The Wakefield 18 and Under softball team is in a precarious limbo after qualifying for the Class D State Tournament later this summer.
The Wakefield team would not be able to play in that tournament due to previous commitments from some team members and may actually be eligible to move up to a Class C Tournament on a different weekend.
"We're actually working on it to move up and go to state," coach Mike Mogus said. "We've qualified in Class D, but we have players gone that weekend."
The Wakefield 18's competed in the Class C District Tournament in Ponca over this past weekend and ended up with a 1-2 record, still making them eligible to advance in Class D for the state tournament.
After a thrilling win in the opening game of the tournament, 5-3 over the O'Neill Green Machine, Wakefield fell 9-7 to South Sioux City in the second game.
"That was a tough game for us," Wakefield coach Mike Mogus said. "We came back in the sixth and just ran out of time."
After an eight-inning game in the opener with Wakefield scoring three runs in the eighth, while O'Neill plated a couple, the Wakefield 18-s advanced in the winner's bracket with the narrow escape.
Brianna Bousquet, Alex Arenas and Natalee Overfelt scored in the eighth , Arenas went 2-for-4 in the game to pace the offense and Aishah Valenzuela grabbed the win in the circle.
In the second game, Wakefield lost a heartbreaker 9-7 to South Sioux City after staying right with the opposition the entire game.
After tying the score in the sixth with four runs, South Sioux grabbed the lead in the seventh with a pair of runs.
Bousquet, Arenas Laken Rahn and Overfelt scored in the sixth to keep hopes alive for Wakefield.
Overfelt ended the game 3-for-3 while Arenas was 3-for-4.
In the final game of the tourney, Wakefield scored three runs but a five-run Ponca first was more than enough to eliminate Wakefield from the tournament.
"We really played pretty well," Mogus said. "We just need to get some more games to get all of these girls back up to speed and playing our brand of softball."
Mogus has been in contact with the Nebraska Softball Association to determine if the Wakefield season will continue at a state tournament - games are still on the schedule for the regular season.
The Wakefield 14 and under softball team grabbed a ticket to the Class C State Tournament while the 18/16U team awaits a decision by the Nebraska Softball Association as to the chance to play in the Class C tournament or move to the Class D tournament - which is what it qualified to play.
The Wakefield 14's travelled to O'Neill over the weekend and made it to the Class C Nebraska State tournament on July 9 through July 11 at the USA Softball Complex in Hastings.
The 14 and unders qualified with a fourth-place showing at a Class C district held in O'Neill over this past weekend.
"It was a tough district," Wakefield Softball mentor, Mike Mogus said. "We left some runs on the field but we scored a few we probably shouldn't have - that's softball."
In the opening round of the district tournament, Wakefield drilled Atkinson 13-1 with solid pitching and plenty of fire power at the plate.
In fact, Wakefield scored 11 runs in the first couple of innings and ended the game in the third by run-rule by the 13-1 final.
The 14's scored five runs in the opening frame with four walks and a batter hit as well as a critical single from Ashlyn Riewer with the bases loaded.
Katie Borg, Daveigh Munter-McAfee, Mikke Mogus, Alli Brown and Riewer scored in the inning with Riewer's huge hit coming with a couple of outs.
Wakefield turned around in the second inning and added another six runs on a couple of walks, a couple of hit batters and another huge hit, this one by Munter-McAfee to put the game out of reach.
A pair of insurance runs by Munter-McAfee and Mogus in the third created the 13-1 final.
From there, the Wakefield 14's defeated O'Neill 18-5 after scoring seven runs in the first, three in the third and eight in the fourth.
Borg, Munter-McAfee, Mogus, Bella Andrade, Riewer, Brown, Lily King-Lobo and Mayte Flores-Garcia scored in the opening inning and nearly the entire team scored in the fourth.
Wakefield defeated Osmond in the next round by a 12-2 final scoring three, four and two runs in the first three innings.
In a heartbreaker, lasting eight innings, Wakefield fell to Plainview 15-14 to end up in the consolation bracket.
The game started as a pitcher's duel with Borg scoring a run in the first to give the Wakefield 14's the early advantage.
Wakefield added three in the fourth but Plainview plated a pair in the third and three in the fourth for a 5-4 lead.
"We really played hard in the game," Mogus said. "They just got us in the end."
Plainview would score 10 runs in the final three innings to eke out the one-run win.
The Wakefield 14's battled with Ponca in an elimination game to only come up short again, this time 6-3.
"We really played some solid defense in the game with Ponca," Mogus said. "We just couldn't get that one hit we needed to get us over the top."
The loss to Ponca left Wakefield in the fourth position in the district tournament but sent them to the Class C State Tournament in Hastings in July.
"We have plenty to be proud of," Mogus said. "We were right there at the end of the district and feel we can compete with anyone in the state in Class C."
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