For four years, Brooklynn Fischer and Sam Queathem were the Montgomery County Wildcats’ dynamic duo, earning a combined eight all-Eastern Missouri Conference awards and helping the team win 49 games and capture a district championship.

Now, the Wildcats will have to learn to play without them as both Fischer and Queathem have graduated.

“It’s a different vibe at practice because they were team leaders,” MCHS coach Audra Heimer said. “They played softball their whole lives and they kind of knew the ins and outs of it. It’s a little bit different not having them, but we’ll survive, somehow.”

This fall, the Wildcats have 13 players, seven of them return from last year’s team that finished 16-8. The returning players are seniors Carissa Doyle and Maddie Wisdom, juniors Erica Devlin, Maddy Queathem and El Reagan and sophomores Aliviah Fischer and Miley Reike.

“We have six starters back from last year, so that will be nice having some experience,” Heimer said. “Those juniors and seniors have been starting for a couple of years and both of our sophomores started last year, so that’s going to help, too.”

Doyle and Wisdom are back for their fourth and final seasons with the Wildcats. Doyle will do some pitching and play in the infield and Wisdom will play in the outfield.

“They both work really hard,” Heimer said.

Queathem is back after turning in a strong 2021 season that included all-conference, all-district and all-region honors. Heimer said she will be looking to Queathem to replace Brooklynn Fischer on the mound this year.

“She’s probably going to have to step in and pitch quite a bit for us this year,” Heimer said. “It’s probably not her favorite position, but she’s pretty good at it. She’s going to step up and she's going to do a good job.”

Reagan returns after finishing with her best season of her high school softball career last fall. She earned first-team all-EMO honors.

MCHS has a large freshman class that includes Skylar Bethmann, Grace Cobb, Josy Eversmeyer, Hailey Meyer, Riley Reid, Georgia Shahan and Dylan Topel. All of them helped the Montgomery County Middle School softball team finish 10-5 last year.

“We have three open spots on our team, so we’re going to have three freshmen stepping up at some point and probably even more before the season is over,” said Heimer, who is back for her eighth season as head coach. “We’re looking for them to fill some big spots. We had some girls who played travel ball in the summer, so that’s going to help with their experience, too.”

The Wildcats will begin their season on Aug. 27 by hosting a six-team, round-robin tournament that will include Belle, Elsberry, Hermann, Russellville and St. Clair. They will play Hermann at 10:45 a.m. and Elsberry at 12:30 p.m. In the past years, MCHS started its season at the New Haven Tournament.

“It’s nice to have some home tournaments because we have the facilities,” Heimer said. “Our facilities are great. We have two nice fields, so we need to be hosting some tournaments.”

Last year, the Wildcats came up one victory short of a school record for most wins in a season. MCHS won 10 of its last 13 games, including a six-game winning streak.

“It was pretty solid last year,” Doyle said. “We had a pretty good winning streak going on.”

Wisdom said she hopes her last season with the Wildcats will be a special one.

“It’s going to stink when I leave, but I’m not going to think about leaving,” Wisdom said. “I’m going to cherish every moment I have before the season ends. I’m trying to make it a long season.”