Available softball fields in both Arlington and Blair were occupied Friday through Sunday for USA Softball of Nebraska district tournaments.
Nearly 80 teams participated.
Arlington's RVR Bank Sports Complex and Bell Creek Park fields hosted two brackets of competition as did the Blair Youth Softball Association (BYSA) Fields at the Blair Youth Sports Complex.
In Arlington, 29 teams competed altogether. Seven vied for the age 16 and 18 District 8 and 10 tournament title.
Twenty-two more, however, competed across a 22-team, double-elimination bracket for the age 10 District 8 and 10 title. Three of those squads hailed from Washington County.
The Blair Chaos (McManigal) team started 2-1 and was still in contention going into play Sunday. It first beat the Arlington Black 14-0 before an 11-5 victory against the Nebraska Storm (Eppenbach).
The Chaos lost, however, to Bennington (Larson) on Saturday night and was forced to battle back in the loser's bracket. The Ashland Blue, however, ended their run Sunday morning, 12-2.
The aforementioned Arlington Black, meanwhile, were 2-2 at home. The 10U team beat the Nebraska Venom (Wacker) first, 8-7, before the loss to the Chaos.
Arlington then beat Logan View in loser's bracket play, 14-9, before their own tourney-ending loss to the Ashland Blue.
A second 10U Blair team, the Chaos (Mlnarik), went 1-2 too. It beat Logan View 13-1 before back-to-back losses to top-seeded Kelly's Fastpitch (Peters), 13-0, and the Venom, 7-1.
Blair fields, meanwhile, hosted 48 teams altogether Friday through Sunday in USA Softball play. Three of those ballclubs were Washington County-based.
In the 11-team District 8 and 10 age 14 tournament, Arlington went 0-2. The Eagles dropped their first game on a BYSA field to Pender, 10-4, before a 16-14 loss to Kelly's Fastpitch (Fite).
The robust age 12 District 8 and 10 tourney had 37 teams in it. Arlington's representation started with a 9-4 win against a hometown team, the Blair Chaos (Town). The Eagles, however, lost their next game to Underwood (Iowa), 12-4, before a 15-0 loss to Kelly's Fastpitch (Werner).
The Chaos, meanwhile, lost its second game of the tournament to the Elkhorn Elite (Garth) on Saturday afternoon, 6-3.
BYSA next hosts an age 8 and younger tournament Sunday before its in-house Modified League Tourney is played June 23-26.
