Nebraska Storm 12-and-under team members include, from left: (kneeling) Katie Neal and Toni Stang; (middle) Delaney Schultz, Sid Marker, Kristin Rodenbaugh, Nicole Raatz, Bryanna Goldsmith, Katie Malone, Jess Svehla, Hannah Mullally, Audrey Beedle and Halle Holloway; and (back row) Coaches Ron Schultz, Mike Mullally and Steve Rodenbaugh.

    Overcoming an early four-run deficit, the Nebraska Storm 12-and-under fast pitch softball team rallied to a 6-5 win over the Denver-based Colorado Outlaws to take the championship of the Top of the Rockies Invite in Brecken-ridge, Colo., on June 3.
     The Storm reached the championship game on the strength of two earlier Sunday wins.
     In an 8-3 win over the Arvada, Colo., Lady Huskies, the Storm banged out seven hits, including a Delaney Schultz homer to left field, a first-inning double by Halle Holloway, and two-hit performances by Bryanna Goldsmith and Hannah Mullally.
     Katie Malone and Goldsmith held the Huskies to two hits with a combined eight strikeouts.
     The Storm next defeated the Denver-based Colorado Bullets 6-2.
     Schultz and Goldsmith combined to strike out eight Bullet batters, holding them to four hits over five innings. A three-run fourth inning was keyed by leadoff singles from Katie Neal and Holloway.
     Neal scored on a sacrifice bunt by Jess Svehla, with Holloway scoring off a one-out single from Mullally. Schultz followed up with an RBI single.
     In the championship game, the Outlaws jumped out to a first inning 4-0 lead on the strength of a one-out bases-loaded triple. The Storm rallied in the bottom of the first for two runs behind singles from Holloway, Mullally and Schultz.
     After threatening again in the top of the second, the Storm's Sidney Marker changed the momentum of the game when she threw out an Outlaw base runner at home from deep in left field.
     In the bottom of the fifth, the Storm used aggressive base running and scored three runs to take a 6-5 lead, keyed by a Schultz double, bunts from Kristin Rodenbaugh, Audrey Beedle and Neal and four Outlaw errors.
     Acrobatic back-to-back put-outs by Storm shortstop Toni Stang in the top of the sixth stemmed a late Outlaw rally. Goldsmith pitched a complete game, scattering seven hits while striking out seven.
     For the weekend, the Storm finished 5-1, with pool play wins over the Grand Junction Force and Denver Mystics, and a Saturday loss to the Outlaws.
     The wins improve their season record to 22-3-1 and represent the third championship win for Nebraska Storm this season. Earlier, they claimed the titles of the Beatrice Snowball Classic and the LYSA Open in Lincoln.
     Their next tournament action will be at the Columbus Fire & Ice Invite where they look to defend last year's title.