When the Montgomery County baseball team began its season on March 19 with an 11-4 victory over the St. Louis Patriots at CarShield Field, it put plenty of smiles on the faces of eight seniors.

Seniors Noah Beck, Landyn Bender, Adrian Combs, Colby Ellis, Mac Farrar, Edwin Garcia, Chase Queathem and Seth Walton played their last first game in a Montgomery County baseball uniform at the O’Fallon park. It turned out to be a successful outing for the seniors as they helped the Wildcats beat the Patriots for the first time.

“I started that game,” Beck said. “All three years that we went down there and played them, we haven’t beaten them once, so we definitely wanted that game more. We wanted to win.”

Now, the seniors are setting their sights on helping the Wildcats continue their winning ways. MCHS is off to a 5-2 start and is looking to finish with its fifth straight winning season.

“I think we’re playing with a little more intent now, knowing it’s our last year,” Garcia said. “We can really do some things with the group we have.”

After seven games, the seniors have been turning in strong efforts at the plate and on the mound. Five of them are hitting over .300, with Walton leading the way with a .476 batting average. On the mound, Beck is off to a 3-0 start and Walton, Farrar and Combs saw some pitching time.

Beck remained undefeated on the mound after getting an 8-7 win over Silex in a home game on March 30. He struck out six in six innings of work to hand the Owls their first loss of the season.

“It’s nice,” said Beck, who struck out eight in the season opener against the Patriots. “It’s always good to beat a decent team.”

The Wildcats also had victories over St. Charles, Clopton and Linn. They scored 10 runs or more three times this season. Garcia said he’s pleased with his team’s start.

“We’ve gotten a lot better at hitting since last year,” he said. “Mentally, we’re doing so much better. Our rotation, pitching wise, has gotten a lot stronger, too. It’s really exciting.”

Garcia returned to the team this spring after turning in an outstanding 2025 season. He was the Wildcats’ leading hitter with a .418 batting average and earned his second straight all-Eastern Missouri Conference award.

Garcia started the season with a seven-game hitting streak. He credits the team’s work ethic for his strong season.

“We’re just really coming out here and doing our thing and making sure that whenever we’re practicing, we’re putting in our work and doing the right thing at all times,” Garcia said.

Garcia’s senior year got off to a good start against the Patriots, finishing with three hits and two RBIs.
“I felt pretty good at the plate,” said Garcia, who plays third base. “It’s always good to be back playing baseball.”

Beck earned first-team all-EMO honors last year after going 4-2 on the mound and hitting .321 at the plate. It was the first time he was named on the all-league team.

Farrar, Ellis and Queathem were also named to the all-EMO team last spring. Ellis picked up his second all-league honor.

Beck said despite the strong efforts, he was upset that his team was eliminated by South Callaway in the district semifinals. The Wildcats finished 13-8.

“It hurt for sure knowing that we had a good team last year,” Beck said. “We could have made it pretty far. We were young then.”

Out of the eight seniors, seven of them have played with the MCHS baseball program since they were freshmen. They were Beck, Combs, Ellis, Farrar, Garcia, Queathem and Walton.

Garcia, who plans to attend Missouri S&T next year but will not play baseball, said he enjoys playing with a large senior class.

“I played with them quite a bit,” he said. “It kind of helps our chemistry a little bit and our friendship. It helps us come around a lot better, pick each other up and (get to) know each other.”

Beck, who plans to attend State Tech next year, has been playing baseball for 12 years. He isn’t planning to continue the sport in college.

“Most people think baseball is boring,” Beck said. “There are people who don’t know how to play baseball or don’t know baseball because it’s a very serious, intense game and it takes a lot of thought. When you’re in the spotlight, you have to pull through. It’s a lot about doing stuff for your team.”