When Montgomery County freshman pitcher Reese Hill struck out North Callaway’s Brianna Prosser for the final out in an Eastern Missouri Conference game on Sept. 21 at Kiwanis Fields, she felt like she won a state championship.

Hill immediately jumped into the arms of sophomore catcher Dylan Topel after the Wildcats pulled off a 9-8 victory over the Thunderbirds to clinch a winning season in EMO play after winning just two games a year ago. MCHS improved to 5-2 in league games with two contests remaining.

“It was a big game to win,” Hill said. “North Callaway is a good team. They have good girls. Knowing Dylan is there for me is good.”

The Wildcats also improved to 11-3 with the win over North Callaway, surpassing last year’s win total of nine. They are looking to finish with their second winning season in three years.

After a month, Hill has been one of the valuable players in the Wildcats’ turnaround season. She’s hitting .413 with two home runs – including one in the bottom of the sixth against North Callaway – and 19 RBIs and did most of the pitching this year.

Hill said her off-season work with the Top Gun select softball team helped prepare her for this year’s softball season.

“I do a lot of off-work and practice a lot,” Hill said. “I played about 120 games this season in the summer and fall.”

Hill, who is one of seven freshmen on the MCHS roster, struck out four batters against North Callaway, including Prosser. The Thunderbirds scored two runs in the top of the seventh to cut MCHS’ lead to 9-8 and had a runner on first when Prosser came up to the plate.

“Going into that, I was really nervous about it,” Hill said.

After getting the big strikeout, Hill helped her team hand North Callaway its first EMO loss of the season. The Kingdom City school came into the contest with a 4-0 league record.

“She probably didn’t pitch the best game she pitched all year, but she found a way to get it done,” MCHS coach Audra Heimer said. “Her pitches were moving and got the girls off-balance. Things happen like that. Things work out in your favor sometimes.”

The Wildcats came back from a 5-3 deficit to beat North Callaway. They scored four runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to take a 9-6 lead into the seventh.

“It’s nice to hand them their first loss (in EMO play),” Heimer said. “To play a team like that and be able to win, that gives the girls some confidence. They’re ranked in the top 10 in the state when the first rankings came out.”

Sophomore right fielder Gracie Cobb finished with two hits. She broke the 5-5 tie with a sacrifice fly to center that scored freshman Sam Turner in the bottom of the fifth.

“Gracie killed it tonight,” Heimer said. “Gracie has been struggling at the plate a little bit, but she’s been working really hard. She’s staying after it and putting in the work. It paid off tonight. She did really well. She put the ball in play every time.”

Hill hit a solo home run over the right field fence with one out in the bottom of the sixth for her second home run of the season. She smacked a three-run homer against Brookfield in the championship game of the Monroe City Tournament on Sept. 2.

Junior infielder Aliviah Fischer followed with a solo home run to center and finished 3 for 4 with two RBIs. She’s hitting .630 (17 for 27) after seven conference games.

Besides North Callaway, the Wildcats also beat Clopton, Mark Twain, Van-Far and Wright City in conference games. They lost contests to Silex and Bowling Green.

MCHS has two conference games remaining. The Wildcats play a home game against Louisiana on Sept. 28 and a road game against Elsberry on Oct. 3.

Hill said she’s happy that her team has turned things around in conference play in her freshman season.

“It’s amazing, especially being a freshman and being able to pitch as well as I do,” Hill said. “It’s even better to have them back me up. They’re the reasons we win.”