HASTINGS — “It was a great weekend!”
Those were the words Coach Jill McNally used to sum up the Elgin Eliminators 10U softball team winning the Class D State Tournament in Hastings.
Elgin strung together five victories over a three-day span to win the championship, making memories which will last the rest of their lives.
They won with offense – scoring 44 runs in the tournament.
They won with defense – allowing just six runs in five games.
They shut out teams from O’Neill, Geneva and York in their first three games.
They finished the tournament with back-to-back victories over Central City.
They won games when the outcome was never in doubt.
And, they won the championship game in their final at-bat.
“We never played from behind (the entire tournament),” McNally told The Elgin Review Monday morning.
Having taken teams to state before, she said this year’s team had a focus unlike any other. “We just played game by game to win the tournament,” she said.
The Eliminators opened the tournament against a familiar foe from O’Neill. Having posted multiple victories over them earlier in the season, Elgin never let O’Neill into the game, posting a 12 to 0 victory.
Next up on Saturday was a talented team from Geneva. Again, the Eliminators dominated play both on the field and at-bat, winning 12 to 0.
Also on Saturday, Elgin squared off against York, winning the game five to zero.
Kinley Selting was a standout on the mound, time and time again hitting her spots in the zone to record strikeouts. She wrapped up the tournament with 39 strikeouts.
“One of the strengths of our team was Kinley to pitch in the zone that it is called,” McNally. Her battery mate behind home plate was Brooke Borer who didn’t allow one run to cross the plate via a passed ball for the entire tournament.
“She was a wall,” McNally said of her star catcher.
Sunday began with a semi-final round matchup against Central City.
The Eliminators, playing true to form, just kept scoring runs. This time they piled up 12 in a 12 to 2 victory.
As fate would have it, they would face Central City again in the championship game.
This time it would be a different story as Central City kept the game close.
….see more at this week’s Elgin Review.
