Maddy Queathem and Aliviah Fischer brought home plenty of hardware last fall.

Queathem and Fischer turned in outstanding seasons in 2022, earning all-Eastern Missouri Conference, all-district and all-region honors.

This fall, they’re looking to help the Wildcats avoid another losing season. MCHS finished 9-19 last year after winning 16 games the year before.

“They work well together,” MCHS coach Audra Heimer said. “They talk a lot. They communicate. They keep everybody else up. They’re good at what they do. They’re in it to win it. They do not want to lose. They’re going to put in the work and they’re going to make other people better.”

Queathem, a senior, will return as pitcher and shortstop. She was named to the all-conference team all three years. Last year, she was a first-team utility player selection.

Fischer, a junior who plays third base, was selected to the all-league team for the first time in 2022. This year, she’s back for her third varsity season.

Senior El Reagan, an all-conference performer in her sophomore year and an all-district selection in her junior year, returns for her fourth and final season with the Wildcats.

Queathem, Fischer and Reagan will be part of a team that has a combined 14 freshmen and sophomores.

“We have only three upperclassmen out of the 17, which is crazy,” Heimer said. “But they keep coming to practice. The energy is high. They all have a lot of promise.”

Eight players are back from last year’s team. Sophomores Dylan Topel, Gracie Cobb, Riley Reid, Skylar Bethmann and Hailey Meyer are the other returning players.

Rounding out the team are sophomores Josy Eversmeyer and Sara Meyer and freshmen Jillian Weekley, Ann Rose, Reese Hill, Anna Klekamp, Samantha Turner, Lily Hillebrand and Grace Thier.

Out of the 17 players on the roster, seven of them played travel softball over the summer. They were Fischer, Topel, Meyer, Weekley, Hill, Klekamp and Turner.

“I know that’s not high school experience, but they are still playing against high school caliber teams and they are playing against other high schoolers who played travel ball with them,” Heimer said.

Last year, the Wildcats suffered just their second losing season since Heimer took over the program in 2015. They reached the Class 2, District 4 championship game, which they lost to Valley Park 4-3.

Heimer said in order to turn in a strong season this fall, her team has to improve on offense. A year ago, the Wildcats scored three runs or less 14 times and were shut out in five of those games.

“If we can hit and score runs, we’re going to win games,” Heimer said. “If you can’t hit or put runs across the board, you’re not going to win very many games. We have to be able to hit. We have to be able to execute. We have to be able to get runners around.”

MCHS is also looking to turn in a strong showing in EMO play. Last fall, they lost their first five league games en route to a 2-8 record.

“Our conference is always tough,” Heimer said. “You have Bowling Green, Silex and Elsberry that always seem to be good. But we’re going to be better than we were last year. We have more possibilities. We have more girls who can play different positions. If we can be in the top half of the conference, I’ll be excited. Obviously, we want to win the conference. That’s the top goal. But if we can break the top half, I think that will be a win.”

The Wildcats were scheduled to begin their season on Aug. 26 at the Second Annual Montgomery County Fall Classic, but the tournament was called off due to rain. They will start their season at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 at Hermann.