To catch a dream, Jocelyn Curtis has had a lot of support and resolve. 

The Community R-6 senior signed to play softball for Missouri Valley College in Marshall and had a ceremony in the high school gym on Feb. 11. 

“I went and saw a bunch of different places,” Curtis said. “I wanted that home feeling. Everyone always talks about walking into a college and feeling like home. Missouri Valley was that feel for me.”

Jocelyn Curtis Signing Photo Gallery

Curtis was first team all-Central Activities Conference, first team infield in Class 1 District 4 and second team all-region. She slashed .408/.492/.641 with a team-high 33 RBIs 15 doubles and three home runs. In the circle, Curtis had a 3.66 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 113 strikeouts and 50 walks in 130 innings pitched and had a .933 fielding percentage in the field.

Her senior season is the latest step of a career that spans to when Curtis was seven-years-old. Curtis has played 11 years of travel ball, winning a World Series title in her final year with the Lunachix and head coach Brandon Talbot. She said he and other coaches in her family and in high school have helped so much and convinced her that this is what she wanted.

“I really love competing, I love the sport so much and being out there with all these girls,” Curtis said. “I wanted to keep playing. I can’t give it up yet.”

Curtis said “practice is everything” and it has been that way since she was seven. She said she does whatever she can and more at practices and at home with the help of her father, Bob Curtis, and believes colleges noticed her work ethic. 

Her father; her mother and middle school coach, Deanna Curtis; Talbot; and various high school coaches in her four years with the Lady Trojans were at the school to celebrate with Curtis. There seemed to be as many, if not more, coaches to take photos with as her Community R-6 teammates, and Curtis said she liked having that many people with different perspectives.

“It really benefitted me tremendously,” Curtis said. “It’s always good to have one person that you trust and rely on and that believes in you. Having as many as I did — it’s like a team of coaches — they were great mentors, leaders and coaches. I can’t thank them enough for everything they’ve done.”

Jeff Angel became the head coach of Community this season so he has coached Curtis as a senior and as a freshman, when he was an assistant. Angel has seen and coached a variety of Lady Trojans who played in college, including his daughter and fellow coach Emma Angel, Brooklynn Glasgow and Amy McCurdy. He is excited to see this trend of softball players signing for college but is also excited for the future of Curtis.

“Jocelyn as a competitor, a leader and an all-around softball player, there is nobody else you can ask for,” Angel said. “When you ask her to do something, it’s, ‘What do I need to do?’ or ‘How can we do this better?’ She’s just a great kid. There’s no doubt in my mind she will totally have 100 percent success at Missouri Valley.”

Angel said he noticed the growth of Curtis from freshman to senior when she was a mentor for the several freshmen and younger players this season. Just like his daughter, Sarah Angel, took Curtis underneath her wing as a senior, Angel said Curtis did the same for them.

“Jocelyn took some of these younger girls that had to play varsity,” Angel said. “We had four or five of them starting at times for the varsity team. She was that mother hen and said, ‘I am right there for you.’”

Curtis was the team’s No. 1 hitter and No. 1 pitcher who would play first base or third base, and Angel said he and the other coaches didn’t have to worry about her. 

Leadership skills were among the list of things Curtis learned during her career, which has made her a better person away from the softball field. She is grateful for having Sarah Angel be “such an inspiration” to her and for Kendra Murphy being her head coach during the middle of her high school career.  

“Definitely from freshman year to senior year is such a big difference,” Curtis said. “You have so much more confidence. The game gets slower as you get older because you’re used to it.”

Curtis will miss the support system of teammates and coaches at Community R-6, “our little small school,” and the community. 

“There are some people in the crowd that I have no relation to them at all, and they come and watch me,” Curtis said. “I think that is amazing because they love the sport and love to see good games. I’m going to miss the community.”