Less than 24 hours after striking out 22 Grand Island Central Catholic Crusaders, Blair High School ace pitcher Brooke Janning sat with her sister and a friend at a local coffee shop Saturday morning.
Given some time to think about the Class B No. 2 Bears' third-straight district finals win, the senior gave her thoughts on a third-straight NSAA State Softball Championships qualification. BHS returned just two starters from last fall's state runner-up team, but responded with a 29-7 record and another chance to capture a Class B title this season. The state tourney starts 9 a.m. Wednesday in Hastings.
“With such a new team, everything was changing. Our lineup wasn't consistent. It was a lot of new starters this year,” Janning said. “But, throughout the year, everyone proved themselves. We did a great job coming together as a team.”
Blair coach Jennifer Fangmeier said as much a few hours after the Bears outscored the Crusaders 19-0 across two District 2 Finals series games Friday afternoon.
“The bar is high and these girls are reaching it every game,” she said.
Back at the coffee shop, though, Janning revealed how she and her teammates always felt this is what they were going to do.
“I think we all kind of knew from the start that we were going to be a dominant team again,” she said. “It was great to kind of show the community that we were still Blair Bear softball.”
Coach Fangmeier said that was her team's objective was Friday against GICC.
“We wanted to play Blair ball,” she noted after the Bears' back-to-back, 10-0 and 9-0 victories.
The series started with a 4-0 first-inning at the Youth Sports Complex. Janning struck out the first three batters she faced before sophomores Laynie Brown and Emmi Hall hit homers during the bottom half. Brown's leadoff home run was the first of her career, while Hall's plated three runs altogether.
Later, during the third inning, BHS' Regan Blattert pushed her team's lead to 5-0 with a single.
Janning's RBI double during the fourth frame gave the Bears a 6-0 advantage, too, before Mia McClain scored on a passed ball. Jacy Schueth's two-run homer over the right field fence extended the lead to 9-0 before Abby Leggott's single ended the game by run-rule.
Janning struck out 11 of the 12 batters she faced in the opener, pushing Blair to 1-0 district finals start.
“She's locked in,” Fangmeier said, noting her senior pitcher's intensity against the Crusaders.
The Bears' overall success extended into the second, 9-0 victory in five innings. London Larsen and Alayna Welte scored first-inning runs before Janning blasted a three-run homer for an 8-0 lead in the fourth.
“It was gone, gone,” Fangmeier said.
Blair added another run and won, celebrating another state qualification. Its coach said Janning and her catcher, Schueth, stood out for their play together, while also noting the contributions of Leggott and Taytum Macholan's tough catch in the outfield against GICC.
It was two clean wins all the way through. The Bears focused and didn't waiver.
Janning said postseason games just feel different.
“But we have unfinished business, so the goal was just to make it back to state,” she said, elaborating further. “Make it back to Omaha and then do our job.”
To get back to the Omaha Mavs' Connie Clausen Field on Oct. 21 for the Class B championship game, though, Blair first has to earn at least three wins in Hastings at the Bill Smith Softball Complex. It's what the Bears intend to do, starting Wednesday, even if the roster looks different than the last time they accomplished it.
“It's a different team, but the same mentality,” Fangmeier said, speaking for her coaching staff and the players. “We're there to win everything.”
BHS SOFTBALL LINE SCORES
Friday
No. 2 Blair 9, Grand Island Central Catholic 0, 5 inn.
GICC (17-15) 0 0 0 0 0 — 0
BHS (29-7) 2 1 2 4 X — 9
No. 2 Blair 10, Grand Island Central Catholic 0, 4 inn.
GICC (17-14) 0 0 0 0 — 0
BHS (28-7) 4 0 1 5 — 10
