Long before she turned the Montgomery County Wildcats into a successful softball program, Audra Heimer was a standout at Palmyra High School.

In her senior year in 2003, Heimer earned a second-team all-state infielder award from the Missouri Softball Coaches Association. She went on to continue her softball career at Quincy University.

On Sept. 24, Heimer coached against her alma mater for the first time as the Wildcats took on the Panthers at Kiwanis Fields. Unfortunately, MCHS didn’t celebrate the win as Palmyra cruised to a 12-0 win in five innings.

Despite the loss, Heimer was thrilled that not only her team got to play against her old school, but she saw her old head coach, Brian Wosman. Wosman, who is Palmyra’s activities director, was sitting in for head coach Alexis Meyers, who recently had a baby.

“It was really cool that I got to coach on the same field as him,” Heimer said. “That was pretty neat. They kind of put a whipping on us, but it was still pretty fun to play against them.”

The Wildcats dropped to 4-13 with the loss to Palmyra. Earlier in the day, MCHS lost to South Callaway 6-2 at home.

The Wildcats played against a Palmyra program which has a strong winning tradition. The Marion County school has five state titles and a pair of runner-up finishes.

“At the end of last season, I talked to their head coach (Meyers) and we talked about wanting to play,” Heimer said. “A lot of teams are going to where they play clusters, which they bring two other teams in and everybody plays against each other instead of going to a tournament.”

Sophomore Aliviah Fischer, freshman Dylan Topel and senior Carissa Doyle each had a hit against the Panthers, who beat South Callaway just minutes before their game with the Wildcats.

After a month of play, the Wildcats have surpassed their loss total of eight from last year. MCHS has been shut out four times.

“We’re up and down,” Heimer said. “We just have to find a way to get over that hump to be on the upside more than we are on the downside. Some days we can play really well. Like against Eugene (a 6-5 loss on Sept. 19), we played so well. Sometimes, we’re not clicking. It's a rebuilding year. We have people playing in spots they have never played before. But that doesn’t account for the hustle and the effort that we’re giving.”

Heimer is enjoying an outstanding tenure as MCHS coach. She picked up her 100th win after her team knocked off La Plata 7-6 in a consolation semifinal game of the La Plata Tournament on Oct. 1. Heimer coached her team to five winning seasons and a district title in 2018.

“I had some success and it’s been fun,” said Heimer, who worked as an assistant for two years before being promoted to head coach in 2015. “I had good players. We have good players now. We just have to find a way to get on the same page with each other.”

MCHS junior outfielder Erica Devlin said she and her teammates enjoy playing with Heimer.

“She’s a really good coach,” she said. “She’s definitely pushing us a lot harder this year because we’re not clicking. It’s been a rough season, but she’s definitely trying her best.”