Lady Panthers take to the diamond under new coach

After serving last season as an assistant to former Mountain Grove Lady Panthers’ head coach Lori Hyde, Allison Klock has taken over the reigns for the 2025 season.
Coach Klock is no stranger to the sport as she is in her 17th year of coaching. Her previous stints include 2014-2016 in Mountain Grove, 2016-2018 in Cabool and five years as head coach in Knob Noster (2018-2023).
“I am excited to have been given the opportunity to coach the Lady Panthers this spring and have high expectations for my girls,” Coach Klock said.
“I have a talented group of athletes that have a lot of ability and diverse skills that will allow us to be able to do a lot of great things both offensively and defensively.”
Leading this year’s squad on the pitcher’s mound will be Payton O’Connor and Hannah Dowden.
“They have different pitches, spin and speeds,” Coach Klock noted. “We will be able to do some different things defensively having both of them in our rotation this season.”
Leading her group of returners will be the lone senior, Landry Golden (3B/1B). She hit .455 last season with five home runs.
“Landry is one of our strongest hitters and I am looking forward to seeing what she will do at the plate this year,” Coach Klock said.
Offensively, O’Connor also returns after leading the team with 27 RBIs last year as she batted .453.
Sophomore Sophie Peterson returns with her .360 and four home runs at the plate. Also returning are sophomore Gabby Miller along with juniors Stella Benson, Chloe Slagle and Makenzi Schober.
Defensively, O’Connor had no errors playing first or third base last year while Benson’s fielding percentage was a .964 with just one error.
Key newcomers to the program include sophomore Aubrey Gerla and freshmen Lyla Golden and Aubrey Owens.
Last season, the Lady Panthers compiled a 13-12 overall record.
“My overall expectation is to see growth in our game both offensively and defensively,” Coach Klock noted.
“For every player to understand the game and know how to make quick decisions. Our game is all of speed and consistency, I want them to be fluid players that make the game look easy. Having discipline and desire to play for each other will be a crucial part of our success. I want them to work hard and have fun playing the game for each other.”
Starting out at 1-2
The Lady Panthers won their season opener with a 12-2 victory over Lighthouse Christian.
Mountain Grove scored four runs in the bottom of the second then pulled away to seal the win with five more in the bottom of the fifth.
Slagle had two RBIs and scored three times; Benson had two RBIs and one run scored; Landry Golden added one RBI and scored twice; Miller had one RBI and scored one run; while O’Connor had one RBI.
On the mound, Dowden tossed five innings of shutout ball and gave up one hit on seven strikeouts with two walks.
In the South Central Association (SCA) Conference Tournament, the Lady Panthers lost a pair of contests.
They dropped a 11-4 decision to Thayer as their 4-2 first inning lead was overcome by nine more Lady Bobcats’ runs.
Landry Golden had two RBIs and one run scored and Peterson had one RBI. Benson, Slagle and O’Connor also scored one run.
Dowden tossed three innings and gave up seven earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts and four walks.
O’Connor tossed a scoreless inning and gave up one hit and one walk.
In a classic against Houston, the Lady Tigers scored a walk-off run after a pair of errors in the final inning.
Miller had two RBIs and scored one run; Schober had two RBIs; Slagle added one RBI; while Landry Golden scored twice.
O’Connor tossed one inning and gave up three earned runs on three hits with two walks.
Dowden tossed two and a third innings of shutout ball and gave up three hits with two strikeouts and two walks.