After her Montgomery County softball team cruised to a 19-4 win over the Louisiana Bulldogs in four innings in its home finale on Sept. 30, Brooklynn Fischer was glad she celebrated a victory on senior day.

But the senior pitcher wished her teammate and longtime friend, catcher Sam Queathem, was out on the field playing.

Queathem is out for the season after suffering a leg injury in a game against Warrenton on Sept. 25. She was in crutches in the contest against Louisiana.

“I’m kind of upset because Sam and I have been playing together for six years,” Fischer said. “We’ve been pitching and catching together since middle school.”

Despite the absence of Queathem, the Wildcats continue to remain hot. With the victory over Louisiana, MCHS won its sixth straight game and improved to 12-5 overall and 6-3 in Eastern Missouri Conference play. The Wildcats also clinched a winning season after going 10-11 in 2020.

“We’ve been playing really good recently,” MCHS sophomore outfielder Erica Devlin said. “We have 10 or 11 girls most of the time and we’re on a winning streak. Hopefully, we can continue that in districts.”

The Wildcats are setting their sights on turning in a strong showing in postseason play. The Wildcats begin their postseason on Oct. 12 at the Class 2, District 3 tournament in Harrisburg, located north of Columbia.

“It’s different because we haven’t had districts away from here,” Fischer said. “We always had it at home since I’ve been in high school. So it’s going to be a huge change for me. I’m really excited. I think we can bring a lot to the table and do pretty decent in districts.”

MCHS finished 2-1 at the La Plata Tournament on Oct. 2. The Wildcats took a 14-6 record into their game with Elsberry on Oct. 5. They are scheduled to end their regular season on Oct. 7 with a road game against New Haven.

The Wildcats split their first six games before winning 11 of their next 14 contests. They picked up huge victories over Wright City, Clopton and Warrenton.

“I’m really proud of this team for how we pulled it together,” Fischer said. “They’re being aggressive, getting on base and making the plays that they need to make.”

Two days before the contest against Louisiana, Fischer threw the first perfect game of her high school softball career against Wellsville-Middletown. She retired all nine W-M batters in the Wildcats’ 17-0 win in three innings.

“It was pretty incredible,” Fischer said. “I’m really hard on myself. I didn’t really get excited like I should have. Now that I think about it, I’m really proud of myself and all of the accomplishments I made during my high school career.”

Against the Bulldogs, Fischer struck out seven and had a pair of hits, including a two-run homer in the bottom of the second that tied the game at 4-4.
Devlin said Fischer has been valuable to the Wildcats all season long.

“She’s definitely doing a lot better,” Devlin said. “I know she was talking about how her freshman year was kind of rough and patchy. But this year, I can tell that she’s doing a lot better. She has helped our team out a lot.”

MCHS came back from a 4-2, second-inning deficit to beat Louisiana. The Wildcats scored two runs in the first, four in the second, nine in the third and four in the fourth.

Fischer and Queathem were recognized after the game. They’re the only seniors on the team. When they were freshmen, the duo helped the Wildcats win their first district title in program history. Last year, they were named on the all-EMO, all-district and all-region teams.