Editorial

Rebels not content with 'solid season'

Tuesday, August 5, 2003

When the history of McCook sports is written, the Western National championship of the Rebels 18-and-under softball team will rank among the community's all-time best Cinderella stories.

After a solid but unspectacular season, the Rebels surprised the softball world by winning six straight tournament games to emerge victorious.

"It was incredible," said the McCook families, friends and fans who witnessed the flawless performance by the McCook girls at the tournament in Hastings.

To defeat such an outstanding group of teams, the Rebels had to perform at their best over and over again. They had showed flashes of brilliance before; but what set them apart in the championship contests was that they never let up, playing at the top of their games throughout the tournament.

"The girls had finished second in four tournaments this year. But that wasn't enough for them. They wanted it all," said Coach Mark Friehe.

Even in the pool play games which determined the tournament brackets, the Rebels were still not at their best, losing one of the two play-in contests. But once the tournament began, there was no stopping the Rebels against a field of 36 teams from eight states.

"They never let up," the coach said.

There were many magical memories for the Rebels, but the one which stands out in Coach Friehe's mind is the 1-0 semifinal victory in 10 innings over Imperial Valley, Calif. In the midst of the close game, Friehe and fellow coach Scott Wacker agreed it would take an error to decide the outcome. And that's exactly what happened, with a miscue of Imperial Valley in the bottom of the 10th inning allowing the Rebels to advance to the finals.

"We've had a very strong defense throughout the year, but in the tournament our offense kicked in as well," Coach Friehe said.

Bringing national honors to McCook was a team which included: Kaitlin Powell, first base; Sunee Haney, second base; Lindsey Dame, shortstop; Natalie Brooks, third base; Whitney Korte, left field; Melissa Ankersen, center field; Kassi Cunningham, right field; Erica Reitz, catcher; and Lisa Friehe, pitcher.

Erica Reitz is a 2003 graduate of McCook High School and will continue her softball career at Colby Community College. All the other team members are students at MHS. They will get only a little over a week's rest, as later this month they will begin practice for the Bison softball team.

In their brief time off, they can savor one of the sweetest of thrills. And, what a great tribute the title is for the girls: Not satisfied with second place, they gave it their all to become champions of the Western United States.

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