Post-season honors continue to roll in for Kylie Helm following her senior year as McDonald County High School's most decorated softball player in history.
Helm received word on Nov. 5 that she was named to first-team Missouri Class 3 All-State as voted on by the coaches.
The first-team selection caps a storied career at MCHS for Helm. Her career includes receiving numerous all-conference, all-district and all-area selections as well as a second team all-state selection as a sophomore and being named the Big 8 Conference Player of the Year this past season.
"I was very excited when I got a text from Coach Rawlins (MCHS softball coach Skyler Rawlins) telling me," Helm said. "That was one of my biggest goals this year. I got second team my sophomore year, so I definitely wanted to be first team this year."
Helm finished the year hitting .479 with six home runs and 36 RBIs in 29 games, all team highs. She also went the entire year without striking out, marking her second consecutive season without a strikeout. She ended her career with a streak of 205 at-bats without striking out, the best-ever streak in Missouri high school softball.
Those gaudy numbers could have been higher if Helm hadn't got off to what she described as a "slow start" to her senior season.
"I think I was pressing a little at the start just because it was my senior year," Helm said. "You hear all those horror stories about having a bad year as a senior, so I think I was trying to do too much for my team when all I needed to do was relax and be myself. As the season went by, I started to do that and I started to hit at least as good or better than my sophomore season."
Rawlins said, obviously, Helm had another great year, despite starting off a little slow.
"The last three-quarters of the season she carried our offense," Rawlins said. "She helped us win conference and districts this year and get us into the playoffs. I will never forget her two-out, walk-off home run that gave us a district title this year. First-team all-state is quite an accomplishment and she deserves it. She was a big part of two district championship teams and will be greatly missed. I wish her all the best in her college career."
Helm's ability comes not only from genetics but her work ethic during and in-between seasons. Even as a senior, Helm would come in before school and stay late to get more hitting in the cage.
"I have worked on my hitting day-in and day-out since I was eight years old," Helm said. "My dad took me up to the field before I was in high school and to a field in Pineville when I was little. Endless coaches time between older coach Smith (Lee Smith), coach Alumbaugh (Heath Alumbaugh), young coach Smith (Kyle Smith) and coach Rawlins staying after me with anything possible that I could do to get better. I knew I had to put in more work than just the average person if I wanted to be extraordinary."
Sports on 11/15/2018