Neligh 12 & Under Girls Compete In State Softball Tourney

Back row (l to r) Coach Jill McNally, Skylar Long, Trinity Kurpgeweit, Paige Furstenau, Brooke Frey, Claire Whitesel, Teegan Kennedy and Coach Larissa Funk. Front row (l to r) Kaylee Ramold, Vanessa Parra, Sydney Olson and Emma Boggs.

The Neligh 12 & Under girls competed in the Class D Fast Pitch State Softball Tournament last weekend in Hastings.

Neligh played the West Point Stars in first round action on Friday night. West Point defeated them 10-4. Neligh dropped into the loser's bracket to face Lawrence on Saturday morning. Neligh came up short in a high-scoring 19-12 contest. That afternoon, York Fusion Gold eliminated Neligh from the tournament, 11-1. 

Team members are Skylar Long, Trinity Kurpgeweit, Paige Furstenau, Brooke Frey, Claire Whitesel, Teegan Kennedy, Kaylee Ramold, Vanessa Parra, Sydney Olson and Emma Boggs. They were coached by Jill McNally and Larissa Funk.

"These girls are a group that you dream of having as a coach," Coach McNally said. "At the end of the season it's not the wins and losses that change you as a person, but those moments that you didn't know if you could do something and then you do it. This team gets the bigger picture, and that is something you can't coach."

Coach Funk said she was "very proud of all the hard work" by her team. 

"This is the first time any of those girls have experienced state and they represented Neligh very well," she said.