WAYNE – The Wayne High softball team brought home their fourth state championship trophy, first in Class B from the Smith Softball Complex in Hastings this past week.
After having won Class C titles in 2003 and 2004 as well as last year (2018), the Blue Devil softball team was looking to bring back Class B hardware for the first time in program history.
Wayne High qualified for the Class B state tourney with a 30-3 record earning the fourth-seed and made their 17th state tourney appearance in 18 program years.
WHS opened last Wednesday morning with a 4-0 win over #5 Hastings before topping #8 Seward (8-0/five innings). Thursday’s lone contest saw #2 Beatrice hold off Wayne, 1-0 to force the Blue Devils needing three wins on the final day. Moving into Friday, WHS did just that.
Wayne High started the day eliminating Seward (9-1/six innings) before defeating Beatrice 6-1 in the championship game. During the winner-take-all title contest, Wayne High used a three-run homerun in the top of the seventh to hold on for the 5-3 victory and Class B title with a 35-4 record. Beatrice picked up their eighth runner-up Class B finish.
Senior pitcher Tori Kniesche finished .625 at the plate with 10 hits, four being singles and six homeruns totaling 11 RBI and six runs scored (five homeruns/10 RBI on final day). Sophomore centerfielder Kendall Dorey followed with seven hits, being five singles, two homeruns and four RBI to go along with a team-high eight runs scored. Sophomore third baseman Aliah Schultz recorded the lone triple for one of her six hits (five singles), four RBI and two runs scored while sophomore catcher Hope O’Reilly added a three-run homerun making up one of her five hits, five RBI and three runs scored.
Senior second baseman Kayla Fleming (five hits/four runs scored) and freshman shortstop Brooklyn Kruse (four hits/two RBI/three runs scored) both tacked on a double each. Sophomore designated player Taytum Sweetland singled five times and drove in two runs scoring once; freshman courtesy runner Hailey Schroeder scored three times as sophomore left fielder/courtesy runner Virginia Kniesche and sophomore Amara Hurlbert scored once.
Tori Kniesche pitched all 38 innings going 5-1 allowing six runs (three earned) off 14 hits while striking out 87 batters, walking 14 and hitting two batters using 572 pitches (403 total strikes). She finished with an ERA of .553 giving up one homerun.
The defense also finished with a .962 fielding percentage with five errors, 113 putouts on 132 total chances (14 assists) and one double play.
A pep rally is scheduled at 3 p.m. recognizing the Wayne High softball team with their Class B championship title and Laura Hasemann qualifying for the Class C State Cross Country Championships.
Last year’s Class A runner-up team, #1 Papillion-LaVista topped the 2018 Class B champion, #2 Elkhorn (15-2/six innings) during the Class A title game while #1 Fairbury won the winner-take-all championship Class C contest over #2 GACC (6-5). The Bluejays won the first game 7-6.