Millard North rolls past Millard West, stays unbeaten

HASTINGS, Neb. — Top-seeded Millard North stayed unbeaten at the Class A state softball tournament, beating No. 4 Millard West 9-1 in six innings in Game 5 on Friday at the Bill Smith Softball Complex. The Mustangs, who entered the tournament 30-4, move on to Saturday's Game 11 at 10:00 a.m. on Field #2 against Lincoln Southwest, one win from Monday's state final. Millard West dropped to the elimination bracket and stayed alive later Friday, beating Lincoln East 5-3.

How it went: Millard North scored once in the first inning. Millard West tied it 1-1 in the top of the fourth on C. Ahrens' solo home run, the Wildcats' only run. Millard North answered right away with three runs in the bottom of the fourth for a 4-1 lead. It ended the game with five runs in the bottom of the sixth, reaching the eight-run margin that stops a game early.

At the plate: A. Beard homered and drove in two runs, going 1-for-3 with a walk. J. Pokorny went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a walk, and T. Kampbell drove in three more. L. Paulson went 3-for-3 with three singles, scored twice and stole a base. M. Closman reached three times, on a hit, a walk and a hit-by-pitch, and scored twice. Millard North finished with eight hits and four walks, was hit by three pitches and made no errors.

In the circle: J. Severson pitched all six innings for the win, allowing one run on five hits with six strikeouts and no walks. She needed 93 pitches, 64 of them strikes, and faced 24 batters. Ahrens' homer was the only extra-base damage besides A. Burdorf's double. Burdorf went 2-for-3, the only Wildcat with two hits.

L. Garcia took the loss for Millard West. She went five innings and allowed eight runs (seven earned) on seven hits, with three walks, four strikeouts and three hit batters, on 110 pitches. K. Hayduck faced two batters in the sixth. Millard West made one error and left five on base.

Millard North won its opener 16-1 in three innings over Elkhorn North. Millard West, which entered 25-6, had edged Papillion-La Vista 5-4 on Wednesday.

Line score

              1 2 3 4 5 6   R  H  E
Millard West  0 0 0 1 0 0   1  5  1
Millard North 1 0 0 3 0 5   9  8  0

Sources: NSAA official box scores, Class A, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026 (posted 8:45 p.m. CT, via NSAA Softball Championships HQ); NSAA Class A bracket sheet, retrieved Oct. 16, 2026, 9:48 p.m. CT. Innings are noted only where NSAA's results data marks them.

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