Class A softball: Millard North, LSW lead Day 2 path to Lincoln

HASTINGS, Neb. — Last fall's Class A final will be on both sides of Thursday's winners bracket. No. 1 seed Millard North, the 2025 runner-up, and No. 2 Lincoln Southwest, the defending champion, both won Wednesday at the NSAA State Softball Championships. They are two of four Class A teams still unbeaten, alongside Millard West and Elkhorn South (NSAA Class A bracket sheet, retrieved Oct. 15, 2026).

Millard North made the quickest work of the opening round, beating No. 8 Elkhorn North 16-1 in three innings. Lincoln Southwest closed the day with a 14-6 win over No. 7 Lincoln East in five innings. The middle seeds needed every out. No. 4 Millard West edged No. 5 Papillion-La Vista 5-4, and No. 3 Elkhorn South outlasted No. 6 Omaha Westview 6-5 in eight innings.

That sets up two winners-bracket games. Millard North meets Millard West in Game 5, and Elkhorn South takes on Lincoln Southwest in Game 6. Both are set to start at 2:00 p.m. On the other side, Elkhorn North faces Papillion-La Vista and Omaha Westview meets Lincoln East in elimination games, where a second loss ends a season.

NSAA delayed Thursday's start after consulting the National Weather Service, and its bracket sheet now lists the first games at 2:00 p.m. (NSAA bracket sheet, retrieved Oct. 15, 2026, 12:10 p.m. CT). From there, games roll: each starts about 30 minutes after the previous one ends, with an abbreviated pregame of a 10-minute field warmup and a plate meeting. NSAA said any further changes will be posted on its social media and nsaahome.org (NSAA weather update, Oct. 14, 2026).

Lincoln Southwest won the 2025 title by beating Millard North 4-2 in the final at Bowlin Stadium in Lincoln on Oct. 20, 2025 (NSAA softball finals history; NSAA 2025 finals recap, both retrieved Oct. 12, 2026). This year the two are seeded 1 and 2.

The tournament is double elimination, and the champion will be decided in Game 15 on Monday, Oct. 19, at Bowlin Stadium in Lincoln, with Class C at noon, Class B at 3:30 p.m. and Class A at 7:00 p.m. (NSAA Softball Championships HQ, retrieved Oct. 14, 2026). NSAA HQ also lists brackets, GoFan tickets and NFHS Network webcasts.

Sources: NSAA Class A bracket sheet, retrieved Oct. 15, 2026; NSAA weather update, Oct. 14, 2026; NSAA softball finals history and NSAA 2025 finals recap, both retrieved Oct. 12, 2026; NSAA Softball Championships HQ, retrieved Oct. 14, 2026. Innings are noted only where NSAA's results data marks them.

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