Eureka's Courtney Conley.

It's called the dynamic warm-up, which sounds about perfect for Courtney Conley.

Pretty much everything the junior at Eureka did on the softball diamond this fall was dynamic, from her .607 batting average to her nine home runs to her compilation of 42 impressive RBIs. Why should the offseason workouts be any different?

This warm-up, at Velocity Sports Performance in Chesterfield, starts with shuffle runs and cone agility runs. Then it shifts to the weights — power cleans and such — and then core and stability work with an exercise ball. And then, she stays extra for conditioning work — she runs 60-yard sprints eight times, each time under 16 seconds.

"It's pretty much as fast as you can eight times, going there and back, there and back," said Conley, who is in her second winter with Velocity. "They're pretty tough."

Tough, maybe, but she'll get no sympathy from the opposing pitchers she lit up this fall. Her slugging percentage was a ridiculous 1.262 and she had more total bases — 106 — than plate appearances — 104. For her performance, she is the Post-Dispatch's fall softball player of the year.

"During the Seckman Tournament this year, she was in such a 'zone' that I thought someone might get hurt out there on defense," Eureka coach Brad Wallach said.

Of course, all that success led to pitchers staying away from the middle of the plate with Conley batting.

"I was in a rhythm, seeing strikes and everything, then for a little while I didn't get anything to hit," she said. "It kind of threw me off because sometimes I'd want to hit so bad that I'd chase the balls out of the strike zone. But I think it made me a stronger player because it made me think about things, made me a stronger hitter."

Learning more plate discipline is just the latest way Conley has learned to become a stronger hitter. A conversation with her coach with the St. Louis Chaos, Bob Furrer, led to a winter of extra work on her swing. "My defense has always been way better than my offensive game, and he told me that my offense should be up with my defense in order for me to be a great softball player," Conley said.

Conley hit .414 with a homer and 22 RBIs as a sophomore, numbers that look great until they're compared with those she posted her junior season. Factor in the offensive improvement with her already stellar defense at third base, and it's easy to see why she has attracted interest from the top softball programs in the country, from Michigan to Alabama to Nebraska to Missouri, just to name a few.

"Along with great physical ability, she has incredible instinct on defense," Wallach said. "Combine that with her offensive game, and I'd venture to say there may not be a better total package at third base in high school in the country."

Sounds pretty dynamic, eh?

prepsports@post-dispatch.com