As the Montgomery County softball season approaches the one-month mark, Reese Hill has been a pitching and hitting machine for the Wildcats.

That has helped MCHS get off to one of its best starts in program history.
After 16 games this season, Hill won 11 games with 118 strikeouts and a 1.80 earned run average in the circle and is hitting .654 with a pair of home runs and 15 RBIs at the plate. She has helped the Wildcats storm off to a 15-1 start.

“Reese is a baller,” MCHS coach Audra Heimer said. “She can play anywhere. If she’s not pitching, she’s catching or playing shortstop. She can play third base and she can play in the outfield. I kind of wish that we had five Reeses to kind of help out. She does what she’s needed wherever I need her.”

Hill, a junior, turned in a strong performance in the Wildcats’ 4-0 win over Clopton on Sept. 18 at Kiwanis Fields. She gave up just one hit and struck out 10 in the circle and finished with two hits and two runs scored.

Hill is already enjoying an outstanding career with the Wildcats, earning all-state and all-Eastern Conference honors in each of the last two years.

“I have to thank this program a lot,” Hill said. “It made me love the game. It’s nice knowing that people have my back.”

Now, Hill is looking to help the Wildcats turn in a successful postseason. MCHS will be playing in the Class 2 district tournament at Elsberry in October. Last year, the Wildcats fell to Elsberry in the district finals at home.

“I think we’re going to make it out of districts,” Hill said. “I really think we could. If we just keep playing like we have been playing, we’ll have a shot of doing something big for our program.”

The Wildcats are on their way to their third straight winning season this fall. A year ago, they won a program-record 22 games. They lost just one player – Aliviah Fischer – to graduation and returned 12 players from the 2024 squad.

“I thought we were going to be pretty decent,” Heimer said. “We brought everybody back but Aliviah. Having another year of varsity experience really helps everyone around the board.”

MCHS started its season on Aug. 30 with a bang, winning the MCHS Fall Classic with a 3-0 record. The Wildcats also won the Monroe City Tournament for the third straight year and finished with a 3-1 record in a Take The Lake Tournament outside the Lake of the Ozarks.

“We haven’t had our tournament in 3-4 years, so it was nice to be able to start our season at home and get some wins under our belt,” Heimer said. “You really don’t know what you’re working with until you start playing, so it was nice for them to come out and kind of dominate and beat some people in that tournament.”

Hitting has been the Wildcats’ biggest strength this season. They are hitting .386 as a team and scored in double digits nine times. MCHS has seven players who are hitting over .300.

“Our hitting is a very big part of it right now,” Hill said. “We’re all swinging the bat really well and finding great contact.”

Hill has hit safely in every game this season. She is the only Wildcat who is hitting over .600. She had a pair of four-hit games.

“I’m just focusing a lot on swinging at good pitches,” said Hill, who hits left-handed and bats in the leadoff spot. “At the beginning of the year, I was getting walked a lot because people really didn’t want to pitch to me.”

In the contest against Clopton, Hill pitched her second shutout in three days. She threw a 10-0, one-hit shutout win over Bowling Green on the road on Sept. 16. Hill finished with double-digit strikeout efforts six times.

“I definitely like it a lot,” Hill said. “When I step on the mound, I know they have my back, so I just got to do my job.”

Junior Anna Klekamp is the Wildcats’ second-leading hitter at .404, followed by junior Samantha Turner (.400), junior Jillian Weekley (.396), senior Dylan Topel (.392), sophomore Kenley Wessel (.333) and senior Skylar Bethmann (.326).

“One through 9, we’re putting the ball in play and anyone can score and put the ball in play when we need them to,” Heimer said.

Gracie Cobb and Hailey Meyer are the other seniors for the Wildcats.MCHS has 11 games and a tournament left on its schedule. With the win over Clopton, the Wildcats improved to 5-0 in EMO play.

The Wildcats have home games against North Callaway (Sept. 25) and Palmyra and South Callaway (Sept. 27).

Heimer has high hopes for her team in the second half of the season.
“The expectation is to win conference and win districts,” the MCHS coach said. “That’s always the expectation, but I think the girls know they have a real chance. Every night, we have to go and beat everybody. From Wellsville to Elsberry, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing.”