Montgomery County Senior Reagan Oney Having Historic Senior Year to Add to her Legacy

Regional MVP Reaghan Oney. (X Photo)

Reaghan Oney has put herself in elite company with a historic senior season at Montgomery County.

She hit her 24th home run of the season in the 10th Region championship game win over Harrison County. It was also her seventh straight game to hit a home run. Both marks are new state records and she is one of only seven players in National Federation of State High School Associations to have homered in seven consecutive games.

“I was planning on not getting pitched to but knew I needed to just get on base for my team,” said the Montgomery catcher. “I was not worried about any records and was hoping we could go to state and I could hit the home run there. They did pitch to me and I was 0-for-2 and then walked twice intentionally before I got a pitch that I could hit out. Now I am glad I got it over with and can just have fun and relax at state.”

Oney, a Troy signee, was named the region’s most valuable player after helping Montgomery win its first regional title since 2015.

Now Oney and her Montgomery teammates will face 11th Region champion Lexington Catholic at John Cropp Stadium at the University of Kentucky Friday in the first round of state. The Indians lost 7-0 to the Knights and ace pitcher Abby Hammond, a Kentucky commit, on May 15.

Oney broke the state home run season record held by Madisonville North-Hopkins’ Kaylee Tow, who became a three-time All-American at Alabama and is now a SEC Network analyst. Tow was Kentucky’s Miss Softball in 2017 when her team won the state title. Tow is also Kentucky’s career home run leader with 75 and Peyton is next at 70. Oney now ranks third with 69 career homers.

“I was not thinking about home runs going into the season. Last year I hit 21 and I thought a lot of teams would not pitch to me. I was just worried about our team going to state. That has been my dream and my team’s dream,” Oney said. “We got to the regional championship last year and it didn’t work out like we wanted.”

Oney’s career batting average of .600 also ranks first in the state — No. 2 is Maddison Martin of Carlie County who hit .560 from 2015-18. Tow was a career .539 hitter, fourth best in state history.

Oney is hitting .595 this season with 21 doubles, two triples, 21 walks and only eight strikeouts in 131 at-bats. She’s also scored 79 runs, stolen 20 bases and been hit by a pitch five times.

She has driven in 75 runs going into the Lexington Catholic game — the fourth best total in state history behind 87 by Mallory Peyton of Madisonville North-Hopkins in 2017, 81 by Holly Springer of Oldham County in 2017 and 77 by Amber Riddle of Rowan County in 2008. Oney’s 255 career RBI now rank sixth all-time in Kentucky.

Oney has set 18 school records and three state records — season homers, consecutive games with a home run and career grand slams (6).  She has 104 stolen bases in 109 tries and has 301 career hits along with 79 walks.She’s also been hit by a pitch 36 times in her career and scored 303 runs.

Oney, who also plays basketball, is most proud of her home run totals and batting average.

“Home runs are hard and keeping the batting average up with a bunch of home runs is hard, too,” she said. “I spend a lot of time in the batting cage. I started when I was about 7 or 8 years old getting out before games with my dad and hitting or in the summer before he goes to work. I have done that my whole life.”

Oney, a right-handed hitter, said most of her home runs have been to right field or center field because when teams have pitched to her they  normally have tried to keep the ball outside.

“I have to use my strength and bat speed to drive the ball,” she said. “The region championship I messed up and let one pitch go that was right down the middle. I was thinking no way did I just do that. I saw my dad in the stands just hitting his leg and said, ‘I am sorry dad.’ Then they gave me one more (pitch to hit) and I got the home run.”

Oney has been surprised as many pitchers have challenged her this season.

“A lot of pitchers dream of getting this girl out and it kind of makes me mad that they want to pitch to me and don’t respect me. When they intentionally walk me it shows respect and I don’t get as mad,” she said.

Oney’s numbers are so overpowering that it seems Power-Five teams might have pursued her. However, she’s happy with her college choice.

“My dream was always to go to the University of Tennessee,” Oney, a one-time Marshall commit, said. “As I got older I realized my body size was not what SEC teams wanted. Troy never gave up on me. I didn’t want to go to a SEC school and not get to show the talent I have. Troy plays Florida State, Auburn and other big name schools. I just want to play and show teams they missed out on a good athlete but I know Troy is the better spot for me.”