Show Me Spotlight: Canton’s Fisher authoring memorable career as three-sport athlete

CANTON, Mo. — Macie Fisher and the Canton softball players open the season with a target squarely on them.

Not only are the Tigers the reigning Class 1 state champions, but with a wealth of talent and experience returning, they should be the team to beat in Northeast Missouri this fall. That means every opponent will have Canton in the crosshairs.

“I know we will see everybody’s best game this year,” said Fisher, the senior center fielder who helped the Tigers go 27-5 last fall and beat Polo 4-2 in the state title game. “I think that will be really good for us. Obviously, it will be tough. It will keep us motivated and make us work harder.

“We definitely lost some pretty important seniors last year. We have some juniors who will step into that role. We have a lot of freshmen and I think a couple of them will play a big role in our season. And playing those tougher teams will definitely help us in the postseason.”

What the Tigers have in abundance is confidence and know-how, as does Fisher.

The three-sport standpoint could have landed a college scholarship in any sport, but chose softball because she found the right school and has a deep-rooted love for the sport. She recently committed to Kirkwood Community College, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, school with a history of success in the NJCAA.

Before college comes calling, though, Fisher has a full senior year ahead of her with the chance to leave a legacy at Canton..

She broke down her interests on and off the field of play with Muddy River Sports Editor Matt Schuckman for this week’s installment of the Show-Me Spotlight:

Q: What has you excited about your senior year at Canton?

A: Honestly, the most exciting thing was winning state last year. So I’m super excited to get back there. Softball-wise this year, we definitely still have a really good team. Softball is super exciting. Basketball, we had a pretty good summer just getting to know all of our players, especially the new freshmen coming in. I’m really excited to work with them and trying to be a good leader for them. Soccer is the same thing. I’m excited for sports more than anything.

Q: Do you ever take a day off?

A: No. I go from softball to basketball right into soccer. I’m always practicing. Depending on how far we go in the postseason for softball, we might get a couple days of rest before basketball. I’m definitely not wanting to do that. I definitely want to get back to state and go right into basketball and just keep going.

Q: If you had a day or a couple days off, what would you do?

A: Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve been getting into golf lately. So I’m probably golf. But really, whenever I have time to myself, I try to get extra work in. And I’m a big reader. I do like to read. That’s what I like to do whenever I’m some relaxing time, some chill time. I’m a big reader.

Q: Do you have a favorite author?

A: I really like Suzanne Collins (best known for writing “The Hunger Games). I’m big in to the dystopian type of stuff. She’s probably my favorite.

Q: Would you like to write your own book someday?

A: I don’t think so. I do like writing. I really like English class and stuff like that. But I don’t think I probably have the skills to write my own book. I do think that would be cool, too.

Q: So do you have an idea what the future holds or what kind of career you’d like to have?

A: I think when I go to college I’m going to major in early childhood education. I really like working with kids. Their young minds and their growth really interests me. I feel like that stage of life is a really big part of their development and how it sets everything up for how it goes down the road. So my plan right now is to go into early childhood education.

Q: Have you had the opportunity to work with kids?

A: This year, I’m being a peer tutor for the early childhood class at my school. I’m super excited for that. I love the teacher in there. She’s great. She’s super sweet. I’m looking forward to learning a lot in there.

Q: Who is the teacher?

A: It’s Heather Hinton. She’s so sweet and I love how she works with the kids. She’s always giving them hugs and teaching them so much. She’s just a super sweet person.

Q: How much do you enjoy playing softball?

A: I love softball so much. It’s a fast-paced game. You really have to think. I love it. I love it so much.

Q: You recently committed to Kirkwood Community College. What was it about Kirkwood that drew you in?

A: I visited there a couple of weeks ago, and they always say whenever you go on your visit you know that’s where you want to go. I always thought, “Dude, that’s wild. I’m not going to know.” Whenever I was leaving that campus, I was with my mom and I was like, “Mom, this is it. This is where I want to go.” The coaches were great. The facilities were great. It’s a competitive program. They’re known for their success. Overall, it was a great visit. I just liked everything about the school.

Q: Did you give any thought to playing basketball or soccer in college?

A: Definitely basketball. I played for Cross Over Hoops Elite. This was my third year. The reason I played this summer was because I thought I was going to try to play basketball in college. I definitely went back and forth with what I wanted to pursue. I had some things set up to help with recruiting for both. In the end, I really think winning state helped push me to play softball. It was definitely a process. I put so much thought into it, a lot of sleepless nights. I put a lot of thought into playing basketball and even talked to a couple of college coaches with that.

Q: So no more sleepless nights, right?

A: No, definitely not.

Q: Since we’re coming off summer with school starting, what was your favorite thing you did this summer?

A: Hmm, I feel like lifting was pretty fun. I really like lifting. I’ve been in the gym and working out. I really didn’t have a lot of down time. I had a lot of fun on my Cross Over hoops team. We played a lot of basketball this year with school ball and travel ball. That was super fun. We went to the Lindenwood team camp for basketball. That was fun just hanging out with everybody. We played a lot of softball, too. We went to the Centralia team camp. Sports just really consumes my life, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Q: If you got the chance to take a summer vacation, where would you go?

A: Probably a beach somewhere. I really don’t do a lot of vacations. I did go to Branson this year, probably the first vacation I’ve been on in a long, long time. Usually, my travel sports are my vacation. So I’d got to Florida or somewhere like that, but definitely on a beach.

Q: If you have one piece of advice for your younger teammates, what would it be?

A: I would tell them being confident in yourself and trusting yourself goes a long way. I feel like if you’re confident in yourself and you believe in yourself that just helps everything. Then, other people can trust you too. How are other people supposed to trust you if you don’t trust yourself? Confidence is a huge thing, and I think you should know you belong where you’re at.

Q: Who instilled that in you and has been a major factor in your athletic career?

A: Definitely my dad (Hank). He’s been huge. He has pretty much coached me since I was 7 or 8 years old in every single sport. He has really helped me grow, not only as a player, but as a person. I couldn’t be more thankful for that. For sure, it’s my dad.