The Red team edged the Blue team July 26 during the Nebraska Coaches Association (NCA) All-Star Softball Game in Lincoln, 4-2.
Recent Blair graduate Tessa Villotta and Bears coach Jennifer Fangmeier represented the Blue squad at the Nebraska Cornhuskers' Bowlin Stadium.
“Everyone, Red and Blue team, we all just came to have fun and play loose,” Villotta said after starting at first base. “So, the whole two days was so much fun.”
The BHS all-stater went 0-for-1 at the plate with a flyout to centerfield. She was hit by a pitch, too, reaching first and then second base during the fifth inning.
The Blue team, however, fell short after falling behind 3-0 during the first frame. It scored one run apiece during the second and fifth innings, but watched as the Red scored its fourth run during the top of the sixth.
Due to sweltering temperatures, the all-star teams took extended breaks in-between innings. When the Blue squad hit, Fangmeier, who led the team alongside Omaha Marian's Chad Perkins, coached from first base.
Other Eastern Midlands Conference softball players participating in the NCA game were Bennington's Abi Brown and Reese Smith, and Emma Hague and Jordyn Rochholz of Elkhorn. The event was televised on Nebraska Public Media.
“It's crazy that I'm done playing, but it's kind of a relief at the same time,” Villotta said after the game. “I've been playing this sport for all of my life and it's kind of good that I'm going to be done for a little bit.”
At one time a University of South Dakota softball signee, the Blair grad is now excited to join the University of Nebraska-Omaha cheer team with classmate Hayen Bosanek. She's not quite done with her glove and swinging a bat, though.
“It's definitely not out of my life forever,” Villotta said.
Blair teams play 'Freshman' tourney
Two Blair teams played during The Freshman State Softball Tournament in Lincoln during the weekend.
The Blair Purple and Blair White lineups were set to start pool play Friday at the Doris Bair Softball Complex. Play then continued through Sunday.
The White team competed in a pool with Raymond Central, Ashland-Greenwood and CCV, while the Purple squad faced Freeman, Elkhorn and Ralston.
The Freshman Tourney, which allows players ready to start 10th, ninth and eighth grade to play, started in 1994. Games were once played on the Blair Youth Softball Association fields before it ended up in Lincoln.
