Muddy River Showcase: When opportunity knocked, Monroe City’s Moss answered

The inaugural Muddy River Showcase is taking place June 18 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The Illinois vs. Missouri format for senior prep basketball players will feature a girls game at 3 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 5 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door and all seating is general admission.

MONROE CITY, Mo. — To play or not to play, that was Mackenzie Moss’ question.

With every intention of pursuing a degree in elementary education, the Monroe City multi-sport athlete didn’t necessarily want or need to play softball — her sport of choice — in college.

When Moberly Area Community College coach Matt Bauer made Moss, the Panthers’ starting shortstop last fall, a recruiting target for his initial team, she decided she couldn’t pass on the opportunity to continue her playing career.

“I’m really glad I did, because I already miss it,” Moss said.

Playing a traveling team out of Columbia helps fill that void for now, but had she gone into the fall with an abundance of free time without practicing or playing, Moss knows it would have been weird. Going somewhere that didn’t have the right fit would have been odd, too.

“It’s a small community like Monroe City,” Moss said. “They were all really supportive when I visited there. It was a great opportunity to keep playing.”

She sees the same thing in the Muddy River Showcase, albeit in her secondary sport.

Moss will represent Missouri in the all-star basketball showcase, taking place June 18 at John Wood Community College’s Student Activity Center. The girls game is scheduled to tip at 3 p.m. with the boys game to follow at 5 p.m.

“Being with new teammates and getting to celebrate everyone’s careers together and have fun is going to make this great,” Moss said.

It’s another option to keep her busy, too.

“I don’t know what I’d do with free time,” she said.

Moss won’t have much if she sticks to her plans to become an elementary school teacher.

“I’ve always loved little kids, but I really didn’t know what I wanted to be until my senior year when I got to take part in the A-plus program,” Moss said. “I got to be with elementary kids, and I loved helping them out.”

The A-plus program is similar to what many schools refer to as the cadet teaching program, where high school students are paired with elementary school classes to learn about teaching and offer a helping hand.

Moss landed with a second grade class.

“I went in there nervous,” Moss said. “I didn’t know what they’d think of me. They all took me in and said ‘Hi’ to me every single day. They always brought joy to my day.”

It turned out to be better than expected.

“It was the best part of my day everyday,” Moss said. “It always brought joy to me seeing them learn things.”

She also learned something she already knew — the Monroe City community supports its students in any endeavor.

“The atmosphere,” Moss said when asked about the best part of growing up in Monroe City. “The community always supports anyone there, and it makes it fun to do anything.”