The Spirit of the Sandhills softball tournament took place over the weekend in Broken Bow with games played at the Melham Softball complex and at Tyke Arnold Field. Over 30 teams competed across four age divisions.
The Broken Bow Spirit 18U team opened the tournament Friday evening with a 9-2 win over Western Nebraska Chaos 9-2. The Spirit fell behind 2-0 but then scored 9 runs in the third inning to pull away. Alexis Pflaster and Hallie Meyer were each 2 for 2 with 2 RBI. The Spirit concluded pool play on Saturday by shutting out the Lady Rebels 15-0 in two innings. Lily Thornton threw two perfect innings in the circle with two strikeouts to pick up the win. Alexis Pflaster was 2 for 3 with 2 doubles, 3 runs scored and 4 RBI. In their opening game of bracket play on Sunday, the Spirit fell to the Dannebrog Sentinels 8-7. Bow trailed 8-1 but scored six runs in what would be their final at bat in the bottom of the fourth but fell one run short of tying the game. Ida Bumgarner was 3 for 3 including a solo homerun. The loss dropped Broken Bow down to the consolation bracket where they faced the Lady Rebels for the second time in the tournament. The Spirit trailed early but scored 7 runs in the second inning as they claimed a 7-3 win. Lily Thornton was 2 for 2 at the plate with a double, a triple, a run scored and 2 RBI. Broken Bow then faced the Sandhills Twisters in the consolation bracket final. The Spirit scored ten runs in their first at bat on their way to an 11-2 win. Lily Thornton picked up the win in the circle giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and striking out 2. Thornton was also 3 for 3 at the plate with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI. The Spirit finished third in the tournament and are now 16-15 on the season. The 16/18U winners bracket champion was Havoc 18U.
The Spirit had two teams in the 10U division. The Spirit Blue fell to Cozad Classics (11-0) and Prodigy (14-0) in pool play. The Spirit White went 1-1 in pool play falling to Hastings Bombers (14-0) and winning over the Sandhills Storm (8-7). The Spirit Blue and Spirit White played each other in the consolation bracket on Sunday. The White team prevailed in a high scoring and exciting game 12-11. The Spirit White advanced to play the Cozad Classics Red where they would end the tournament with an 11-2 win. The 10U winners bracket champion was the Hastings Bombers.
The Broken Bow Spirit 14U team started 0-2 in pool play falling to Cozad Classics 11-1 and falling to Hastings Bombers 7-3. The Spirit faced the Lincoln Rockets in the consolation bracket on Sunday winning 11-1. The Spirit then faced Fearless falling by a score of 16-4. The 14U winners bracket champion was the Hastings Bombers.
