Blair Oaks' Kliethermes named Missouri's top softball player

Blair Oaks graduate Makenna Kliethermes was named the 2019 Gatorade Missouri softball player of the year. She led the Lady Falcons to three straight Final Fours.
Blair Oaks graduate Makenna Kliethermes was named the 2019 Gatorade Missouri softball player of the year. She led the Lady Falcons to three straight Final Fours.

Blair Oaks graduate Makenna Kliethermes was named the 2019 Gatorade Missouri softball player of the year, which was announced last Thursday.

Kliethermes is the first Lady Falcon softball player to receive the award.

According to a press release from Gatorade, the award "recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field."

Kliethermes is now one of 49 finalists for the Gatorade national softball player of the year, which will be announced later this month.

During her senior season at Blair Oaks, Kliethermes compiled a 21-2 record with a 0.57 ERA, striking out 300 batters in 134 innings pitched. She threw seven no-hitters during the 2018 season.

At the plate, Kliethermes had a .518 batting average this past season with three home runs and 28 RBI.

Kliethermes, rated the nation's No. 28 recruit by Softball America for the Class of 2019, has signed a letter of intent to play next spring at Oregon. She was a two-time all-state first-team pitcher at Blair Oaks, leading the Lady Falcons to second-place finishes in Class 2 in 2016 and '17 and a third-place finish in 2018.

Kliethermes has pitched against the previous two Gatorade players of the year from Missouri: 2018 winner Gabi Deters of Bowling Green and 2017 winner Madison Preston of Centralia.