Washington County softball diamonds hosted four district games Friday.
Of those four, Blair High School won two, qualifying for its fourth-straight NSAA State Softball Championships tournament and 17th overall.
Fort Calhoun, however, fell short twice at home, closing the season with a 19-7 overall record.
Bears beat Elkhorn North
The Bears (26-8 overall) beat Eastern Midlands Conference foe Elkhorn North 15-14 and 8-6 during the Class B-4 District Tournament to advance onto the Class B state bracket. It starts 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Bill Smith Softball Complex in Hastings.
“This is a good group,” said BHS coach Jennifer Fangmeier, who surpassed 200 career wins against the Wolves “They all are, but this is a really good group, too.”
The Bears won their first game with North despite blowing the 10-1 lead they earned through London Larsen hitting a grand slam for their fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh runs.
Though Regan Blattert and Kaitlynn O’Neil also hit homers, the Bears still trailed 14-13 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. Mia McClain, however, scored on a passed ball to tie the game before Taylor Munger’s walk-off single.
“They’re gritty,” Fangmeier said of her team. “They’re also very calm and collected, and they stay balanced.”
Blair had to be as it lost a 5-1 lead during the second game against Elkhorn North as well. The Wolves evened the score at 5-all, but the Bears’ Laynie Brown responded with an RBI double during the top of the fourth inning. McClain and Blattert plated runs from there, too, allowing pitchers Taytum Macholan and Abby Leggott to close out the game in relief of freshman Olivia Bacon, who closed out the opener.
Notably, O’Neil dove from her shortstop position and made the final out on a lazy liner. BHS’ Jacy Schueth homered in the game, too, while O’Neil, Macholan and Blattert had first-inning RBIs.
Pioneers fall short against Freeman
The 23-12 Freeman Falcons upset the third-seeded Pioneers 4-2 and 9-6 Friday during Class C-3 District play in Fort Calhoun.
FCHS’ Dehlia Hallberg and Emily Warfield had RBIs during the opener, but only after Falcons pitcher Sydney Lenners kept the home team without a hit for four innings as her squad built a 3-0 advantage.
Warfield homered during the second game, too, but coach Mandy Taylor’s team was unable to hold onto its 6-4 lead late in the game.
“It's been a great season and we will, without question, miss our seniors,” the coach said.
Altogether, Calhoun fell just short of what would have been its second-ever state qualification. The softball program has made three-straight district finals appearances.
For the full story on these tournaments and additional photos from both Washington County fields, come back to enterprisepub.com/sports early next week. Coverage will appear in the Oct. 14th Washington County Enterprise edition as well.
