The Montgomery County softball team ended its regular season on a high note on Monday.

The Wildcats celebrated their first Eastern Missouri Conference championship in program history after beating Louisiana 3-2 in their league finale at Kiwanis Fields. MCHS finished in a share of the EMO title with North Callaway and Elsberry with a 9-1 record.

Senior Gracie Cobb delivered the game-winning hit with one out in the bottom of the seventh, driving sophomore Sullee Falloon home from second with a single. It’s the second time in a week Cobb recorded a walk-off hit. She drove home Falloon for the winning run on a single to lift the Wildcats to come-from-behind, 8-7 win over Community R-6 at Kiwanis Fields. 

MCHS lost to Fatima 6-1 later in the day, finishing its regular season at 25-5. The Wildcats will play either North Callaway or Valley Park in a Class 2, District 2 semifinal game at 7 p.m. on Oct. 20 at Elsberry. North Callaway and Valley Park will square off in a quarterfinal game on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Elsberry.

MCHS is the No. 2 seed in the six-team district tournament. The Wildcats last won a district title in 2018.

After the softball team clinched its league championship on Monday, MCHS now has won EMO championships in every sport. The school also won titles in football, volleyball, boys and girls cross country, girls and boys basketball, golf, boys and girls track and baseball.

The Wildcats won their first eight conference games before losing to Elsberry on Oct. 7. They needed a win over Louisiana to finish in a share of the EMO title since Elsberry and North Callaway had already wrapped up their conference seasons. Elsberry lost its only EMO game to North Callaway and MCHS handed North Callaway its only conference loss.

MCHS trailed 1-0 before Skylar Bethmann hit an RBI double in the fourth inning to tie the game. She broke the tie with an RBI single that scored Samantha Turner in the bottom of the sixth.

The Wildcats were one strike away from winning the game in the top of the seventh before Louisiana tied the game at 2-2 on an infield hit.

Hailey Meyer led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and was replaced by Falloon, who also played shortstop in the contest against Louisiana. Falloon moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Trinity Brown. After Hill was intentionally walked, Cobb delivered the game-winning hit.

Cobb, Bethmann, Meyer and Anna Klekamp each finished with two hits against Louisiana. Bethmann also drove home the Wildcats’ only run against Fatima on an RBI groundout in the fourth.

It was the second time this season the Wildcats beat Louisiana. They also beat the Bulldogs 11-1 in the championship game of the MCHS Fall Classic on Aug. 30.

MCHS’ game with Louisiana was originally scheduled to be played on Oct. 2, but was moved to Monday, setting up a doubleheader with the Bulldogs and Fatima. With the loss to Fatima, the Wildcats finished their home season at 9-1. 

Editor’s note: A print version will be published in the Oct. 22 edition of the Montgomery Standard.