Windsor sophomore catcher Gracie Willtrout put an exclamation point on Windsor High School’s first district softball championship in 22 years with a diving catch on a foul ball for the last out against Hillsboro High.
Junior pitcher Anna Holland did the same thing when she struck out the final batter in a 7-3 win over Westminster Christian Academy in the Class 4 state softball quarterfinals at Festus High on Oct. 25. It was Holland’s fifth complete game in a row and she’ll go for a sixth today (Nov. 30) at 1 p.m. against Father Tolton Regional Catholic High School in the semifinals at Meador Park in Springfield.
Father Tolton beat Windsor 8-3 in the first game of the season for both teams in August. The other Class 4 semifinal today at 1 is St. Francis Borgia High (23-12) against Kearney High (30-5). The championship game is on Halloween at 12:45 p.m.
It’s the first time the Owls, who have a record of 23-11, have advanced to the final four. This is Wayne Montgomery’s 15th season as head coach and he’s approaching 250 wins in his career. None was more important than the one against the Wildcats, who concluded the season with a record of 23-8.
“It’s new territory for us, but great to be in,” Montgomery said. “A feeling of a lot of years of hard work and it came to this point where we did all this and we’ve had good teams from year to year, but this team is different.”
Holland is the school’s career leader in wins with 18. Against WCA, Holland allowed 3 hits and an earned run, and struck out 6. She has walked just one batter in the last 14 innings.
“Anna’s been lights out,” Montgomery said. “Changeup, fastball and the defense has been great behind her. Without Anna, we’re not where we’re at. Where she came from last year to this year and the work she put in, I tip my hat to her.”
There’s no doubt that the Willtrout/Holland battery has sparked Windsor’s confidence. They might even be getting a little help from above.
“Our chemistry and how close we’ve gotten and how when I tweak something, she focuses on it,” Willtrout said. “We pray together before each game in the bullpen.”
The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when sophomore Charlie Berkmeyer led off with a single, moved to third on a pair of ground-outs and scored on an error.
An inning later, freshman right fielder Peyton Stemmler bunted for a single and came around to score when her sister, Sophia, a junior, hit an inside-the-park home run to give the Owls a 2-1 lead.
“We got down three key bunts to set the table,” Montgomery said.
Holland retired WCA in order in the fourth. In its half of the frame, Windsor sent eight batters to the plate and scored three runs to take a 5-1 lead. Senior Natalie Krause’s bunt single began the inning. RBIs came via singles by sophomore Madison Smith and Willtrout, and a walk to Sophia Stemmler with the bases loaded.
“To show what she means to our team, Natalie usually bats right and said she wanted to bunt from the left side and she got on,” Montgomery said.
After the Wildcats scored a run in the fifth inning to make it 5-2, junior Riley Svoboda led off the Owls sixth with a double. With two outs, sophomore Aubree Palmer pinch hit for Peyton Stemmler and smacked a two-run home run to extend the lead to 7-2.
“Unbelievable timing,” Montgomery said of the pinch homer. “We know she can hit the ball and it was a perfect time to put her in and she smoked it and that was one of my best moments as a coach.”
An error, walk and single led to the Wildcats scoring their final run of the season in the seventh.
Windsor beats Hillsboro to win district title
There’s nothing quite like beating one of your top rivals to break a 22-year district title drought in front of your home fans at your ballpark.
That’s exactly what Windsor did Oct. 20 when it beat Hillsboro 6-2 to win the District 1 championship in Imperial. The No. 4-seeded Owls tore through three Jefferson County Activities Association opponents to capture their first crown since 2003. They shut out De Soto High (No. 5, 14-9) 8-0, then knocked off top-seeded Festus High (23-7) 11-5 in the semifinals.
Aided by Hawk errors, the Owls scored five runs off Hillsboro senior lefthander Ashley Hilton in the second inning, and another in the third, and the game was scoreless other than Hillsboro (3, 18-13-1) scoring two runs in the sixth.
“We had nothing to lose. We were the lower seed,” said Krause, who plays shortstop. “They had all of the pressure on them, but we came, we fought and we won.”
Throughout the game, the players in the Windsor dugout chanted, cheered, pounded on the roof and never stopped feeding energy to their teammates in the field or at the plate.
“We had a lot of fire because we lost so many close games at the beginning of the season,” said sophomore second baseman Ella Montgomery, who had two doubles.
Holland gave up 9 hits and 2 walks, and struck out 2. Hilton also pitched all seven innings, and in her last outing in her four-year career, fanned 7, didn’t issue a walk and just one of the Owls’ six runs was earned.
Sophia Stemmler bats leadoff for Windsor and has been one of its top hitters since districts began. Stemmler led off the game with a single, but Hilton struck out the next three batters. In the Hawk first, Holland sat down the first two batters, but sophomore Hannah DuBois kept the inning alive with her team’s first hit.
Montgomery led off the second inning with a double to the fence in center field. After an infield single by Svoboda, a sac bunt by freshman Claire Nivens advanced both runners. A sac fly by Palmer brought home Montgomery with the game’s first run. An infield single by freshman Peyton Stemmler loaded the bases, and Sophia made it 3-0 with a double to the gap. RBI singles by Willtrout and junior Ty Schenck increased the lead to 5-0.
Staked to a big lead, Holland retired the side in the second inning. In the third, Montgomery hit her second double and Svoboda drove her in with a single for a 6-0 lead.
Wayne Montgomery is Ella’s dad.
“I’m just proud of my team,” Ella said. “We’ve been wanting to do this for a while. You’ve got to go out there with a good mindset and have fun. It’s exciting and makes me want to cry. Especially being able to do it with my dad.”