Lincoln and Kearney didn't stand a chance Saturday against pitcher Brooke Janning and the Class B No. 2 Blair High School softball team.
Coach Jennifer Fangmeier's Bears went 3-0 in their Lincoln Southeast Invite pool, besting Lincoln North Star 12-3, Class A No. 9 Kearney 11-1 and Lincoln Pius X 9-0. The wins pushed BHS' season record to 23-6.
Janning set a school record during the day's play, producing the 213th strikeout of her senior season. The K broke the old 43-foot, pitching rubber to home plate, mark set by Carly Nielsen in 2010.
Mandy Osborn struck out 370 batters from 40 feet away in 2006.
Janning first pitched against North Star on Saturday, earning a win after the Bears scored 10 runs during the second inning. A Jacy Schueth solo homer and Kaitlynn O'Neil's bases-clearing double highlighted the breakout frame.
Against Kearney, Blair earned a 4-0 first-inning lead and never looked back. Schueth hit an RBI single, Regan Blattert sacrificed and Taytum Macholan hit a two-RBI double to get the Bears out ahead early.
Finally, against Pius X, Janning allowed non hits, no walks and no runs across five innings. The pitcher struck out 12 thunderbolts, while BHS' Laynie Brown went 4-for-4 at the plate. Mia McClain was 3-for-4, too, and Schueth homered.
Coach Fangmeier's team was scheduled to face Lincoln Standing Bear on Monday and plays at Gretna today. Tonight's road game starts at 6:30 p.m.
Bears split stacked triangular games
The Bears, No. 3 Hastings and No. 6 Gretna East won a game apiece Thursday during a stacked Eastern Midlands Conference triangular at the Blair Youth Sports Complex.
BHS lost an 8-inning game to the Tigers first, 3-2, before bouncing back with a 2-0 win against the Griffins. The victory was the Bears' 20th of the season.
London Larsen and Hall scored runs against Gretna East, while Blattert knocked one in. Janning, who registered her 200th strikeout of the season during the triangular, finished the two-run victory with 13 strikeouts.
Against Hastings, Brown and Hall tallied BHS RBIs. Macholan and McClain had hits against the Tigers, too, while Janning struck out 10 batters in defeat.
BHS SOFTBALL LINE SCORES
Saturday
No. 2 Blair 9, Lincoln Pius X 0, 5 inn.
BHS (23-6) 3 1 1 3 1 — 9
LPX 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
No. 2 Blair 11, No. 9 Kearney 1, 4 inn.
KHS 0 0 1 0 — 1
BHS (22-6) 4 3 4 X — 11
No. 2 Blair 12, Lincoln North Star 3, 5 inn.
BHS (21-6) 0 10 2 0 0 — 12
LNS 0 0 2 1 0 — 3
Thursday
No. 2 Blair 2, No. 6 Gretna East 0
GE (14-11) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 3 0
BHS (20-6) 0 0 0 1 0 1 X — 2 5 0
No. 3 Hastings 3, No. 2 Blair 2, 8 inn.
HHS (17-5) 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 — 3 4 2
BHS (19-6) 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 — 2 4 0
