After being canceled the last two years due to weather, the Montgomery County Fall Softball Classic was back on Aug. 30 at Kiwanis Fields.

There was another reason to celebrate. The host-Wildcats won the tournament.

MCHS cruised to a 3-0 record at the six-team tournament to start its 2025 season. The Wildcats outscored their opponents 35-3 and scored in double digits in two of those games. They began tournament play with a 16-1 win over St. Clair, followed by an 8-1 victory over Hermann and an 11-1 win over Louisiana in the championship game.

Now, MCHS is setting its sights on turning in an outstanding season at its home field. The Wildcats have eight home games remaining in the regular season. Their next home game will be on Sept. 11 against Wright City.

The Wildcats pulled off a 5-3 win over Silex in their Eastern Missouri Conference opener on Sept. 4 at Kiwanis Fields to improve to 4-0 at home.
MCHS also has home games against Clopton (Sept. 18), North Callaway (Sept. 25), South Callaway (Sept. 27), Palmyra (Sept. 27), Louisiana (Oct. 2), Community R-6 (Oct. 6) and Fatima (Oct. 13).

The contests against South Callaway and Palmyra are part of the MCHS Cluster. The contest against Fatima will mark the last home game for seniors Gracie Cobb, Dylan Topel, Skylar Bethmann and Hailey Meyer.

Last year, the Wildcats were 11-2 at home. Their season ended with a 7-4 loss to Elsberry in the Class 2, District 2 championship game at Kiwanis Fields. They also had a loss to Bowling Green at home.

MCHS had its last Softball Classic in 2022, replacing the New Haven Softball Classic on its schedule. The Wildcats finished 1-2, beating Hermann and losing to Elsberry and Belle.

In the first game of this year’s MCHS Softball Classic, the Wildcats stormed a 5-0 lead after two innings. The game ended in the fourth innings due to the run rule.

MCHS jumped out to a 4-0 lead over Hermann in the bottom of the first and never looked back. In the championship game against Louisiana, the Wildcats led 9-0 after four innings and won the game by run rule after scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Two-time all-state performer Reese Hill, a junior, had a strong performance at the plate and on the circle, going 6 for 10 with a home run and three RBIs and beating Hermann and Louisiana. She hit her home run against St. Clair.

Sophomore Kenley Wessel went 5 for 8 with six RBIs in the tournament. She matched last year’s hit total of five. Wessel had three hits and four RBIs against Louisiana in the finals.

Topel also had five hits in the tournament, including three against St. Clair.
Junior Jillian Weekley had four hits and three RBIs and got a win over St. Clair in the circle, Cobb and junior Anna Klekamp each finished with four hits, junior Samantha Turner had three hits and six RBIs and Bethmann had three hits and three RBIs.

MCHS was the top seed in the tourney, which was split into two 3-team pools.

The Wildcats also won the Monroe City Tournament on Sept. 6 with a 3-0 mark. They defeated Canton in the finals to win the tournament for the third year in a row.