurdy had a batting average of .432 with an OPS of 1.033, 41 hits, 30 RBIs and 24 runs. Her team finished with a 23-25-1 record after facing an uphill battle in the NSA Southeastern World Series in Madiera Beach, Florida, where they faced teams from Florida, Illinois and Kentucky over four days. 

18U Weinrich lost two games in pool play and then the first game in double-elimination bracket play. The team won six straight games in two days to win the championship. 

“Our coach (Emilie Weinrich) had a heart-to-heart with us,” McCurdy said. “I think we had too much fun at the beach, and after that, we stayed at our houses. We knew we had to win.”

McCurdy had one hit and no RBIs in those first three games but then had seven hits and eight RBIs in the final six games. 18U Weinrich defeated Academy 23 Athletics RamaSanto 16U out of Oldsmar, Florida, in the final two games and a back-to-back stretch on the final day after losing to that same team in pool play to start the week. 

McCurdy said she didn’t fall off during the summer because her work ethic didn’t fall off during her senior year, devoting extra time to practice in the winter to avoid any rust. She said the chemistry with her travel team didn’t fall off either because it was the second year they were playing together and what she will miss the most from the travel ball.

After having many coaches in her life, McCurdy said Murphy and Weinrich are definitely her favorites because they “brought me back up” and restored her confidence. 

“Murphy and (Weinrich) brought back my love for softball and helped me have confidence again,” McCurdy said. “It made me who I am today.”

Before McCurdy leaves for Quincy on Aug. 21, she said she was thinking of ways she can be better. She said she intends on improving her throwing in college by “getting out of her head” because she had some throwing errors in her final week of travel ball.

“Getting the exposure helped me the most to be able to go to college,” McCurdy said. “Getting the buildup of confidence helped me out a lot.”