By Chris Basnett and Tony Chapman – For the Nebraska School Activities Association
CLASS A: Big inning lifts Lincoln Southwest past Millard North
Lincoln Southwest scored all its runs in the third inning, and Maisey McCarty did the rest as the Silver Hawks downed Millard North 4-2 to win the Class A state softball championship at Bowlin Stadium.
In front of a raucous crowd that filled Bowlin Stadium despite chilly temperatures, third-seeded Southwest (35-3) captured its first state title since 2021 and fifth overall.
“We’ve had our eyes on this game, especially since the last one,” said McCarty, a sophomore. “I’m just in shock.”
McCarty spent most of the game shocking Millard North. The sophomore dazzled with 10 strikeouts, scattering six hits and walking just two while baffling Mustangs batters with an effective changeup.
It was a far cry from the teams’ previous meeting, a 7-6, 8-inning Millard North win in which the Mustangs scored four in the third inning and two more in the fourth .
“I think I was just more confident in the moment,” McCarty said. “And we went out there, and held them the first few innings, and then we had a big third inning.”
McCarty helped her own cause in the third, ripping a RBI double that two-hopped to the left-field wall that forced Millard North to make a pitching change. Raegan Brandt greeted Millard North reliever Jayda Juarez with a rocket that hit the top of the wall in center and drove in two more runs.
Southwest scored all four of its runs with two outs. And the Silver Hawks’ coach thought they would need even more.
“Not with this team. They hit the ball extremely well,” LSW coach Mitch Ohnoutka said. “Maisey pitched a heck of a game, and we hit a couple rockets in the third inning — I’d like to know the exit velocity on those.
“And (Maisey), probably strikeout-wise, that’s the best she’s been all year. There’s no doubt.”
McCarty threw 109 pitches. Raegan Brandt and No. 9 hitter Leyton Murphy combined for four of Lincoln Southwest’s seven hits.
Monday’s loss marked the third year in a row Millard North (34-5) reached the championship game, only to be denied. The Mustangs finished second at state for the fifth time overall after winning their first and only title in 1993.
Millard North, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, had scored 12, 7, and 14 runs in their previous three games to reach the state final. On Monday, the Mustangs scored both their runs in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI infield single and a Southwest error.
Monday marked just the second time this season and the first since August 23 that Millard North scored fewer than three runs in a game.
“It seems like three years in a row, we get here and the (other) pitcher throws the greatest game they’ve thrown all year,” Millard North coach Travis Unzicker said.
The championship had profound meaning for Ohnoutka.
It was the first for Southwest since the Silver Hawks’ beloved former coach Mark Watt, died last November after a battle with cancer. Watt led Southwest to four state championships. Ohnoutka was named as Watt’s replacement in 2022.
“This (stadium) is where he coached his last games when he was helping the university (of Nebraska) the year that he retired. And yeah, it was pretty emotional,” Ohnoutka said.
“I felt his presence last week, and I felt it again tonight.”
CLASS B: More dramatics as Northwest walks off Beatrice
Down to their final at bat, Northwest refused to lose.
Trailing 3-2 to defending champion Beatrice, the Vikings attacked the Lady Orange in the bottom of the seventh for a 4-3 walk off winner when Libby Loman plated fellow senior Jolie O’Hara to set off a raucous Northwest celebration.
“There was no doubt,” Viking coach Mitch Sadd said. “This is a team that has focused all year on playing long games. And, we stayed together. We stayed together as a team. Our dugout, they never stopped cheering.”
Loman came up with the game tied after the Vikings had done all their work with no outs.
Lauren Jones, batting ninth, started the inning by ripping a single to right. O’Hara’s sacrifice bunt was mishandled before freshman Abby Dinkelman brought home Jones with a single to right that tied the game.
Loman hit a fly ball to left field that on a normal day would have likely been an out, but it got caught in the headwind and dropped out of the glove of Beatrice outfielder McKenna Loomis which sent O’Hara home.
“There was no doubt we were going to lose that game,” Loman said. “Ever since we came back from being down 7-0 to Aurora we have believed we could win every game. We were in a pretty good spot in our lineup.”
Northwest stayed in it behind a masterful effort from sophomore pitcher Graclyn Simmons who struck out 10 but was at her best in the fourth and seventh while working out of jams.
In the fourth, Jade Berke and Layla Boyko doubled to start the inning, but Simmons coerced a pop-up and two strikeouts to get out of the inning with no further damage and a 3-1 Lady Orange lead.
“I am sure there are a lot of things you can look at over the course of the game,” Beatrice coach Gary Lytle said. “There are probably a lot of things that we could change. We got two girls on base in the seventh, too. A lot of what ifs. But our girls battled all night and that is all you can ask for as a coach.”
In the fifth, Northwest cut the lead to 3-2 when Becca Dinkelman singled to left which plated O’Hara who had walked and was the last batter that Boyko, the starting pitcher, faced. Simmons battled out of a two-on, no-out jam with three straight fly balls that kept the lead intact.
“Graclyn has just been throwing really well and finding her spots,” Sadd said. “She has been able to carry the load for us, because she has been so fresh. Libby was able to pitch for us quite a bit during the season and that helped. Gracy was good out there, but we played good defense behind her, too.”
The Lady Orange were hot early.
They got on the board in the first when Callie Schwisow doubled home courtesy runner Miley Loomis and then added another in the third when Brooke Gleason drew a walk, stole second and was plated by Karrigan Henrichs’ single to right. Northwest got on the board in the third when Abby Dinkelman hammered a solo shot over the right field fence.
It was the third title for the Northwest seniors who won in 2022 in the final year games were played in Hastings, then in 2023 – also on a walk-off – the first year the finals were held in Omaha.
Now, a title in Lincoln. A perfect ending.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Loman said. “Jolie, Laiken (Dorsey) and I have been playing softball together since we were eight years old. It’s just really awesome.”
CLASS C: Hastings St. Cecilia caps thrilling 7th inning with walk-off for first title
Maddison Bauer had already delivered twice.
The third time was the most charming.
Bauer’s walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning was the final blow in a wild final frame, lifting Hastings St. Cecilia to a 5-4 win over Central City in the Class C state softball championship Monday at Bowlin Stadium in Lincoln.
“I knew I had to hit it because I didn’t want to let down my team, because I love everyone so much,” said Bauer, a sophomore. “They’ve always been there for me, so I knew I had to get it done.”
St. Cecilia (29-6) got it done after seeing Central City stage an improbable rally in the top of the seventh.
After being no-hit through 4.2 innings by St. Cecilia starter Audrey Rossow, Central City cut a 2-0 deficit in half with a two-out single from Journi Schindler in the top of the fifth.
After St. Cecilia made it 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth, the Hawkettes were one out away from securing the championship in the top of the seventh.
But with a runner on first and two outs, Central City junior Juno Ryan blasted a two-run home run into the teeth of a 20 mile-per-hour wind blowing in from left field to give the Bison a 4-3 lead.
“She said (earlier this year), ‘I just see the ball and I smash it,’” Central City coach Neely Moser said. “So I said, just do that.”
Juno’s blast stunned a St. Cecilia dugout ready to celebrate.
“I knew there was hope. But we were deflated,” St. Cecilia coach Matt Rossow said. “And we got out of that down one, and I thought, OK, we have a chance to tie it, possibly.
“Then it was just one good at-bat after another, and there we were.”
The bottom of the seventh started with a strikeout. Then No. 9 hitter Emerson Kissinger sliced a double into right-center. After an intentional walk to Kyler Weidner to set up a potential double play, St. Cecilia loaded the bases when Avery Kissinger drew another walk.
A sharp liner from Sydney Head was nearly caught by Central City pitcher Payton Burbach before falling to the ground and allowing the tying run to score.
Then came Bauer, who had already delivered a two-run triple in the first inning before doubling and scoring in the sixth.
“She’s a little up and down sometimes at the plate, but she keeps working,” Rossow said. “And we try to keep her calm up there, and she did a great job today.”
In its second game against Central City this season, St. Cecilia was able to complete the comeback. Playing the Bison on August 28, the Hawkettes trailed 9-3 before scoring five runs in the seventh inning of a 9-8 loss.
“(Our players) have done this all year,” Rossow said. “So I knew there was a chance. They just kept working and working. They just refused to give up.”
Making its seventh consecutive appearance in the state tournament, St. Cecilia was able to add a softball championship to a rich history of girls athletics at the school.
The members of this year’s senior class at St. Cecilia were freshmen when the Hawkettes fell to Yutan/Mead 13-1 in the 2022 Class C state championship game.
“It’s just so surreal right now,” said Audrey Rossow, the winning pitcher. “It definitely means a lot, and it means we made history. We’ll always be up there.”
Rossow struck out six and worked around six walks to pick up the win. Bauer finished 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI.
Emma Brandes had a pair of hits for Central City. The Bison (28-9) fought their way to the championship game after a 15-6 opening round loss to Kearney Catholic, winning four consecutive elimination games to reach the final.
Tony Chapman is a freelance writer based in Grand Island. He has written for multiple Nebraska daily and weekly newspapers. His weekly Harvest Sports Newsletter covers a wide variety of Nebraska prep sports.
Chris Basnett is a freelance writer based in Lincoln. He has covered prep and college sports for more than 20 years and most recently was the assistant sports editor at the Lincoln Journal Star. He currently provides content for the Harvest Sports Newsletter.