Northwest is heading back to the state softball tournament in Hastings with a target on its back and with its eyes on a trip to Omaha.

'Everybody's going to be gunning for us," Northwest coach Mitch Sadd said. "We're going to go out and try and go get that three-peat, but it's going to be tough. There's some tough teams there, we're going to have to play good ball all the way around from pitching to defense to hitting and just keep doing what we've been doing."

The Vikings have won the last two Class B state championships and have gone to state the past five seasons.

On Wednesday Class B No. 1 Northwest (Omaha World-Herald) starts the 2024 state tournament at 9 a.m. against Lincoln Pius X on Field 1 at the Bill Smith Softball Complex. It's also the No. 1 seed in the Class B state tournament.

Last season Northwest started its run with a loss and had to take the long route to the state championship, something Sadd is hoping to avoid.

"We're going to scout them hard. We'll have all the pitches we're going to throw, all their tendencies," Sadd said. "It's just going to be us staying consistent like we are and I think the rest will take care of itself."

As a team Northwest has a batting average of .432, has 325 hits with 60 doubles and 55 home runs. It's something that Sadd recognized being different about this team as opposed to the past two state champion squads.

"I don't know that I've ever had a group hit so consistently with power with any pitcher," Sadd said.

Northwest heads to state with a 29-2 record. The two losses came to Aurora in the regular season and to Hastings in the subdistrict final where it pitched its junior varsity pitchers.

Along the way it beat other state qualifiers in Class A teams Papillion-LaVista and Bellevue East, Class B teams Hastings, Scottsbluff, Gretna East and Beatrice. Northwest also played Class C state qualifier Hastings St. Cecilia.

The tough schedule was by design.

"I go back to when I first started, when I went and talked to the ADs' I said 'we need to toughen up our schedule,' especially early on, give us those tougher games," Sadd said. "Getting those big games in is a factor to how you end the season."

The Vikings have four seniors on the roster in Reyse Zobel, Kyra Ray, Ava Smith and Liliana Martinez. All but Martinez have been at Northwest the past four years.

"Those four have stepped up every step of the way and their leadership this year has been huge, that some of our younger girls, just taking them under their wings and making sure they're doing the things we need to have done," Sadd said.

Zobel has been one of Northwest's most consistent and powerful bats in the lineup. Zobel, the returning All-Heartland Super Squad captain, has 14 home runs on the year and 44 in a high school career. Her .561 average is the best on the team and he has 37 hits.

Oh, and she missed six games near the end of the season.

"I think her seeing the ball right now has got to be like a watermelon coming to her because no matter where they pitch her she can just hit it with power," Sadd said. "I pitch to her and I kind of duck sometimes because the ball is coming off her back so stinking hot."

Junior Laiken Dorsey has had a great year at the plate. As a sophomore her at-bats were limited but took on a bigger role in the five spot this season. She has .524 average in 95 plate appearances and has 44 hits, just behind Ray who has 47. Dorsey also has nine home runs and two triples on the year.

"In the offseason her and I worked pretty hard and then with her coaches, other coaches she worked hard," Sadd said. "It's great because she's turned herself around and she's hitting the ball so well and seeing the ball well. It's been a great year for her hitting wise and we just need her to stay on."

In the circle for most of the season has been freshman Graclyn Simmons. She boasts a record of 20-1 and an ERA of 1.44.

"The thing that I love about her is we get our scouting reports done, we talk about it and stuff like that. And with the way she pitches she can put it in spots that I like and where we need it," Sadd said. "With her hitting her spots and spinning the ball like she is and the speed she has, it's just been a great attribute to this team."

To accomplish their goal of a third state title Sadd said it comes down to staying in the moment.

"That's been our philosophy this whole year is one game at a time, one day at a time," Sadd said. "You can't look too far ahead, I mean our goal is to win it again, but you've got to win the games to get there."

Hastings (28-7)

The Hastings Tigers are more than comfortable playing at the Bill Smith Softball Complex. It's where they call home and have plenty of experience playing there for the state tournament.

"Hastings is just a great place to host just because we can accommodate so many needs," Hastings coach Blake Marquardt said. "It just seems like a great middle ground for all classes and obviously I have a bias towards our complex but I do think it's top tier and it's just fun to play at."

Hastings is making its 12th appearance at state and its ninth in the past 10 seasons. It's the No. 4 seed and will play at 9 a.m. Wednesday against No. 5 seed Scottsbluff (22-11) on Field 4.

"It's key to win your first two games. Winning game one is big just to stay in that winner's bracket and hopefully your pitcher's pitch count is down," Marquardt said. "The new bracket you gotta win your side of the bracket to get to Monday, so the first ones can be crucial."

Heading into the state tournament Hastings has won nine-straight games.

"We feel like our bats are starting to come alive. When you get into state you don't expect to produce maybe as many runs as we have lately just because you're going to see the top eight teams and some of the best pitchers and the best defenses that the state has to offer," Marquardt said.

Hastings has six seniors on its team. One is University of North Dakota commit Grayce Beck.

The senior catcher has a batting average of .465 with 40 hits and 14 home runs on the season.

"Offensively she's been a rock star for us, is someone that's produced home runs, and an average and she gives us jolts of energy," Marquardt said.

Another big bat in the Tigers lineup is Brooke Ochsner. She leads the team in hits with 47 and has a batting average of .431.

"She does extremely well against high level pitchers and you feel like in any situation she can go and produce a hit or an RBI and if you need her to lay down a bunch she'll do that," Marquardt said. "She'll do whatever it takes to produce runs."

Hastings ace is freshman Ella Tinsman. She has four no hitters on the season and boasts a record of 20-2.

"You never know what you're going to get sometimes when you put freshmen in those big moments. But Ella has exceeded my expectations for those big moments," Marquardt said. "She plays at a high level throughout the season and she's been practicing and training for these big moments."

The goal for Hastings is to win its first softball state championship. For that to happen, Marquardt said that a combination of things will have to happen.

"It's going to take the collective team to come together at the right time. You probably even have to catch a break here and there," Marquardt said. "With your pitchers you're going to make sure they're staying fresh for the big games. And situationally, offensively you have to be able to produce in the right moments. Because you get in some of these big games, teams are not going to give you a lot of opportunities and so you've got to be successful in each opportunity they give you."

Class C

Hastings St. Cecilia (27-3)

The Hastings St. Cecilia softball team has been rolling this season and are back at the state tournament for the sixth straight year.

"Our girls have worked hard all season to have this opportunity to play at the state tournament in our home town," St. Cecilia coach Ryan Ohnoutka said. "Our schedule really helped us out this year to get the necessary power points to be that No. 1 seed. We put ourselves in a good position and we're going to be ready to go."

St. Cecilia is the No. 1 seed in Class C and will start its state tournament run at 11:30 a.m., Wednesday on Field 1 at the Bill Smith Softball Complex against Aquinas Catholic (20-13).

The Hawkettes have lost just three times all season, but their district final games weren't the most glamorous pair of victories of the season.

"I like the way we're playing. We stumbled a little bit in that first game of the district final. We were down 7-2 and we had six outs to go and we found ourselves having to crawl back and to come from behind in that game. Our girls did it, they stepped up," Ohnoutka said. "We didn't have a single home run for most of that day until Brooke Bohlke hit one in game two that put us up 10 runs."

Part of what's led to the St. Cecilia's success is having experienced players. There are 10 upperclassmen on the team, many of which have state experience.

"It's such an advantage because it feels like the games are a lot different in the state tournament, but in reality it's just another game," Ohnoutka said. "I think back to our first couple years when we made the state tournament that the moment was kind of bigger for us that we weren't prepared for. Our girls are very experienced and they know what to expect in the state tournament."

One of those experienced players is senior catcher Abby Musalek. She's hitting .419 on the season with 36 hits and 10 home runs.

"It's great having her in that spot. She's come up big for us this year too," Ohnoutka said. "Probably the biggest hit of the year was, she hit the game-winning hit against Milford to put the exclamation point on that final win on Friday. It's nice having her at that spot with the power she has."

Kyler Weidner leads the Hawkettes in hits with 39 with a .448 batting average.

"She's really turned it on, the last about three weeks she's really come around," Ohnoutka said. "She's really comfortable with the plate right now and she also does a good job knowing the strike zone. She's the fastest girl on our team, so if she gets on that's really big for us."

From the circle for most of the season has been junior Audrey Rossow. She has a record of 25-3 and an ERA of 3.21.

"She's been one of our pitchers since she was a freshman and so she's pitched a ton of innings already in her career and she's already pitched quite a few games in the state tournament," Ohnoutka said. "We have a lot of belief in Audrey and we believe that she's going to step up for us this year in the tournament."

It's not just those three that have had an impact on the game for the Hawkettes and Ohnoutka made sure to mention two more key players.

"Brooke Bohlke... she leads us in batting average, but she was a girl that made a huge jump from last year and I would say she's probably one of our most improved players on the year," Ohnoutka said. "The other one is Avery Kissinger... she kind of started the year off cold and then she made some adjustments and she was our nine hole hitter and then I finally made the decision to move her up in the lineup pretty late in the season, but she's done a great job at the plate."

St. Cecilia has been unable to capture the elusive state championship but that's it's goal this season and the journey for it starts on Wednesday.

"The goal is to win state, easier said than done," Ohnoutka said. "I just believe Wednesday is the biggest day of the state tournament. You got to go out there and put yourself in a position to hopefully go 2-0 on that day."