The Montgomery County softball team’s memorable season will continue for at least another three days.

The Wildcats won their second district title in program history after knocking off the Elsberry Indians 1-0 in the Class 2, District 2 championship game at the Elsberry Ball Park Association fields, avenging the 7-4 loss in last year’s title game at Kiwanis Fields.

MCHS improved to 27-5 and will face the Chaffee Lady Devils in state quarterfinal play on Oct. 25. The game will be played at Chaffee High School, which is 20 miles south of Cape Girardeau. Time has yet to be determined.

The winner of Saturday’s game advances to the Class 2 state tournament at Meador Park in Springfield on Oct. 31-Nov. 1.

Chaffee advanced to the state quarterfinals with an 8-1 win over Kelly in the Class 2, District 1 finals on Tuesday to win its third straight district championship. The Lady Devils (25-3) finished third at the state tournament last year and second the year before.

MCHS is enjoying an outstanding season that included a team-record 27 wins, two tournament titles and its first Eastern Missouri Conference championship.

On Wednesday, the Wildcats won their first district title since 2018. They also avenged the 10-0 to Elsberry on Oct. 7 in which they committed eight errors and had just two hits. MCHS didn’t make any defensive errors in the district finals.

MCHS scored its only run in the top of the fifth, when Kenley Wessel scored from second on a fielding error by Elsberry. With two outs, Trinity Brown struck out, but reached first on a passed ball by the Indians, allowing Wessel to score. Wessel walked and stole second.

Wessel made a key defensive play in the bottom of the sixth, when she completed a double play. Zoie Foster laid down a bunt and was thrown out at first by Reese Hill. Then, Sam Turner fired a throw to Wessel at third base and Wessel tagged out Lizzy Mound – who singled.

The Indians had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh as they had runners on second and third with two outs. But MCHS senior right fielder Skylar Bethmann caught Foster’s fly ball for the final out of the game.

Elsberry, which won distinct titles in each of the last six years, finished its season at 23-6.

The Wildcats advanced to the district finals by edging North Callaway 2-0 in the semifinals on Monday. They knocked off the Thunderbirds 7-6 in regular season play on Sept. 25.

MCHS had just one hit in the district championship game. Senior Hailey Meyer singled with one out in the third.

Reese Hill struck out six and gave up four hits to pick up the win at the circle.

Wednesday’s win continued the high school softball careers of Bethmann, Meyer and seniors Gracie Cobb and Dylan Topel. They make up the winningest senior class in MCHS softball history with 75 wins.

The Wildcats were seeded second in the six-team district tournament, while Elsberry was the top seed. 

Editor’s note: A print version of this story will be published in the Oct. 29 edition of the Montgomery Standard.