Four Montgomery County residents helped the NEMO Hot Shots enjoy success at the USSSA Fast Pitch 16-and-Under National Championships from July 8-13 at Branson.

Players Anna Klekamp and Samantha Turner and coaches John Klekamp and Brooklynn Fischer helped the Bowling Green-based team place second in the national tournament with a 7-2 mark. The Hot Shots lost to EN Storm 7-0 in the championship game.

Turner and the Klekamps are from Montgomery City. Fischer is from New Florence.

The Hot Shots won their pool with a 2-0 record. They lost their first game in bracketed play before winning five straight games en route to a trip to the title game.

“Obviously, you always want to try to win it,” said John Klekamp, who was the Hot Shots’ head coach. “I think they were really happy with it. We played two different teams (Bullpen Psychos) in that Monett area and we beat them all three times. They were teams from the 16B level. For us to be a 14U team and beat a team that played a lot of 16B, it was good for us. We try to get into a tournament at the end of the year that would kind of give us the type of the competition that we’ll see next year because we’ll be a 16U team next year. I thought it was really successful.”

The Hot Shots also included Mylee Keller, Elliott Utterback and Adyson Barnett of Van-Far, Ava Crain and Raygen Crum of Paris, Annie Willingham and Emily Lincoln of Monroe City, Reagan Jennings, Alli Hustedde and Raegan Grote of Bowling Green and Myla Carroll of Community R-6. They finished with a 30-14-1 record this year after going 11-19-1 the year before. They started their season in March and played in 10 tournaments.

“I really enjoy coaching this group of girls,” said John Klekamp, who is also the head coach of the Montgomery County High School football team. “There was real low drama. Sometimes you can get that during that age in high school. But these girls got along really well and were really supportive of each other. There was a lot of growth from the first year to the second year. A lot of those girls were back with us.”

Turner and Anna Klekamp, who will be sophomores at MCHS this fall, were valuable players for the Wildcats’ softball team last fall. They helped their team win a school-record 18 games and were named to the all-district team.

Turner was chosen as the Offensive Most Valuable Player at the USSSA Nationals in Branson.

“Sam actually played travel for several years and took one or two years off,” John Klekamp said. “But this was her first year back playing travel. She subbed with us at the end of the previous season and then we asked her to play with us this year. She was one of our newer players, but she’s a really good first baseman. At the plate, she is really strong. She had a really good season overall.”

Klekamp said he enjoys coaching her daughter, Anna, who was part of a team that got second in the base-running skills competition at nationals.
“Anna started four years ago and really struggled, even just to play catch,” said Klekamp, who started coaching softball last year. “She couldn’t catch a fly ball. Now, she’s one of the best fielders on the team in center field. I know it has helped her develop for high school ball.”

The Hot Shots began national tournament play on July 9 by defeating the Bullpen Psychos from Missouri 6-4 and the Lightning from Kansas 6-2 in pool play.

The next day, the Hot Shots lost 10-1 to the Southside Prospects in the first round, sending them to the loser’s bracket. They beat Indy Lightning, the Blast, the Southside Prospects and two Bullpen Psychos teams to clinch a national championship berth.

“We had a lot of fun,” Klekamp said. “I think by the end, the girls were pretty tired because we played three games in a row on that Saturday and they were all back-to-back. So we played at 9:30, 11 and 12:30 in the championship game.”

In the title game, the Hot Shots lost to an EN Storm team that finished 6-0 and gave up just three runs in the tournament.

“They were a really good team,” Klekamp said. “We had to maneuver some kids. My catcher got really hot, so she couldn’t even finish the game. We had to put someone who is not really a catcher behind the plate. We were battling through at the end. It was pretty warm.”

Fischer, who plays softball at Missouri Baptist University, served as assistant coach for the Hot Shots.

"She helped out in the fall and then, once her (college) season was over, she traveled with us," Klekamp said. "She was a great role model for our girls."