The Blair High School softball team started the NSAA Softball Championships 2-0 Wednesday in Hastings, earning its first state softball victory since 2014 along the way.
The top-seeded Bears (31-4 overall) advanced into the Class B championship bracket semifinals with a 6-4 win against No. 8 Waverly and a 9-1 victory against No. 4 Bennington. They next play at 4:30 p.m. Thursday against Grand Island Northwest with a place in Friday's state finals on the line.
First, Kalli Ulven picked up BHS’ pitching win against the Vikings, striking out seven batters. After first leaving the game during the sixth inning, the junior came back in with one out in the seventh to halt Waverly’s four-run rally.
Blair, meanwhile, scored one run during the second frame and five in the fourth. First, Ulven scored from third base on a Vikings’ pick-off throw in the dirt.
Then, during the fourth frame, Claire Mann hit an RBI single to push the Bears’ lead to 2-0. Joslyn Policky later hit the ball into a two-run error before Leah Chance’s RBI single resulted in runs scored by both pinch-runner Audie Keeling and Cailey Anderson.
Against Bennington, Ulven had 11 strikeouts in the complete-game win. Chance and Brooke Janning each finished with three RBIs, while Nessa McMillen, Policky and Ulven each tallied one.
The Bears led the Badgers 3-0 through four innings, but added six more across the sixth and seventh frames to solidify their victory. Coach Jennifer Fangmeier’s squad has won 16-straight games.
Online updates will continue through the end of the tournament at enterprisepub.com/sports before full coverage appears in next Tuesday’s Washington County Pilot-Tribune.
