Tidwell's three-hitter gives Kearney Catholic the Class C title

LINCOLN, Neb. — P. Tidwell threw a three-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts, and top-seeded Kearney Catholic beat No. 3 Bishop Neumann 3-0 for the Class C state softball championship Monday at Bowlin Stadium. The Stars finished the state tournament 4-0. They entered it 22-3.

How it went: Neither team scored through two innings. Kearney Catholic broke through with a run in the third and added two in the fifth for a 3-0 lead. Bishop Neumann put three runners on with hits and three more with walks but never got one home, and it left six on base.

In the circle: Tidwell went the distance on 113 pitches, 77 of them strikes, and faced 27 batters. She allowed three singles and three walks. A. Hraban, L. Sund and K. Choutka struck out twice each. It was Tidwell's second straight complete-game shutout. She threw a three-hitter with 13 strikeouts in Saturday's 6-0 win over Yutan/Mead.

At the plate: J. DeVall homered and drove in two runs. B. Huxoll went 2-for-3 with a triple, an RBI and a run. A. Cast and K. Ruyle doubled, and Ruyle scored a run. C. Damratowski and P. Adkisson added singles. Kearney Catholic had seven hits, drew no walks, made no errors and left four on base.

Bishop Neumann: I. Stuhr pitched six innings and took the loss. She allowed three runs on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts, on 76 pitches, and gave up DeVall's home run. A. Fujan, A. Furasek and Sund singled, and Fujan stole a base. R. Heller walked twice and Hraban once. The Cavaliers made no errors.

It is Kearney Catholic's first state softball title in NSAA's finals records, which list Class C champions back to 2001. The Stars were Class C runner-up in 2020.

Bishop Neumann reached the final unbeaten with wins over Fort Calhoun, Ashland-Greenwood and Hastings St. Cecilia. The Cavaliers won Class C in 2017, 2021 and 2024, and this is their fourth runner-up finish after 2015, 2018 and 2023, according to NSAA's finals history.

Line score

               1 2 3 4 5 6 7   R  H  E
Bishop Neumann 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   0  3  0
Kearney Cath.  0 0 1 0 2 0 X   3  7  0

Sources: NSAA official box scores, Class C, Saturday, Oct. 17, and Monday, Oct. 19, 2026 (via NSAA Softball Championships HQ); NSAA Class C bracket sheet (retrieved Oct. 19, 2026, 8:47 p.m. CT); NSAA softball state finals history.

Follow every score on the NEB Preps softball state tournament hub.

Open this Game Center → · Official NSAA box score (PDF) →

All-class state scores and brackets → · Class C bracket →