The Gretna East baseball team made history on Friday, capturing its first state title by upsetting second-ranked Bennington thanks to a two-RBI single from left fielder Chase Neneman.
The Griffins defeated Bennington 2-0 to win the Class B championship at Werner Park, after losing in last year’s championship game.
Gretna East scored the only runs of the game in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs, Neneman’s single dropped into left field, plating two runs for the Griffins and giving them the victory. The sophomore left fielder said that it was an awesome feeling being able to deliver the game-winner.
“It felt great,” Neneman told Ana Bellinghausen on Nebraska Public Media. “There was two outs, I just got to do my job. I’m going to have great pitching, I’m going to have great defense out there and just do my job.”
After losing in last year’s championship game, the team had shirts made that said, “JOB’S NOT DONE.” The team wore them all year, as a reminder of what had happened. After the win, they put tape over the word NOT to say, “JOB’S DONE.”
Coach Darrell Everhart said that the team used this motto all season to help motivate them.
“The motto came out from our players,” Everhart said. “It was “Job’s NOT DONE.” We’ve got a job still to finish and do and we kept believing it the entire season. These guys work hard.”
Everhart said that he’s proud of his team and all that it accomplished this season.
“I’m so excited for our young men,” Everhart said “They have worked so hard in the offseason.”
Austin Copeland had a great day on the mound, pitching a complete game and allowing zero earned runs. Copeland said that his defense had his back, helped him throw effectively.
“I trust my guys out here on the field,” Copeland said. “I have the best defense I could possibly have behind me. So just trust myself, trust my pitches.”
A strong mindset is an important aspect to have to help a team succeed. The players credit their coach for helping them build such a strong and closeknit team.
“We’re always together,” Neneman said. “We’re just a family. Doing those workouts, we’re always encouraging each other, we’re always together, and sometimes will go do family dinner, team dinner or something. It’s great.”
The Griffins took the hard route to the title, dropping their first game at state to EMC rival Waverly. They rallied to beat Hastings 12-2 then blank the Vikings 6-0 in a rematch. From there, they avenged a regular season loss to the top two seeds in the tournament. Gretna East took down top-seeded Skutt Catholic 3-2 twice in a row (the second in 15 innings) to advance to the championship, where they beat the No. 2 Badgers to finish 22-10.
Although it’s only their second year in existence, Copeland said that it felt great to get the win for their seniors and send them out on a high note.
“It’s huge,” Copeland said. “We lost last year, and job’s not finished. We wanted it bad. So a lot of offseason hard work; put in the time, things work out.”
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