Haley Hughes

Amelia Wiesler (11) jogs to home base after hitting her 19th home run at the home game Sept. 25. “It felt good knowing I’m only two away from tying [the school home run record],” Wiesler said. “I came in with a goal, and I’m about to achieve that goal.” Wiesler hit 19 home runs throughout her high school career and still has her senior year to attempt breaking the record.

Varsity softball player Amelia Wiesler (11) was recognized as “Athlete Of The Week” by SB Live on Sept. 11 for her almost record-breaking number of home runs and favorable personality. 

“I believe everything happens for a reason, good comes from bad…” Wiesler said. “Once you hit rock bottom…it is always up from there.”

Throughout her high school softball career, Wiesler and her teammates felt that Wiesler remained positive, reliable and strong even when she didn’t feel good or was tired. 

“I think it makes perfect sense [for her to be athlete of the week] because even if she is having a bad day, she’s always there for us…always hitting home runs over the fence,” Lily Alton (9) said. 

Wiesler has been on her long streak of home runs on varsity since her freshman year. As of Oct. 13, she is now one away from tying the record of 21 career home runs, which was set by Ella Strickland in 2021, and two away from breaking the record.

“I go back to the Northwest game…She hit a home run to tie the game then hit another home run in the game, which put us up by one late, and those are the kind of things she is capable of doing,” varsity coach Rich Sturm said. “A home run is a home run, but it’s one thing when it’s a home run and you are already up six or seven runs, and it’s another thing when you are hitting home runs that are late in games to give your team the lead or to tie the game.”

Being recognized for Missouri’s “Athlete Of The Week” is not only a great achievement, it could also lead to feeling pressure to be the best, but not for Wiesler, who has a strong work ethic and support system keeping her up. 

“It helps me know that no matter what I do with my decisions or if I have an error or it’s just something that doesn’t go my way, I know that I have people there to back me up,” Wiesler said.

There is no shock to Wiesler having such a good support system, as her outgoing and positive attitude has made the coaches ready to find out what she has to offer next year for her high school season. 

“You wanna see all of the players develop, have fun, succeed, do great things, and the one thing about Amelia is she does great things in big moments…” Sturm said. “So the sky’s the limit for her next year. I really think she has the ability to be an all-star softball player. I think she’s an elite player.”