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Last week it was the St. Mary's boys turn to try to prove th...

O'Neill Shamrocks Are 18U C State Champs


The O'Neill Shamrocks 18U softball team traveled to Lexington on July 20-22 to participate in the Class C State Softball Tournament and battled the 20 team field and brought the state championship trophy back to O'Neill.  The Shamrocks capped off an outstanding season with the gold medals and completed the season with a record of 34-8.

On Friday night, the Shamrocks opened play against a very good Fairbury Ice team that had won their first game Friday afternoon 16-2.  The Shamrocks came out strong in this game as they scored one run in the first inning and five more in the third inning to lead 6-0 after three innings of play. Toni Hamik's double in the first inning scored Dani Barelmann and the Rocks exploded in the third as Desi Pinkerman slammed a two-run home run over the left-center field fence and that was followed by hits from Hamik, Ryann Ickes and Carli Baseggio that led to the scoring explosion. Fairbury began to battle back with one run in the fourth, three in the fifth  and four more in the sixth to take an 8-7 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning for the Shamrocks final at-bat. The Shamrocks were able to get Barelmann on base but Fairbury made two great defensive plays. Things looked dim for the Shamrocks until Kelsey Appleby  belted a double off the wall in left field to plate Barelmann and tie the game at eight.  Appleby came in to score on a Toni Hamik game-winning double to right field.  Kaylee Krotter had shut down the Ice on the mound through the first four innings, but the Ice bats began to unthaw in the fifth and sixth and Kelsey Appleby came on in the sixth to halt the Fairbury rally and get the win on the mound.  Hamik went 3-4 at the plate to lead the Shamrocks while Barelmann and Pinkerman each had two hits.

In the 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon 100 degree heat, the Shamrocks faced Palmyra and dominated them with an 11-3 five inning victory. Palmyra's first two batters scored, but were shut down for the remainder of the game by Shamrock pitcher Kaylee Krotter.  In the bottom of the first inning, the Shamrocks scored six runs on six hits as the entire order batted through.  Speed and aggressive base-running on the base paths from the Shamrocks created problems for all the other teams the Shamrocks faced in the tournament. The Shamrocks tacked on five more runs in the third inning as Carli Baseggio and Jean Zak led off with singles and Barelmann walked and they were driven in on doubles from Desi Pinkerman and Toni Hamik and a Lindsey Appleby single. Krotter got the win on the mound and every Shamrock starter got a hit in a complete team effort.

On Saturday night, the Shamrocks faced a familiar foe in Albion and won an exciting game 5-4 in an eight inning game. The Shamrocks were in control for most of the game as they scored four runs in the second inning on big hits from Jessi Pongratz, Carli Baseggio, Desi Pinkerman and Kelsey Appleby.  Kaylee Krotter controlled the game on the mound for the Shamrocks as she held Albion to one run through six innings.  Krotter was aided as usual by a great defensive effort from the Shamrocks as the infield of L. Appleby and Jessi Pongratz at first, Yazmin Bentz at second, K. Appleby at shortstop and Pinkerman at third base, were the best infield in the tournament and continually made outstanding plays to aid the Shamrocks run to the title. Outstanding defensive plays were also made by the speedy outfield which consisted of Ryann Ickes and Carli Baseggio in left, Dani Barelmann in center, and Jean Zak, Marissa Miles and Breanna Jakubowksi in right.  Albion was able to plate three runs in the seventh to tie the game and scored one in the eighth to take the lead, but not before the never say die Shamrocks mounted their eighth inning rally. Baseggio was moved to third on a great sacrifice bunt from Bentz and then consecutive hits from Pinkerman and Appleby brought Hamik into the role of hero again as she belted a double to left-center to bring home Pinkerman and kept the Shamrocks in the winner's bracket going into Sunday.  K. Appleby went 4-5 to lead the Shamrocks at the plate, while Pinkerman went 3-5 and L. Appleby went 3-4.  Bentz, Pongratz, and Hamik each had two hits.  Krotter went the distance to get the win on the mound.

On Sunday, only two teams remained undefeated in the tournament and what a game they played. The Shamrocks were the guests against the Flames of Nebraska out of the Hastings/Kearney area. Things looked bad for the Shamrocks early as the Flames came out smoking in the hot Lexington weather. The Flames bats exploded for 10 first inning runs as the Shamrocks used pitchers Kaylee Krotter and Dani Barelmann before bringing in Kelsey Appleby to put out the Flames fire.  The inning consisted of 10 hits from the Flames as everything they hit fell into a hole or gap in the Shamrocks defense. Three second inning runs from the Shamrocks gave the team a little life as hits from Hamik, Pongratz, Ickes and Baseggio keyed the rally.  Kelsey Appleby then took control on the mound as she was able to shut down the Flames in the middle innings while the O'Neill bats heated up with six runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth to allow the Shamrocks to take back the lead at 14-11 going into the final at bat for the Flames.  The fourth and fifith inning explosions for the Shamrocks came about due to the never say die attitude of the entire team. Every player in the order contributed in these innings with hits, aggressive base running, sacrifice bunts and flys, walks, hit-by-pitches and stellar defense.  Marissa Miles double keyed the Shamrocks attack.  In the Flames final at bat they were able to score one run and had the bases loaded before K. Appleby induced a pop-up to Brooks Robinson (i.e. Desi Pinkerman) at third base to end the exciting comeback win for the Shamrocks.

The Flames battled back through the loser's bracket to meet the Shamrocks again in the title game.  The Flames would have to down the Shamrocks twice to claim the coveted title while the Shamrocks only needed one win to win the big trophy.  In game one, the Shamrocks sent Kelsey Appleby to the mound and the Flames were able to plate five runs in the first two innings. Due to some uncharacteristic miscues from the Shamrocks defense. The Rocks were steady throughout the rest of the game as they shut down the Flames. The Shamrocks offense began to chip away at the deficit. Three second inning runs were sparked by hits from Pongratz, Ickes, Bentz, and a double from Pinkerman.  In the seventh inning the Shamrocks nearly pulled off the comeback as consecutive hits from Pinkerman, K. Appleby, and Hamik scored a run to make it a one-run game, but the Shamrocks stranded runners at second and third to fall 5-4 to the Flames.  Pinkerman and Ickes each went 3-4 to lead the Shamrocks at the plate, while K. Appleby had two hits.

The Shamrocks were not to be denied in the final game as they came out determined both offensively and defensively.  Kaylee Krotter bounced back after a tough outing against the Flames in the first game of the day to dominate the Flames throughout.  Krotter's mental toughness on the mound was the key to the championship game victory.  Offensively, five runs were plated in the first three innings as hits were produced from the entire lineup of Barelmann, Pinkerman, K. Appleby, Hamik, Pongratz, Ickes, L. Appleby, Baseggio and Miles. The Flames scored two runs in the sixth inning to cut the lead to 5-3 heading into the final inning.  It looked like the Flames might cut it to 5-4 on a base hit to left field, but the runner was gunned out at the plate by Shamrock left fielder Carli Baseggio who threw a one-hop strike to catcher Toni Hamik who had great position in blocking the plate and applying the tag for the second out of the inning.  The final out was made as Jean Zak made a nice catch in right field to bring the title back to O'Neill again.  Pinkerman's bat stayed as hot as the summer sun as she again went 3-4 and every other Shamrock batter had at least one hit as the powerful Shamrock batting order was too tough for the rest of the Class C field.

This was the second straight 18U Class C Title to be brought back to O'Neill, as the O'Neill Heat captured the 2011 title in North Platte.  Shamrock players Desi Pinkerman, Kelsey Appleby  and Lindsey Appleby were members of both state championship teams.

The Shamrocks would also like to congratulate the O'Neill Mean Green on their Class C 14U state championship and to the O'Neill Green Machine for their third place finish in the Class B 16U Tournament.  Thank you to all of the parents, fans, and supporters for all of your help this season.

Team Members of this years squad were:  Dani Barelmann, Desi Pinkerman, Kelsey Appleby, Lindsey Appleby, Toni Hamik, Jessi Pongratz, Ryann Ickes, Carli Baseggio, Marissa Miles, Jean Zak, Breanna Jakubowski, Kaylee Krotter, and Yazmin Bentz.  The were coached by Amy Krotter and Greg Appleby.


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