SCORE UPDATE:
Hastings St. Cecilia 9, Centennial 6 (Aug. 22)
Kearney Catholic 22, Centennial 3 (Aug. 22)
Columbus Lakeview 11, Centennial 1 (Aug. 25)
After struggling in its jamboree game Aug. 15, the Centennial softball team took steps forward Aug. 20.
The Broncos opened the season with a triangular in Wahoo against Bishop Neumann and Fillmore Central/Exeter-Milligan/Friend.
Although CHS came up short in both games, Coach Tori Homolka was pleased with the improvements she saw.
“A lot of kids bought into what we needed to fix,” she said.
She was happy to see the Centennial pitchers work out of jams and the team not roll over when the going got tough.
“It’s about improvement,” she said.
Centennial started the day with a 9-6 loss to Bishop Neumann. BN scored six runs in the first inning to take a 6-3 lead.
“It’s hard to play comeback all game,” Homolka said.
Ava Fischer hit a home run for the Broncos in the game and drove in four runs during the game. Savannah Horne was 2-3 with a double, as well.
Homolka said the team brought good energy and was ready to play when game two rolled around. CHS scored six in the first to put FCEMF on the ropes, but the Panthers put up seven runs in the fourth and won the game 9-7.
The team did a better job communicating, Homolka said, and that helped them play better.
On defense, Eliza Timmerman played a solid two games at shortstop, and Kenzie Steckly made some key plays at first base, the coach said.
Homolka said the team sets milestones for each game. One of them for the weekend was to commit less than three errors per game. CHS achieved that with two errors in each game.
A key for the Broncos will be pitching and not allowing too many easy opportunities for their opponents, Homolka said.
“Make them work to get on,” she said.
For Centennial, the Broncos need to be ready when they’re on base and trust their swings at the plate.
CHS was to play Kearney Catholic and Hastings St. Cecilia Aug. 22 in Kearney and then host Columbus Lakeview Thursday, Aug. 25, at 6 p.m. in Gresham. On Saturday, Centennial will be at Seward for the Bluejay Invitational starting at 9:30 a.m. Seward is Centennial’s first opponent of the day.
