The Wildcats ran wild in 2021.
Yates Center High’s Wildcats, who roared through the softball season with an 18-4 record, and Marmaton Valley High’s Wildcats, who compiled a 15-7 record on the season, were well represented by the Three Rivers League all-league softball team.
Yates Center placed three players — juniors Morgan Collins and Allie Chrisman and sophomore Molly Proper — on the first-team All Three Rivers League team.
They are joined by Marmaton Valley high senior MyKayla Ard on the first team and Crest High senior Aubree Holloran.
Earning honorable mention were Yates Center junior Hannah Jones, Marmaton Valley juniors Aly Ard and Kendall Scharff and freshman Payton Scharfff.
Collins was dominant in all phases in leading Yates Center’s squad.
She batted a mind-boggling .688 to break the school record for batting average. She also led YC with 42 RBI. She was one of four players to earn unanimous selections to the all-league team.
Proper wasn’t far behind, hitting .608 while tying the school record with eight home runs, while scoring a team-high 59 runs.
Collins and Proper split the pitching duties, with Collins typically pitching the first game of each doubleheader, and Proper taking the second.
Collins finished with a 2.57 ERA; Collins a 4.00 ERA.
Both also shined on the field, with fielding percentages north of .920.
Chrisman served as Marmaton Valley’s cleanup hitter “and had some big hits in games when we needed them,” head coach Abbie Collins said.
Chrisman wound up with a .478 batting average with 32 RBIs.
Jones, meanwhile, proved to be a threat with her speed on the bases.
“She was able to make a lot of things happen whether it was hitting or bunting,” Coach Collins said. Jones led Yates Center with 20 stolen bases and scored 57 runs. She played second base with a .911 fielding percentage.