School: Upper Dublin
Field Hockey, Softball
Favorite athlete: Chase Utley
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: “Placing ninth in Softball PONY Nationals in North Carolina”
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: “We were at field hockey practice, and our field was near a main road, and this car drove by honking its horn. All of us looked over to find two guys mooning us. They continued this for the next few days until the police pulled them over. Needless to say, we never saw them again!”
Must on iPod: Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Lil’ Wayne, Taylor Swift, pretty much everything
Future plans: “Go to college and major in speech pathology and play softball. Also, get married and start a family.”
Words to live by: “I make my weaknesses my strengths, and my strengths stronger.”
One goal before turning 30: “Travel to France and throughout Europe.”
One thing people don’t know about me: “I am a serious neat freak!”
Heather Boyer knew she’d inherited a special talent the moment Amy McCaffrey set foot on the softball diamond.
She was right.
McCaffrey, it seems, can do it all – hit, field and, in case of emergency, pitch.
“I would not hesitate to say that in my 12 years of coaching at Upper Dublin she is the best player that I have seen here,” the Lady Cardinals’ softball coach said. “She can play any position.
“If I asked her to pitch she would do it, and she can do it. She has the natural ability to play anywhere.”
So far, McCaffrey hasn’t been forced to take on pitching duties, but she has done just about everything else. As a freshman, she was the varsity shortstop.
“Typically, coaches will put their best athlete there if there’s not a natural shortstop on the field,” Boyer said. “It’s effortless when you watch her play shortstop. She’s such a graceful player.
“She’s quick, she has great finesse and she really has natural talent for the game.”
McCaffrey downplayed her stint at the new position.
“She wanted me to play it, so I wasn’t going to say no,” she said. “I don’t think it was my best position, but I did as good as I could when I played it back then.”
Last year, McCaffrey was behind the plate, earning first team all-league honors as well as team MVP and sportsmanship awards.
This spring, she is playing first base.
“She’s one of those athletes – you just know right away,” said Boyer. “She’s very athletically gifted. She’s physically strong, she’s mentally tough, and she’s very well balanced.
“She knows how to focus well enough to be a top competitor, but she also is able to enjoy the sport. She doesn’t take it too seriously. She has committed to the sport, and it shows.”
While McCaffrey plays softball year round, she is also a standout field hockey player and has been a varsity starter at left midfield since she was a freshman.
“The left side is the more challenging side because you have to worry about getting your feet around, and you’re facing the opposing team’s strong side,” said Boyer, who is also the varsity hockey coach. “We tried it, and she has been awesome at it.”
This past year, McCaffrey was the Flying Cardinals’ primary corner striker.
“She has a hit that rivals some of the best in the league,” Boyer said. “She’s a wonderful player there. She has great field sense, and what makes her so important in addition to the fact that she’s naturally gifted is that she has such a great work ethic, and she leads by example.
“Especially in softball, how Amy goes, the team goes. When she hits the ball hard, the confidence of the rest of her teammates just goes up another level.”
McCaffrey, who is batting at a .412 clip with a dazzling .882 slugging percentage, has 13 RBIs in the Flying Cardinals’ first five games.
“When she demonstrates her ability on the field, it creates an enthusiasm and a can-do attitude that rapidly spreads amongst her teammates,” Boyer said.
McCaffrey actually got her first taste of competitive sports when she began playing field hockey in first grade with the Upper Dublin Junior Athletic Association.
“My mom played hockey in college, and she’s involved with the youth program,” McCaffrey said. “She’s the one who got me into everything.”
Although she lists hockey as her second sport, McCaffery is passionate about that as well.
“I love field hockey as much as I love softball,” she said. “There’s something about it – it’s really team oriented. It’s not all one player – it’s everybody together.
“It’s at a constant speed. You never stop. In softball, you’re waiting, anticipating, but in hockey, it’s constant running, and you have a job to do.”
Basketball entered the picture when McCaffrey was in fourth grade, and she continued playing until eighth grade. McCaffrey began playing intramural softball around the time she was in second grade. It didn’t take long for her to make an impression.
“One of the umpires was a coach of the Abington Angels, and I began playing with that team in sixth grade,” she said.
From the Angels, which was a ‘B’ team, McCaffrey elected to move up to the Hatboro-Horsham Banshees.
“I learned a lot from them,” she said.
She is presently a member of the Warrington Blue Thunder.
Originally an outfielder, McCaffrey also played some first base but settled into her position of choice – catcher.
“I realized I loved it, and that’s what I stuck with,” she said. “I enjoy it because I love having the power to call pitches for my high school team and having the chance to throw people out at any base, blocking balls and all that stuff.”
McCaffrey is hoping to return to her position behind the plate before too long as she is recuperating from Achilles Tendinitis – a diagnosis she received a month before the season started.
Two weeks of physical therapy and daily stretching exercises have helped McCaffrey strengthen her Achilles, but an element of fear remains.
“The first time I felt it, it felt like my Achilles was going to tear,” she said. “I’m kind of working my way back to thinking it’s not going to tear, but in the back of my mind, I’m thinking, ‘I shouldn’t do that. I don’t want anything to happen.’
“It’s been frustrating, but I’m getting over it.”
Even though she is playing first base, McCaffrey remains a leader of her team, and she was a natural choice for captain.
In addition to competing in sports, McCaffrey is involved in student government and is a member of the Link Crew, which helps orient incoming freshmen to the high school setting. She is a member of the French Club and the Environmental Education Club.
“I’m better when I’m doing a lot of things,” she said. “I get everything done at a more reasonable time.”
Although college is a year away, McCaffrey has her sights set on continuing her softball career at the next level. She has not ruled out the possibility of playing both softball and hockey. She is planning to major in speech pathology.
Boyer describes McCaffrey as a well-rounded student-athlete who will be an asset to any college program.
“She’s very friendly, very respectful, very polite,” the Flying Cardinals’ coach said. “She’s well balanced in school as well. She’s involved in other activities outside of sports, and academically she’s conscientious as well.
“She comes from a very supportive and nice family. You’d want to be able to clone her.”
