McCook Rebels National Champs!!!

HASTINGS -- The McCook Rebels 18 and under girls fastpitch softball team captured the Western National Championship at Hastings with a 7-1 record.

The Rebels lost their first game and won seven straight to bring a national title home to McCook.

Opening ceremonies took place on Monday evening. Pool play started on Tuesday.

There were 36 teams from eight states in the tournament. Eleven teams came from California. Other states represented were; Texas, Arizona, Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota, Wyoming as well as nine teams from Nebraska.

"They were good ball clubs that obviously had successful seasons in their own states and regions," said Rebels coach Mark Friehe, who was assisted by Scott Wacker. "We played exceptionally solid ball in all six games of tournament play giving up only two runs in the six games. This is a reflection on our strong defensive play by the entire team.

"We also hit very well as we didn't have a weak spot in the lineup. We traveled to the tournament with nine of our players from McCook and two pick-up players.

"Mary Hild from Kearney filled in as a substitute and a courtesy runner and ran the bases very well. Lindsey Stockwell from Geneva contributed as a substitute pitcher and had a number of key hits as a pinch hitter.

"We had a strong start in the tournament bracket play on Thursday and increased in intensity and strength throughout the tournament."

First pool play game-Tuesday

Rebels lost 3-2 to Southwest Extreme from Jackson Minnesota Lindsey Stockwell hit a double, Melissa Ankersen and Lindsey Dame each hit two singles, Natalie Brooks, Kassi Cunningham, Lisa Friehe, Kaitlin Powell, and Erica Reitz each hit one single.

The Rebels scored two in the bottom of the second inning. Shortstop Lindsey Dame singled and advanced to third on Lindsey Stockwell's double.

Dame and Mary Hild (who was courtesy running for pitcher Stockwell) both scored on Kassi Cunningham's single to right field.

SW Extreme scored one run in the first and two in the second inning.

Lindsey Stockwell and Lisa Friehe pitched with six strikeouts, seven hits and three walks.

"We had only one game in the two weeks prior to Nationals and we committed a number of key errors in this game," said Mark Friehe.

Second pool play game on Wednesday-

Won 3-2 beating Lodi Valley Heat, California.

Kaitlin Powell hit two singles, Second baseman Sunee Haney, Lindsey Dame and Lisa Friehe each hit a single.

The Rebels scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning.

Sunee Haney led off with a slap bunt single and advanced to second on a walk by Erica Reitz. Haney and Reitz advanced on Lisa Friehe's single.

Haney scored on Kaitlin Powell's RBI single and Reitz scored on Lindsey Dame's RBI single. With bases loaded, Lindsey Stockwell advanced to first on a walk scoring Mary Hild as a courtesy runner for pitcher Lisa Friehe.

Lodi Valley Heat scored two runs in the top of the first inning on a couple of errors.

Lisa Friehe pitched with eight strikeouts, four hits and one walk.

"We struggled in the first two innings of the game before we started playing solid defense," Mark Friehe said.

Thursday Tournament bracket play

Won 3-0 beating Ceres Sizzle from Central California. Lindsey Stockwell hit a double, Melissa Ankersen and Natalie Brooks each hit two singles, Kassi Cunningham, Whitney Korte, Kaitlin Powell, Erica Reitz and Lisa Friehe each hit a single.

Natalie Brooks started off the bottom of the third inning with a single to right field and advanced to second on Melissa Ankersen's right field single.

Both advanced on a bunt single by Erica Reitz.

Brooks and Ankersen scored on Lisa Friehe's RBI single. The third run came in the fifth inning when Erica Reitz reached first base when hit by a pitch and scored on an RBI double by Lindsey Stockwell.

Lisa Friehe pitched with nine strikeouts, no hits and no walks.

"We were playing solid defense in this first game of bracket play recording only one error," Mark Friehe said. "At this point we were also hitting well with 10 hits in the game.

Friday - second bracket play game,

won 1-0 beating Holdrege Heat.

Lisa Friehe hit three singles, Natalie Brooks hit two singles, Melissa Ankersen, Kaitlin Powell and Kassi Cunningham each hit a single.

The score was tied at zero in the bottom of the seventh when Kassi Cunningham drilled a hard hit ball to the shortstop who then over threw first.

This was followed by a second overthrow at second base as Kassi advanced through the bases for the only score of the game.

"This was a hard fought defensive game with no errors recorded by our Rebels," said the coach. "We played an excellent game and performance just got better as the tournament continued.

Friday - third bracket play game won 4 -1 beating SW Extreme from Jackson Minnesota.

Sunee Haney played a good game hitting three singles, Melissa Ankersen was explosive at the plate hitting a triple and a single, Kassi Cunningham, Lindsey Dame, Lindsey Stockwell and Lisa Friehe each hit a single.

Melissa Ankersen started off the top of the first inning with a triple to right field and scored on a bunt by Sunee Haney.

Ankersen reached first base on a walk in the top of the third and advanced on Sunee Haney's bunt. Both advanced on Erica Reitz's sacrifice bunt.

Ankersen scored on a wild pitch and Haney scored on a sacrifice hit by Lisa Friehe. Natalie Brooks singled in the top of the seventh and advanced to third on Melissa Ankersen's single and scored on Sunee Haney's RBI single.

Minnesota scored one run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Lindsey Stockwell and Lisa Friehe pitched with nine strikeouts, two hits and two walks.

Saturday - fourth bracket play game,

won 5-0 beating Cozad Classics. Melissa Ankersen continued her hitting streak with a triple and two singles. Whitney Korte was strong at the plate with three singles.

Lisa Friehe hit two singles, Natalie Brooks, Kassi Cunningham, Lindsey Dame, Kaitlin Powell, Erica Reitz and Lindsey Stockwell each hit a single.

In her second straight game, Melissa Ankersen led off the top of the first inning with a triple on the first pitch of the game and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Sunee Haney.

With two pitches into the game, McCook led 1-0. In the fourth inning, Kaitlin Powell singled and advanced to second on a sacrifice hit by Lindsey Dame and to third on Whitney Korte's single and scored on Natalie Brook's single.

Korte and Brooks advanced on an intentional walk on Melissa Ankersen.

Concerned with Ankersen's strong hitting, Cozad made the decision to load up the bases rather then risk another hit by Ankersen.

Lindsey Stockwell then stepped up to the plate and drove a two-RBI single through the middle of the infield scoring both Korte and Brooks.

The fifth run came in the top of the sixth when Ankersen singled and advanced on Sunee Haney's sacrifice bunt.

Ankersen advanced to third on Lisa Friehe's single and scored on a wild pitch.

Lisa Friehe pitched with four strikeouts, no hits and no walks.

"This was our most outstanding performance yet," Mark Friehe said. "We pounded out fourteen hits in the game and recorded a perfect game with no errors, no hits and no walks.

"This was due to the combined effort of our entire defense as Cozad made good contact with the ball at the plate. Our defense made a number of well executed plays to keep every hitter off the bases.

"At this point we were one of two undefeated teams left in the tournament."

Saturday - fifth bracket play game,

won 1-0 in 10 innings beating Imperial Valley Lady Tigers from Southern California, giving them their first loss. Melissa Ankersen, Natalie Brooks, Whitney Korte and Erica Reitz each hit a single. "Imperial Valley was our toughest opponent yet," said the coach. "Both teams played a flawless game and at the end of nine innings, the score was tied at zero."

In the top of the 10th, according to the international tiebreaker rule, Imperial Valley's second base runner attempted to advance to third and was tagged out by third baseman Natalie Brooks with the throw from pitcher Lisa Friehe after fielding a bunt and making the fielder's choice to third.

This was a key play in the game as Brooks fielded a hard hit grounder that was drilled by the next batter down the third base line and made the throw to first for the second out. Now with two outs and a runner who had advanced to second on the previous play, the second hit of the game was recorded with a line drive to left field.

With the runner advancing to third base and threatening to score, left fielder Whitney Korte made a play on the ball and brought a game saving throw to home plate to prevent the score.

First baseman Kaitlin Powell made the third out of the inning with an arm stretching catch on a foul ball at the fence.

In the bottom of the 10th, Sunee Haney started out on second base in accordance with the international tiebreaker rule and advanced to third successfully by sliding under the tag when the throw was made after Erica Reitz's bunt.

On the following pitch an overthrow by the catcher, in an attempt to pick off Haney at third, allowed her the opportunity to score the winning run. Lisa Friehe pitched with five strikeouts, two hits and one walk.

"This was another error free game played by our girls," Mark Friehe said. "A number of outstanding plays were executed in the game.

"The first recorded hit of the game was also a line drive to left field in the ninth inning and was brought home by Whitney Korte with a great throw to keep the tie breaker runner from reaching the plate.

"Imperial Valley was a strong hitting team and made a lot of contact with the ball. Lindsey Dame made a snowcone catch in deep infield territory behind shortstop.

"Dame and Sunee Haney made a number of plays on balls that could have otherwise been hits through the middle of the infield.

"Melissa Ankersen in center field and Kassi Cunningham in right field both covered a lot of territory in the outfield and quickly closed any potential gaps.

"Erica Reitz made a diving catch on a pop up at the foul line fence for a key out. Reitz's arm was well-respected as few attempts at steals to second base were made in the whole tournament.

"This was a key win as it put us in the championship game still undefeated.

Saturday-sixth bracket play game-

won 2-1 beating the Cozad Classics in eight innings after they battled their way back from the loser's bracket.

Erica Reitz hit three singles, Melissa Ankersen hit a double and a single, Natalie Brooks hit two singles, Kassi Cunningham, Sunee Haney and Lindsey Stockwell each hit a single.

"This was another classic defensive battle with the score tied at zero at the end of seven," said coach Friehe.

In the top of the eighth inning, Cozad scored on an overthrow giving them a one run advantage.

In the bottom of the eighth, tie breaker runner Mary Hild advanced to third on Natalie's Brooks bunt and scored on a double hit by Melissa Ankersen.

Brooks, having advanced to third on Ankersen's hit, was thrown out at home after a hit by Lindsey Stockwell.

Ankersen scored on Erica Reitz's RBI to right field for the winning run and the national championship.