Meet the OrthoNebraska Athlete of the Week: NEN's Allie Rutar

Our OrthoNebraska Athlete of the Week winner is Allie Rutar of NEN.

Congrats to Allie, who achieved the honor after going 6-for-7 in one day of subdistrict softball play, slamming three home runs and seven RBIs to help the Vipers advance past Pierce and Yutan/Mead.

"It definitely means a lot and it shows that what I'm doing is getting recognized which also feels really great," said Rutar on the achievement.

Rutar would go on to help NEN punch its ticket to the Class C state tournament with a 21-17 win over Kearney Catholic in the winner-take-all game three of the C-7 district final.

The junior catcher says the Vipers' fan support was a key part to their comeback against the Stars.

"They were in the stands, cheering really loud, doing all those fun cheers together which really brought all of our spirits up even if we were down a little bit at times," said Rutar.

Rutar attends Pender High School along with her freshman sister Karlie, both of whom were tops on the team in hitting this season. The Northeast Nebraska team is made up of girls from around the Pender and Wisner-Pilger areas.

NEN coach Clay Haymart says Rutar is deserving of this week's award because of her tenacious work ethic.

"Allie's put in a tremendous amount of work in the cage and the weight room...she's continually working to get better and improve not only for herself but for her teammates," said Haymart.

The Vipers face Wahoo Neumann in Class C first-round action at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in Hastings. Rutar says her team is ready for the state tournament challenge.

"We're going to focus on competing and working hard and trying to extend our season as long as we can."