Omaha Mercy won the Blair Bears' home softball tournament Saturday, but the coach Jennifer Fangmeier's team didn't lose.
BHS also went 3-0 with wins against Malcolm, Ashland-Greenwood and Omaha Westside, but was edged by the tourney tiebreaker — runs allowed.
Still, though, coach Jennifer Fangmeier's third-ranked Class B ball club was pleased with its efforts in the end. The Bears, after all, improved to 9-2 through the first eight days of the season.
“We became stronger together,” junior Leah Chance said.
“We all became better individually, but also as a group and as a team,” sophomore Brooke Janning added. “I think we really all grew and got better today.”
Blair started tournament play with its second win against Class C No. 6 Malcolm of the week. They led 3-1 after one inning and 5-1 after two, picking up the 9-1 victory. Claire Mann produced a game highlight with a home run.
Tessa Villotta started BHS' second game — a 7-6, extra innings win against Ashland-Greenwood — with a homer, too. The Bluejays battled back, though, taking a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning.
Janning evened the score at 5-5, forcing an extra inning before Chance notched the walk-off double. She plated Greta Galbraith for the win after Galbraith scored Joslyn Policky with a bunt single.
“I just believed in myself,” Chance said. “I knew that wherever I hit the ball, Greta would be there for me because she always has my back.”
The Bears then closed out their tourney with a 6-2 victory against Class A Omaha Westside. They fell behind 2-0, but scored four runs during the top of the second inning to take the lead for good.
Taylor Larson scored first before Kalli Ulven, the winning pitcher, hit an RBI single. Villotta then hit into an error to give BHS the advantage.
Ahead by four runs after two more were tallied in the fourth frame, Janning stepped into the pitching circle and ended the game with a sixth-inning strikeout.
“I have a lot of support behind me with my team,” she said as the grounds crew worked on the fields.
Bears beat Malcolm, NEN, too
Before hosting Saturday's tournament, the Bears made somewhat of a trial run Thursday with varsity and junior varsity games with both Malcolm and the NEN Vipers.
BHS beat the No. 6 Clippers 6-2 first before topping the Vipers 8-0. The JV, meanwhile, won 12-0 and 13-1, respectively.
The Bears jumped ahead of Malcom early, scoring four first-inning runs. Janning hit an RBI double, Ulven knocked in two runs and Claire Mann sacrificed for the 4-0 lead.
Sophia Wrich and Policky tallied BHS RBI singles later, too.
Then, against NEN, coach Fangmeier's team produced late. The Bears notched two fourth-inning runs after the teams played three scoreless frames. Nessa McMillen notched an RBI single before Ulven's double scored Villotta.
BHS added six runs during the bottom half of the fifth inning, too, winning by run rule.
