The Blue Hill Leader

Lawrence 18s place second at league tournament

LAWRENCE - The Lawrence 18-&-under softball team recently competed in the League Tournament, taking home the second- place trophy. Last week the team won the second-place trophy in the Class C Tournament, earning them a trip to the State Tournament in July.

The girls played six games in the tournament, winning four. Highlights of the tournament were the 72 bases that were stolen in the six games.

In game one, Lawrence faced off against Fairfield, winning 15-3. Game two brought them up against the Flames, which won the contest 6-5. Lawrence sailed past Roseland 13-1 and Blue Hill 6-1 in games three and four.

Game five brought them up against the Flames once again, with the winner advancing to the championship game. Lawrence came out victorious, winning 5-1. In the championship game, the girls faced Red Cloud. Lawrence fought hard, but fell 5-10 to earn a second-place finish.

"The girls have a never give-up drive that keeps them fighting right to the end no matter what circumstances," head coach Marlene Faimon said. "They have a lot of class and determination."

With that determination and fighting drive, the girls are confident heading into the state tournament in July.

Campbell falls behind early, loses 16-4 against Minden

CAMPBELL - An early deficit was too big for Campbell to climb out of Wednesday, falling 16-4 to Minden.

Campbell (5-7) surrendered six runs on two hits and six walks in the first inning.

"We had some rough spots," Campbell coach Kyle Schmidt said. "Once we switched pitchers and started throwing strikes, it got better."

Campbell got on the board with three runs in the second inning to match Minden's three-run second. Art Oberlechner doubled and scored, while Simeon Berns, Ryan Sluka and Sawyer Monroe all singled. Berns and Sluka also came around to score. Rather than quitting after the first inning, Schmidt was glad to see his team fight back.

"It's fun to see that they like to compete," he said. "They enjoy it. They really don't get down on themselves until the game is over."

Trailing 10-3 in the third inning, Simeon Berns helped keep it that way. With a runner on third, Minden's Jordan Granger ripped a drive to center field that Berns tracked down on the run.

"We played pretty solid defense for the most part," Schmidt said. "I know pitchers are really thankful when we play good defense. They can't do it by themselves."

Marc Choquette plated Campbell's fourth run in the third inning, as the team was blanked the rest of the way. In the fifth inning, Campbell was threatening with runners at second and third base with nobody out. Minden pitcher Keith Weicks, however, struck out the next three batters and didn't allow the runs to score.

"It's pretty frustrating when you get people on and you just can't get anything in play to give them a chance," Schmidt said.

Campbell falls behind early, loses 16-4 against Minden

Blue Hill Golf Course vandalized July 4; officials look for leads

BLUE HILL - Vandals inflicted serious damage to three greens at the Blue Hill Golf Course on the evening of July 4. The crime is under investigation by the Webster County Sheriff's Office.

"I think it was just random," said Webster County Sheriff Jim Disney when asked if he thought there was a motive for the crime. "A spur of the moment thing."

Blue Hill Golf Association treasurer Franklin Reis said the damage was extensive.

"Hole number eight is in pretty bad shape," he said. "There is also damage to hole number one and (the culprit) drove across hole number two."

Reis said that repairing the damage will cost somewhere between $8,000 and $10,000.

"It's the labor and the time," Reis said when asked what made up the bulk of the costs. "And the grass seed is very expensive."

The greens are still playable, but special steps must be taken in order to make sure the roughed up areas do not hinder play.

"The car had wide tires so it did more burn damage than cutting in," Reis said. "When you get on the green, you just need to move your ball (to an undamaged area)."

The Blue Hill Golf Association is offering a $300.00 reward for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the damage. If anyone has any information concerning the crime, they are encouraged to contact the Webster County Sheriff's Office at (402) 746-2722.

Celebrating the 4th of July: Blue Hill holds festival, parade

BLUE HILL - Blue Hill's annual Fourth of July Celebration went out with a bang again this year, as the festivities of the day ended with a fireworks display.

Other events of the day, which is sponsored by the Blue Hill Community Club, included a golf tournament, children's games, a barbeque, a softball tournament, a Little Tugger's tractor pull, Bingo games, a volleyball tournament, games at the pool and a parade.

Ten teams participated in the softball tournament, while eight participated in the volleyball competition.

In addition, community members held three fundraisers for Lorri Jo Moore. The lemonade stands, bake sale and face painting booth were considered a general success by organizers.

"The community was really supportive," said Nicole Mackin, who helped run the lemonade stand at the Blue Hill Swimming Pool. "I think all the fundraisers went really well."

- Check next week's edition of the Blue Hill Leader for results and more photographs from the July 4 celebration!

Blue Hill falls to L-N to place fourth overall

BLUE HILL - Staring a 10-0 deficit in the face after two innings against Fairfield on Saturday, Blue Hill could have called it quits.

But after coming back to win 13-12, quitting was the last thing on its mind.

"I think the girls just kept a very positive attitude," Blue Hill coach Bruce Eckhardt said. "They just felt like we could win it and just kept battling back. They showed a lot of poise themselves."

The win came after losing an extra inning game to Red Cloud 2-1, and was followed by a 9-1 loss to Lawrence-Nelson to place Blue Hill fourth.

Blue Hill had eight hits against Fairfield.

Nikki Berns reached base safely four times, walking twice and collecting two base hits. She also scored a pair of runs.

Mara Gilbert, Aurora Gibson, and Brenda Berns scored twice as well.

Gilbert, Gibson, Chelsea Eckhardt, Danica Olson and Amanda Brader all added hits to the Blue Hill attack.

Red Cloud needed extra innings to defeat Blue Hill in the second round. Tied 1-1 at the end of seven innings, Red Cloud eventually took the game 2-1 in the following inning.

Nikki Berns, Eckhardt and Gibson had base hits for Blue Hill.

After mounting the enormous comeback to top Fairfield, Blue Hill played its third game of the day on Saturday against Lawrence, falling 9-1. Eckhardt said with it being the third game of the day, fatigue was setting in and the girls were making errors that weren't being made earlier in the day.

Amy Post recorded the team's only single.

Overall, Eckhardt was pleased with his team's performance, no matter the outcome.

"Even in our losses we played pretty well," he said. "I'm just hoping we get a little momentum before the State Tournament."

Blue Hill tops Roseland 6-1 in first game

BLUE HILL - Blue Hill scored in just one inning against Roseland on Friday.

Fortunately for the host team, it was a big one.

Blue Hill batted around and scored six runs in the fourth inning to defeat Roseland 6-1 in the first round of the Conference Tournament in Blue Hill.

"It really helped that we finally got that big hit or that big play that we needed," Blue Hill coach Bruce Eckhardt said. "That's just been the difference for us."

Blue Hill lost to Red Cloud, defeated Fairfield and fell to Lawrence to end the tournament.

Mara Gilbert, Jill Beavers and Danica Olson reached on walks in the fourth inning, and Amanda Brader singled.

An overthrow to first base on the play allowed all three runners to score with two outs.

After the next batter Amy Post singled, Jacque Himmelberg blasted a three-run home run to right field, capping the six-run inning.

With all six runs coming with two outs, Roseland coach Jason Mostek was disappointed.

"It's very frustrating," Mostek said. "Because that's what cost us the game.

"We practice hard and we don't do errors like that. These girls are a lot better team than what they're showing right now."

Roseland pushed across its run in the third inning. Rylee Morris reached on an error and stole a base en route to scoring the team's only run.

Blue Hill pitcher Chelsea Eckhardt pitched seven innings, giving up one hit while striking out eight.

"We just weren't swinging at the ball," Mostek said. "We're a better team than what we showed."

Bailey Morris gave up the six-run fourth inning, though none were earned. After the fourth inning, however, Morris allowed a walk to Gilbert and retired the next eight batters she faced.

Local youth compete at Nebraska High School Rodeo Finals

HASTINGS - Through heat, tornado warnings and thunderstorms, three area students were able to demonstrate their bending, racing, tying and riding prowess at the Nebraska State High School Rodeo Finals June 26-28 at the Adams County Fairgrounds in Hastings. And while none of them brought home any hardware, they did gain experience and learn what they need to improve upon for success in the future.

For first-time state qualifiers Blue Hill freshman Alissa Overy and Silver Lake junior Courtney Kral, the state meet was a little more intense than they had anticipated.

"It was a lot more competitive than I expected," Kral said.

Overy agreed.

"I really wanted to do well in poles," she said. "I had high expectations, but it didn't happen." Blue Hill High School senior Brandon Faimon, who failed to complete both of his rides in the bull riding competition, was also disappointed by his performance. "It did not go as I had planned," he said.

However, the students said the weekend made them realize what they need to improve on before they compete again.

"Consistency," Overy said. "I knocked over a pole on both days." Overy said she did the best in her least favorite event, goat tying. In addition to poles and goat tying, Overy also competed in the barrel race competition.

"I had clean runs, but they weren't very fast," Overy said of her barrel races. Faimon said that he hopes to improve his bull riding performance in general, but he did note one thing in particular.

"I need to improve on staying up on the bull," he said.

Although she did place third in the second go, Kral said she would also like to be more consistent.

"I had a lot of knocked poles in the fall season and I would have been higher in the standings if those hadn't happened," she said. "Next year, I would like to be in the top ten going into state."

In addition to improving in her current events, pole bending and barrel racing, Kral said she wants to compete in a new event.

"I would like to get into breakaway roping," she said. "I don't know how that will go, but I'll try."

Finally, Kral said she would like to see her younger sister Mackenize, who will be a sophomore this year at Silver Lake, also compete in the state finals.

"That would be awesome," she said.

The State High School Rodeo Finals may be over, but all three students will continue to compete in rodeos throughout the summer. Overy plans to stay in shape by competing in various barrel races and Kral and Faimon will compete in the Webster County Rodeo later this month.

"I had a great time," Overy said of her state finals experience. "And I'm already ready for next year."

Area corn may not reach �knee high by the Fourth of July� due to extreme weather

LEADER AREA - The old adage "knee high by the Fourth of July" is generally considered an old-fashioned description of the development of corn. This year, however, the maxim is suddenly back in vogue.

"In the last 30 years or so, corn has been pretty much shoulder high by the Fourth of July," said Webster County Extension Agent Duane Lienemann. "But I don't think we're going to make it this year."

Lienemann said that due to earlier planting habits, tougher hybrid corn varieties and better management practices, corn had put "knee-high" saying into the pages of history books.

But 2008 is turning out to be a real blast from the past. Area crops that were already behind due to the wet, cold spring, recently took another huge set back when three damaging storms in a single week decimated the young plants with hail, wind and too much rain.

"It is pretty much solid damage from Highway 74 to Kansas," Lienemann said. "Every field has damage, from total to moderate."

Lienemann added that he thought the strip was about three-miles wide, making for a damaged area of around 90-square miles. Calculate 640 acres per square mile, and that means that over a half a million acres of crops were affected.

"It was a pretty wide stretch," said Blue Hill CPI manager Justin Soucek, who added that he thought that the bean crop was the most affected by the recent storms.

"The plants are small enough that hail can bruise the stems, and you don't know what you have until closer to harvest," he said.

However, he acknowledged that the corn plants are also very behind on their normal development schedule.

"It's really variable this year," Soucek said. "There's a lot of it that is waist high, but there is also some that is being replanted. Some corn might just be ankle high by the Fourth."

Lienmann said he also has major concerns for the wheat crop.

"Some wheat is completely mowed off," Lienemann said.

Even the wheat that was not damaged in the storm is getting set back because of the wet weather.

"Wheat right now needs hot, dry and windy," Lienemann said.

He said that he is advising local producers to bale the ruined wheat for feed and then possibly replant the ground to soybeans, depending on the kind of herbicide they have used recently.

"But the first thing producer need to do is contact the officials," Lienemann said. "They need to get a hold of FSA and insurance agents before they do anything else."

And direct damage from the wind and hail is not the only problems the plants face.

"When you have a disaster like this, it is an open invitation to weeds and disease," Lienemann said. "One of the biggest concerns to me is that we are going to have an awful lot of volunteer wheat, and insects use volunteer wheat as vectors to cause diseases."

While Lienemann encouraged producers to be vigilant in their weed management practices, he conceded that Mother Nature might step in and solve the problem, while also creating new ones.

"It would not surprise me to see an early frost to cap it all off," he said.

CommUNITY Church Service: Blue Hill holds eighth nondenominational event

BLUE HILL - More than 100 members of the community gathered at the Community/Senior Center in Blue Hill on Sunday, June 29 for the eighth community church service, which has been held almost every year since 1999.

The theme for the service was centered around the idea of being "friends in God." The children's choir sang "I am a Friend of God," and the assembly sang "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."

In addition, the sermon, which was given by Gerald Toepfer, centered around the theme of unity.

This was the first year the service was held in the evening, and event organizers noted that the changed time seemed to help boost the numbers of the assembly.

"I think this is an awesome attendance," said song leader Penny Drury.

A new addition to the service was the performance by the children's choir. Song leader Ann Auten thought that the choir was a success.

"The kids enjoy doing it," she said. "And they add something special to the service."

Auten added that she hopes the children's choir becomes a permanent addition to the service.

"If we could get it going, it could become a tradition," she said.

Directly following the church service, the Blue Hill EMT squad held its annual pancake feed. Around 130 people went through the line. The free-will donations received from the pancake feed will go to the Blue Hill ambulance fund.

The church service and pancake feed were the kick-off events for Blue Hill's Fourth of July activities. The festivities will continue on Friday, July 4.

Blue Hill 7-8 boys win George Mohlman Memorial Tournament

BLUE HILL - The Blue Hill 7 & 8-year-old Pee Wee B team finished its season this past weekend with the Mid-Rivers League's George Mohlman Jr. Memorial Tournament.

After winning its first seven games, the Bobcats dropped their final regular season game to Kenesaw before entering the tournament with a 7-1 record. The George Mohlman Jr. tournament includes all eight Mid-Rivers teams. First-round games were played at host sites on Saturday. The four winning teams, Kenesaw, Lawrence (B), Franklin and Blue Hill, met in Blue Hill on Sunday to complete the tournament.

Blue Hill traveled to Lawrence (A) for the opening round game. The Bobcats jumped out to an 11-2 lead on Lawrence(A) in route to a 25-12 victory. Blue Hill met Franklin in the semi-final game. Blue Hill trailed the Flyers 12-8 at the end of two innings but battled back to capture a 21-18 victory.

The Championship game matched the Bobcats against their only loss of the season, Kenesaw. Again the Bobcats fell behind early, trailing 16-13 after 3 innings. However, in a game that went down to the wire, the Bobcats held off the Blue Devils to preserve a 20-19 victory and the Mid-Rivers Championship. Lawrence(B) defeated Franklin in the consolation game. Team members include Brock Iliff, John Rouse, Joe Mackin, Logan Reiss, Colby Karr, Jim Mackin, Chase Lythgoe, Joel Smith, Eric Wademan, Nick Ockinga, Trace Ockinga, Jacob Canterberry, Colin Adams, Grant Streff, Bradley Morse, Michael Hiller, Austin Kelley, Trenton Karr, Brandon Fowler. Coaches were Tim Streff Jesse Alber, Jason Fowler and Curt Iliff.

Five Bobcats will travel to Franklin on Sunday, June 29, to represent Blue Hill in the Mid-Rivers All Star Game. All-Stars selected were Colin Adams, Trent Karr, Austin Kelley, Trace Ockinga, and Grant Streff.

REGULAR SEASON Date Opponent BH Opp 5/18 KENESAW 20 12 5/22 Franklin 19 10 6/1 Roseland 22 18 6/3 HILDRETH 19 9 6/8 CAMPBELL 22 14 6/10 LAWRENCE(A) 21-20 6/12 LAWRENCE(B) 21-17 (extra innings) 6/15 Kenesaw 12 19 TOURNAMENT 6/21 Lawrence(A) 25 12 6/22 FRANKLIN21 18 6/22 KENESAW 20 19 (Championship Game)

Blue Hill loses pair, eliminated from districts in Hastings

HASTINGS - Hebron wasted no time putting the Blue Hill 18 and under softball team in an early hole on Friday.

Hebron scored nine runs in the bottom of the first inning to claim an 11-0 win in the first round of the district tournament in Hastings. Blue Hill also fell 7-6 to Wilber in its second game. After the leadoff batter grounded out to second base, nine of the next 10 Hebron hitters reached and scored.

Chelsea Eckhardt struck out Lindsay Welch to end the disastrous bottom of the first.

"It was just a tough inning in so many ways," Blue Hill coach Bruce Eckhardt said. "There was no one thing that was going wrong, but nothing was going right either. It was mentally very tough."

In the second inning, though, Eckhardt was able to retire the side in order.

"The girls showed they still wanted to compete," Eckhardt said. "Obviously, we knew our chance of winning was low at 9-0, but they wanted to compete. They felt like they did a pretty good job from there on out."

On the offensive side of things, Blue Hill was able to muster just one base runner against Hebron pitcher Melissa Buln.

Jill Beavers walked in the second inning, but was doubled up on first base on a Danica Olson lineout.

Buln struck out 11 batters in five innings, including six that caught Blue Hill batters looking.

Although more competitive, Blue Hill also lost to Wilber on Saturday in an elimination match up.

Tied at five in the final inning, Blue Hill took a 6-5 lead but a deep drive by Wilber in the outfield just out of the reach of a Blue Hill outfielder in the bottom half of the inning allowed Wilber to claim the 7-6 win.

Prior to districts, the Blue Hill 18-&-under softball team had a busy schedule this past week, playing three games in three nights.

Last Monday night the team lost 7-0 at home to the Lawrence 18-&-under team, but then came back strong the next night with a win on the road, beating the Lawrence 16-&-under team 18-4.

The Bobcats finished their regular season play with a 10-7 loss to Fairfield at home on Wednesday.

Coach Bruce Eckhardt remained optimistic when asked how the Lady Bobcats would fare when entering the District tournament coming off a loss. "I thought we ran the bases well,"

Eckhardt said after Wednesday night's game. "And I thought the girls showed good patience while waiting for a good strike to swing at."

He did concede that the Lady Bobcats have some room for improvement.

"I would just like to see us make less errors," he said. "I don't think they (the other team) earned a single run tonight."

Campbell goes 1-1, doesn�t fare well in tiebreaker

SUTTON - The Campbell Seniors beat the team that reached the championship.

But that was the only good news. Losing to Friend 18-14 and beating Sutton 8-7 at the Jack Van Kirk Tournament in Sutton on Sunday, Campbell finished 1-1 in pool play. Due to the third and fourth tiebreakers, however, Campbell placed last of the three in the pool.

After losing a game Campbell coach Greg Morris considered sloppy, Campbell responded with an improved effort in a win over Sutton, which advanced to the championship game.

"We played so much better the second game," Morris said.

Morris was also impressed with Ryan Sluka, who got the win on the mound.

"He threw a great game," Morris said. "He's not the hardest throwing kid, but it's a great change of pace from some of the other guys that we have thrown.He was over the plate and throwing strikes. I was really proud of the way he pitched."

Sluka kept the Sutton bats in check despite giving up an early inning solo home run to Sutton's Eric Ehmen.

"That thing should have had its own airplane number," Morris said of the home-run ball.

Campbell pushed across two runs in the second inning. Connor Morris walked and scored on a Travis Berns triple. Simeon Berns had an RBI sacrifice fly.

The Morris-Berns combination teamed up again in the fourth. The two singled, and both scored on a Ryan Sluka base hit.

Three more runs came across in the fifth inning to help pad the Campbell lead. Sawyer Monroe, Reid Choquette and Morris all singled. Simeon Berns drove home two of his three RBIs on a double.

Morris scored three runs while going 2-for-3, and Travis Berns had two runs as well as a pair of RBIs while going 2-for-3 with a double.

Zac Crowe also went 2-for-3 with a double. Greg Morris was proud of the way his team responded after dropping the first contest.

"They want to win," he said. "Kids this age are pretty resilient and ready to go most of the time."

Campbell scored six runs in the third inning of game one, but Friend plated eight in the same inning en route to an 18-14 win.

"They hit the ball," Morris said of Friend, "Which is fine. If they're hitting it, that means you're somewhere around the strike zone, so I'm okay with that. But we didn't field it very well. We had a lot of errors."

Morris said his team was missing four players, so members from the juniors team stepped up and played well. Also in game one, he said fielding errors were possibly caused by having guys at unnatural positions.

Marc Choquette, Campbell's leadoff hitter, was 3-for-3 including a double and two runs.

"Marc choquette is a good leadoff hitter for us," Morris said. "He does really well."

When he doesn't expect to go 5-for-5, that is.

"The only thing about Marc is he gets down on himself a little too much when he doesn't get on base," Morris said. "Baseball's a very humbling game. You're not going to get a hit every time. Guys are making millions of dollars to go 3-for-10."

Connor Morris, Art Oberlachner and Travis Berns each scored in both the second and third innings. Oberlachner blasted a two-run double in the team's six-run third inning.

Berns scored four times in the game and six in the two games.

ylan Miller Memorial at Minden on the 14th of June and the result of our game w/Holdrege on June 19th. I am also attaching a schedule. Comments for each game are as follows: Campbell vs Hildreth (Thompson Creek): Simeon Berns, Ryan Sluka and Connor Morris combined for a two hitter as Campbell defeated Thompson Creek 7-4 in their opening game of the Dylan Miller Memorial at Minden.

Sawyer Monroe and Reid Choquette each scored two runs. Monroe led the cardinal attack going 3-4 with two singles and a double. In the 5th inning with TC holding a 2-0 lead Marc Choquette led off with single, stole second and scored on Monroe's single. Monroe advanced to third on two stolen bases and Reid Choquette followed with a walk to give Campbell runners at first and third with no outs. Connor Morris then shot one into the right-center gap that rolled to the wall and scored two runs. Morris later scored on a Simeon Berns single and the Cardinals maintained control of the game from there despite 3 errors. Berns struck out three but earned no decision. Sluka earned the win for the Cardinals and Morris got the save. "It was sloppy at times but I thought our pitchers did a nice job on the mound and we got some timely hitting that scored runs", said coach Kyle Schmidt.

In their second game Campbell took on host First Bank of Minden. After a 3 hour 15 minute battle Minden came out on top 12-11 in this wild one. Minden took the lead 6-0 in the bottom of the first inning off Campbell starter Connor Morris. Campbell answered in the top of the second when, with two outs, Zac Crowe bunted his way to first base, stole second and third on consecutive pitches, and took home on a passed ball. Meanwhile Morris settled down on the mound and struck out the side to end the inning. In the fourth Campbell scored five runs to even the game at 6-6. A single by Travis Berns followed by a double by Simeon Berns and a single by Ryan Sluka got things going for Campbell. Sluka scored on a Marc Choquette single and in turn he came across on a Reid Choquette single. Choquette came home later in the inning on a Connor Morris single to end the scoring in the fourth. Morris continued a fine performance on the mound ending the game with 16 strikeouts. Each team took advantage of timely hitting and their opponents errors to send the game into an extra frame. First Bank was able to get a runner to third base with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Morris recorded his 16th stirkeout but a dropped third strike allowed the runner to reach first and the runner from third came home with the winning run. "That is a tough way to lose a game", said Kyle Schmidt Campbell coach. "We scratched and clawed and got back in it, but we just couldn't finish it out. We'll get better at that. I was real proud of the guy's especially the way they came back and didn't pack it in after a rough first inning." Campbell fell to 3-2 on the season.

The Cardinals travelled to Holdrege on Thursday, June 19th to take on Holdrege First National. The first inning saw Campbell collect three runs on a Connor Morris three run home run over the left-centerfield fence. Holdrege was able to get one back in their half of the first. Morris's pitching and solid defense kept Holdrege at bay for much of the game. Meanwhile the Holdrege pitching settled down as well allowing the Card's only three runs over the final six innings. In the fifth inning after two walks and consecutive steals Holdrege pushed across two runs to pull within one run. Sawyer Monroe came on in relief of Morris, who scattered four hits, walked three while striking out six and giving up four runs. Holdrege was able to push across one run in the sixth inning to tie the score at 5-5. The crowd fastened their seatbelt for the seventh inning which proved, in the end, to be eerily similar to Saturday's game with Minden. After Zac Crowe was narrowly thrown out at first base on a bunt attempt, Marc Choquette stepped into the batters box.

Choquette, who ended the game 3 for 3 while reaching on an error, calmly deposited an 0-1 pitch off the scoreboard in left field for a solo home run giving Campbell the lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning. Three singles in the bottom of the seventh were mixed in with a run and an excellent play at the plate to deny Holdrege the winning run. With runners on first and third and two out, a bloop single by Aaron Svoboda chased in the winning run from third leaving the Cardinals at 3-3 on the season. "I was real proud of our guys. We battled all the way. We limited our turnovers and got solid pitching and defensive performances by everyone. We need to be more patient at the plate. I felt like we didn't take some pitches when we needed to.", said Kyle Schmidt, Campbell coach. "Right now it's about finishing. We are playing in Sutton this weekend and we'll need to be ready to play for an entire game." Monroe took the loss for Campbell. Campbell next plays on Saturday at 4:30 PM at the Jack Van Kirk Memorial Tournament in Sutton.

Blue Hill Wrestling Club excels at State Wrestling

Eight members of the Blue Hill Huskerland Wrestling Club participated in the State Meet for Huskerland XXIII, which was held at the UNK Sports Center in Kearney earlier this spring.

Local students set to compete in High School Rodeo Finals

LEADER AREA - Three area students will be competing in the Nebraska High School Rodeo Association State Finals this weekend, June 26-28, in Hastings.

Blue Hill High School senior Brandon Faimon, Blue Hill High School freshman Alissa Overy and Silver Lake High School junior Courtney Kral all placed in the top 30 in their respective events, earning them a spot in the state finals competition.

After traveling across the state to attend upwards of 25 rodeos this past spring alone, the students are looking forward to making the short trip to Hastings.

"Since all of the others are in the Sandhills, it is kind of a hometown rodeo," Kral said.

The longest distance she traveled was to Crawford, over eight hours away, for a rodeo. Kral said she is glad that her family will finally be able to see her compete, especially since she no longer competes in other high school sports.

"I quit everything else to do rodeo," said Kral, who added that choosing rodeo as her hobby was easy for her. "I've always been riding horses. It just seemed natural to rodeo."

During the regular season, Kral competed in both barrel racing and pole bending, but for State she will be competing solely in the pole bending competition. This is Kral's second year competing in high school rodeo, but her first year competing in the state finals.

For this reason, Kral's goals for this weekend are modest.

"I just want clean runs," she said. "And I would love to get a 21-second run."

Brandon Faimon, a two-time High School Rodeo qualifier in his event, bull riding, is also keeping his goals simple.

"I want to compete better than last year," Faimon said. "I hope to ride at least two out of three."

Faimon said he feels a lot more comfortable going into this year's state finals than last year's state finals. "I'll be more prepared than last year," Faimon said. "More experience has helped me a lot."

Experience will also help Overy in her quest for a buckle at the state finals as she competes in pole bending, barrel racing and goat tying. Overy may be a freshman, but she is already a veteran of rodeo competition. In addition to competing in various horse shows, Overy also competed in the Junior High Rodeo State and National finals. Overy is the two-time Junior High School Rodeo State Champion in the pole bending competition.

However, Overy has had one setback since her success last summer Last fall, her horse, Freckles, died. She has since had to adjust to her new mount, a red sorrel named Babe.

"I'm still nervous because it is my first time at high school finals and it is really competitive," Overy said. "I want to win a buckle, but I really just want to make it to the short go."

Buckles are awarded to the firstplace winner in each "go," or preliminary round. After competing in two "gos," the top 10 competitors from each event qualify for the "short go," or final round. The preliminaries take place on Thursday and Friday, and the final round is on Saturday night.

Kral and Faimon will compete in the Thursday morning and Friday night rodeos, and Overy will ride in the Thursday evening and Friday morning rounds.

The morning rodeos begin at 9 a.m., and the evening sessions start at 7 p.m. If the students qualify, they will then take part in the short go on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. So, basically, the students' weekend will be completely consumed by rodeo. However, even when considering the time commitment, early mornings, the bruises from dirt dives, the time on the road and the cost, all three students agreed that rodeo is one of their favorite things to do.

"I've made a lot of friends and met a lot of cool people," Kral said.

"I've grown up with rodeo," Overy said. "I love it."

"It's fun," Faimon said. "Just a bunch of kids doing what they like to do."

Blue Hill gains new ambulance after year-long process

BLUE HILL - The arrival of a new vehicle is not usually a cause for widespread jubilation. However, when that vehicle is a 2008, completely paid for, fully loaded, long-awaited ambulance, it is easy to understand why the Blue Hill EMT squad was excited last Wednesday afternoon when the vehicle pulled into the Blue Hill Fire Hall.

More than half of the squad's 11 EMTs were on hand to greet it.

"It's new, it's bigger," EMT Mike Hall said.

"And it's got that new car smell," fellow EMT Bob Kentner said.

The new ambulance will replace the squad's existing vehicle, which was purchased new in 1991. The advantages that the new ambulance has over the old are numerous, but Kentner said that the greatest advantage is safety.

"[The old ambulance], it is getting old, and isn't reliable," he said. "We've had to get out the battery charger and jump it."

In addition, the new ambulance is roomier in the back, has more storage compartments (seven, whereas the old vehicle had none), boasts numerous more safety lights and carries better equipment, including a high-tech radio system, a hydraulic stretcher, a blanket warmer and an IV warmer. "It's going to take a couple of training meetings to get everybody up to speed," Hall said after listing all of the new features.

Although Hall has been on the Blue Hill Squad for a short period of time, he has been one of the biggest advocates of the new amblance.

"I've only been on the squad one year," Hall said. "But that was one of my first goals: to get a new ambulance."

And, indeed, the process for getting the ambulance has taken almost exactly a year. Assistant Highway Superintendent Linda Siel penned the grant for the ambulance, which came from the Homeland Security Firefighters Grant-Nonaffiliated Portion, in April of 2007. The news that Webster County had been awarded the grant came in July of the same year. The grant application written in 2007 was the second attempt the county had made for the grant.

"I was floored," Siel said when asked how she had felt when she received the news. "They told us that there were $19 million dollars appropriated, which meant that we got one of 135 ambulances available nationwide."

Siel said that while she may have written the narrative part of the grant, the other sections, the activity log and the inventory list, were taken care of by Hall, fellow Blue Hill EMT Marlys Schmidt and Deputy County Clerk Liz Petsch.

"They had all the statistics, all the specs," Siel said. "Basically, all I did was write the narrative."

The amount of the grant was $140,00. Federal appropriations totaled $133,00, and the county then had to come up with $7,000 from fundraisers and monies from the ambulance fund.

Siel said that many people do not realize that the county provides ambulance services for Blue Hill and Red Cloud.

"Webster County provides ambulance service for them because their fire districts do not offer that service," Siel said.

After receiving the grant, the county board decided that Blue Hill would be the one to receive the money. The EMT squad then had to choose the specifications they wanted the ambulance to have. They finished this step last August. Hall said then that he hoped to have the new ambulance ready to respond to calls in February 2008.

However, the arrival of the ambulance took a little longer than expected, due to what Hall called "some miscommunication issues." The squad assumed that when they were told the ambulance would come in 120 days, it would be here in three months. However, the 120 days excluded holidays and weekends, so the ambulance took a little longer to get to Blue Hill from the manufacturer, MEDTEC, which is in Goshen, Ind.

MEDTEC representative Shellie Rathjen drove the vehicle from Goshen to Blue Hill. Rathjen, whose company, Conrad Fire Equipment, Inc., is based in York, has been working with the squad on purchasing its new ambulance from the very beginning of the ordering process.

"They were a fun bunch to work with," Rathjen said of the squad. "They did a great job; they didn't just think to meet their current needs, but their future needs as well."

She said she was impressed by the way the squad made sure the ambulance was fitted to serve the community as best as possible.

"They were really thinking about their patients," Rathjen said.

The grant paid for the ambulance itself, and the funds the squad raised allowed them to purchase items like the hydraulic stretcher and the blanket warmer.

"Everything we have on board is 100 percent paid for," Kentner said. "And that is due to the great contributions of the community."

Hall said that although he is very excited the new ambulance, his happiness would be complete if the squad could recruit a few more EMTs to help man it.

"We definitely need some people who are usually in the area during the daytime," he said.

However, the squad is planning several events in which they can display the ambulance and encourage community members to become EMTs. The ambulance will be on display at the squad's annual pancake feed on June 29 and during the Fourth of July parade.

When the public does see the new ambulance, it will be fully-loaded and ready to make calls, as Hall and Kentner began loading the new vehicle barely an hour after it arrived. And thus, the 17-year run of the old ambulance officially came to an end.

"That one is going out of service this afternoon," Hall said.

Blue Hill, Silver Lake girls compete in Hastings All-Star game

HASTINGS - Silver Lake's Maddie Thurston and Liz Lipker of Blue Hill helped lead the National All-Stars past the American All-Stars 71-68 Saturday in the All-Hastings All-Star game at Adams Central.

Rachel Van Boening, a former teammate of Lipker, was on the American squad.

White coach Jahn Kile of Hastings St. Cecilia enjoyed working with his team.

"It's a joy," Kile said." You finally get to see them as a teammate, instead of being someone that we're a rival with, and that's really a fun part for them as well I think."

Van Boening scored 15 points for the American team, while Lipker scored 10 and Maddie Thurston had four for the National team.

Kile also enjoyed having a player like Thurston on his team.

She's just a well rounded player," he said. "She hustles after the loose balls, she has kind of a knack for being in the right spot, and she can handle the ball fairly well."

Fifth-inning fireworks Big Outburst lifts Roseland to win over Sutton

ROSELAND - Roseland used a six-run inning on Monday to down visiting Sutton 8-6.

"It was nice," Roseland coach Jason Mostek said. "Any win we can get is nice. We're a 16 and under team and we're playing all 18 and under."

Trailing 2-0 in the fourth inning, Mackenzie Kral and Erin Plambeck both singled and scored to tie it at 2-2.

In the fifth inning, the first five Roseland hitters reached base and scored.

Roseland batted 10 in the inning.

"It was great," he said. "We've been going through our batting practice and stuff and when we get a big inning like that it shows."

Bailey Morris went all the way on the mound for Roseland. She struck out five, including the last batter of the game to preserve the win.

"She's just a good all-around pitcher," he said. "She's very talented in any sport but she's a very good pitcher."

Morris also helped her cause on the mound by going 2-for-4 at the plate and scoring a run in the fifth.

Kral and Plambeck also both singled twice and scored a pair of runs.

Defense also played a large part in the Roseland victory, he said.

With two Sutton batters aboard and no one out in the fifth, Steph George lined a ball to center field that was flagged down by Cami Bruckman.

"That was our turning point," he said. "That's what turned the game."

Blue Hill 18s head to districts

BLUE HILL - The Blue Hill 18- and-under softball team has struggled with weather postponements, playing just one half-inning in the past week.

The team will be playing three games during the week, followed by the Class C District tournament in Hastings Friday through Sunday.

Blue Hill's first opponent is the Hebron Heat Friday night at 8:30 at the Smith Complex. If victorious, the team will take on the SE NE Gators at 8 a.m. on Saturday.

If Blue Hill loses the opening match to Hebron, however, it will play the loser of the Geneva Sluggers or Wilber Green in an elimination match at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Campbell falls to Harvard-Giltner for first loss of season

HARVARD - The Campbell Senior Legion baseball team traveled to Harvard Thursday night for its third game on the season.

The Cardinals (2-1) struggled throughout the game having five errors and eight batters were walked. The game ended in the fifth inning with Campbell losing 12-0.

"We played well our last two games," said coach Greg Morris. "We fielded the ball okay, we just didn't make good throws to first base to get the out."

Campbell hit the ball hard a few times but overall just didn't have very good luck with batting. They plan to work on improving their fundamental defensive baseball.

"It's our third game, as time goes one we'll get better," Morris said.

Campbell played in a tournament in Minden last weekend, but no information was made available.

The Cardinals play at the Jack Van Kirk Tournament in Sutton on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against Friend and at 7 p.m. against Sutton. Depending on the outcomes, Campbell will play at 2, 4:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. on Sunday.