The Grand Island Northwest softball team loaded the bases during the bottom of the seventh inning Monday in the NSAA Class B State Championship game at Connie Claussen Field.
Junior Blair pitcher Brooke Janning responded with a strikeout in Omaha, but a two-out, infield single ended things in the Vikings' favor. The back-to-back state champs beat the top-seeded Bears by walk-off, 9-8.
“Oh, extremely,” said coach Jennifer Fangmeier when asked how proud she was of her 33-5 BHS squad. “I don't think I'm so sad about the end result. I'm just sad that it's over.”
The Bears set the school record for wins in a season this fall, earning their last three victories during the first three rounds of the state tournament in Hasintgs. They outscored their opposition there 31-2 and led 2-0 Monday after top-of-the-first-inning RBI swings by Nessa McMillen and Bria Scott.
The top-two teams in Class B traded leads from there, though, as Northwest earned three scores during the bottom half of the first for a 3-2 advantage.
Blair took it back, however, in the third frame when Scott added a two-run single.
The Vikings responded again, but the Bears tied the championship game at 6-6 in the fifth when Sophia Wrich notched her own two-run double down the left field line. During the next at-bat, Scott notched her fourth RBI, giving her Bears a 7-6 lead with a double.
The advantage didn't stick, though, and Leah Chance again had to break a tie during the sixth inning. With one out, the senior infielder hit a solo homer over the wall in left-centerfield.
Ahead 8-7, Blair earned an out during the bottom of the sixth inning before Northwest hit its own solo home run to tie the game for the fifth time overall.
The homers set up a seventh frame for the state championship. The Bears flew out, grounded out and popped out during the top half of the inning before the Vikings, ultimately, loaded the bases and scored the game-winning run.
“It was a good game,” Fangmeier said after the trophy presentation. “It was a great game.”
For the full story and additional photos, check out Friday's edition of the Washington County Enterprise. Coverage will also appear online here at enterprisepub.com/sports that same day.
