Lady O heading to state championship game
HASTINGS - The Beatrice softball team will play for a state championship on Monday in Omaha.
The Lady O defeated Lincoln Pius X 7-0 Thursday in Hastings, punching their ticket to the state final. They will be going for their first state championship since 2003.
Thursday's meeting between Beatrice and Lincoln Pius X was the fourth meeting between the two teams and it was closer than the final score indicated. Beatrice's lead was only 2-0 before they scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to pull away.
Sophomore Layla Boyko was dominant in the circle for Beatrice. The two runs that Beatrice scored in the first inning would be all the run support Boyko needed. She pitched all seven innings, giving up no runs on four hits while striking out 14 and walking one.
With a strong wind blowing in, runs were hard to come by for the Lady O offense, but they were able to scratch two runs across in the bottom of the first. With one out, Brooke Gleason singled on a ground ball to center. Sadie Hereth's sacrifice bunt was overthrown, which allowed Gleason to score all the way from first base to make it 1-0.
Tana Antons then came through with her first of two big hits in the game. She hit an RBI single to centerfield, extending the lead to 2-0.
Offense was scarce for the next five innings with both teams putting minor threats together, but never capitalizing - until the bottom of the sixth.
In that inning, Callie Schwisow singled with one out and then scored on Antons' two-run home run into the wind, extending the Lady O lead to 4-0.
Beatrice wasn't done there. Jada Berke re-ignited the rally with a single and Karrigan Henrichs walked. Genna Dawson's RBI single made it 5-0. Tatum Tempelmeyer's two-RBI double extended the lead to 7-0.
In the top of the seventh, Boyko struck out the first two Thunderbolt hitters before a ground out ended the game.
Antons led the offense with a home run, a single, three RBI's and a run scored. Tempelmeyer had a double and two RBI's. Dawson had a single, an RBI and a run scored. Gleason and Schwisow had a single and a run scored each. Berke and Boyko had a single each.
Beatrice and Hastings both went undefeated in their bracket and will square off at 3:30 p.m. on Monday at Connie Claussen Field on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Hastings advanced by beating Blair 10-5 on Thursday.
Beatrice is looking for their fourth state championship in school history. They won three straight in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Beatrice's last appearance in the state championship game was in both 2018 and 2019.
Daily Sun sports editor
