Class B Saturday: Gretna and Gretna East set up all-Gretna final

HASTINGS, Neb. — Class B needed three games on Saturday at the Bill Smith Softball Complex to settle its final, and it ended with two schools from the same town. Gretna stayed unbeaten, and Gretna East won the if-necessary Game 12 after losing Game 11. The two meet for the state title in Game 15 at 3:30 p.m. Monday at Bowlin Stadium in Lincoln.

Game 11: No. 2 Hastings beat top-seeded Gretna East 5-3, handing the Griffins their first loss of the tournament. Hastings scored three in the first and two in the third for a 5-1 lead. G. Ostrander homered and drove in three runs, B. Rutt drove in two, and E. Tinsman pitched a complete game.

Game 13: No. 3 Gretna beat No. 4 Northwest 4-3, scoring the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Gretna led 3-0 after one inning, and Northwest tied it with two runs in the fifth. N. Boozikee homered and drove in three, and T. Rupiper pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts.

Game 12: Gretna East beat Hastings 5-3 in the rematch. The Griffins scored four in the first, and Hastings got no closer than two runs after the fourth. K. Hinerman homered for the second straight game, and A. Bachman homered and drove in three. B. Beyer pitched her second complete game of the day.

A long day in the circle: Beyer threw 99 pitches in Game 11 and 98 in Game 12, 197 in all over 14 innings. Tinsman threw 101 and 103, for 204. Each pitched every inning of both games for her team. Tinsman threw a no-hitter against Crete on Friday, and Beyer went the distance against Northwest.

Eliminated Saturday: Hastings, playing in its home city, entered the tournament 26-4 and went 3-2 at state. Northwest, the defending Class B champion, entered 22-3 and went 2-2. Northwest won last year's title 4-3 over Beatrice, according to NSAA's finals history.

The finalists: Gretna entered the tournament 22-5 and is 3-0 at state, beating Skutt Catholic 11-6, Hastings 2-1 in eight innings and Northwest 4-3. Gretna East entered 25-4 and is 3-1, with wins over Beatrice (18-9, six innings), Northwest (9-3) and Hastings (5-3). Both finalists beat Northwest. Gretna is 1-0 against Hastings at this tournament, and Gretna East split two games with the Tigers.

NSAA's finals history lists two titles for Gretna: Class B in 2015 and Class A in 2024. It lists no earlier final for Gretna East.

Sources: NSAA official box scores, Class B, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026 (via NSAA Softball Championships HQ); NSAA Class B bracket sheet (bracket sheets retrieved Oct. 17, 2026, 9:37 p.m. CT); NSAA softball state finals history. Innings are noted only where NSAA's results data marks them.

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