The Wakefield 12-and-under softball team finished up its season at the Nebraska Fastpitch Class D State Championship in Hastings from Friday, July 12 through Sunday, July 14.
After fighting their hardest through the double-elimination tournament, the Trojans finished with a 1-2 record and tied for 13th place.
In their most recent matchup, Wakefield saw its season come to an end against the Elgin Eliminators on Saturday, July 13 at 12:30 p.m.
This was the squads first game of the day on Saturday, and despite their best efforts, the Eliminators were simply too much to handle.
As the away team, Wakefield got out to a solid start in the contest with a run right away in the top of the first to make the score 1-0.
Unfortunately, that would be the team’s only lead of the contest.
Immediately, Elgin managed to respond in the bottom of the first with three runs of their own to take the lead for good.
Despite Wakefield continuing to play well offensively, there was simply nothing that could be done to stop the red-hot Elgin offense.
Wakefield scored two more runs in the second inning, but Elgin hit back with a five-run third inning to put the game on ice. When the final out was recorded, Elgin had earned a 10-6 victory, which ended Wakefield’s season.
Prior to their season-ending loss to Elgin, Wakefield got its only victory of the state tournament the evening before, on Friday, July 12 at 8:00 p.m. against the Ralston Rampage.
In the loser-goes-home contest between Wakefield and Ralston, Wakefield wanted it more, and that showed from the get-go.
Out of the gate it was clear that Wakefield’s bats had come to play. In a show-stopping first inning, Wakefield batted all the way through its lineup to score seven runs and show Ralson that they came to play.
After holding Ralston scoreless in their half of the first inning, Wakeifeld refused to let their foot off the gas. The Trojans scored two more runs in the second and three more in the third to cement a 12-0 victory and advance to day two of the tournament against Elgin.
Prior to their victory against Ralston, Wakefield kicked off its state tournament appearance with a matchup against Waverly on Friday, July 12 at 2:00 p.m.
Wakefield got things started off hot with three runs in the first but was immediately slapped back by Waverly with six runs of their own to take a 6-3 lead in the second.
Fortunately, Wakefield’s bats remained hot. In the top of the second inning, Wakefield managed four more runs of their own to regain the lead 7-6. However, once again their lead didn’t last long.
In the bottom of the second, Waverly exploded with another eight runs to regain the lead 14-7, this time, their lead lasted for good.
With both teams scoring such a plethora of runs, the time limit rang in the top of the third inning, which meant if Wakefield was unable to take the lead in the top of the third, they would receive their first loss of the state tournament.
Wakefield showed grit in the top of the third and managed to plate three more runs, but that was all they could manage. Soon after their third run scored, Waverly got the final out to end the game early by a final score of 14-10.
This loss sent Wakeifeld down to the loser’s bracket, where it went on to defeat Ralston before losing to Elgin to end its season. Both Waverly and Elgin continued on in the tournament to finish inside the top five.
With their 1-2 13th-place finish at the 2024 Class D 12 and Under State Tournament, the Lady Trojan’s season has officially come to a close.