York State Bank 8-U Golden Eagles defy the odds to win state

When you lose the first game of any tournament, you often set yourself up for a long weekend on the field.
Playing all those extra games in the consolation bracket is usually a prelude to a team just flat running out of gas before they can make it all the way back.
The York State Bank 8-U Golden Eagles were looking at just that situation Saturday, when they dropped the first game of their state tournament in Lincoln. This was not just any loss, it was the first of the year for the York team.
But that didn’t seem to phase the York girls, as a matter of fact they looked adversity straight in the face and never had another game in the tournament where a team got closer than four runs by the final score.
After losing to Riptide to open the tournament 7-5, York defeated the “Tide” 11-5 and 9-0 on Sunday to claim the 8-U State title at Doris Baer Fields.
To make matters even worse for the Golden Eagles, the temperatures on both Saturday and Sunday soared well into the 90s making playing conditions tough.
“I wouldn’t say we weren’t worried about the heat, but we really didn’t know how they would respond to losing their first game of the year,” commented 8-U coach Anthony Sheppard.
“We hadn’t played a game in two weeks with all the rainouts, and they (Riptide) already had a game under their belts, so sitting for two weeks was not the best situation for us,” co-head coach Marla Hansen said. “For us it was the mental part of the game to keep 12 8-year olds in the game. It was a bunch of little things that kept them motivated. They got to ride the Gator earlier in the year at a tournament, and the guy told them if they won the state tournament he would give them a ride. They also were going to get to dump a jug of water on Anthony, and I told them if they won two games on Saturday they could have a pool party Saturday night at the motel. Thing is they won two games, just not the right two.”
After the loss to Riptide, the Golden Eagles defeated the Angels from Lincoln 13-0, three straight innings of three up and three down. After that they closed out action on Saturday with a convincing 12-4 win over Jerry’s Sheet Metal Scorpions.
On Sunday when the team came to the field, it was a whole different game.
“When we got to the fields on Sunday, I could see we were back in charge,” said Hansen. “The girls were much more focused. We had to stay calm, so the girls would stay calm, that was tough.”
The Eagles started Sunday morning with a 9-5 win over the Locos of Lincoln.
“ They scored all five runs in the first inning. They even took visitor so they could score first,” said Sheppard. “That was a good idea, but we came back and scored five as well.”
Five runs per inning is the limit at this age group.
York then ripped the “Tide” 11-5 in the first game and then settled the issue with a 9-0 win in the championship game.
“We played great team defense, and it was just an overall great team effort,” said coach Trevor Hansen. “We came down here last year and took fourth, so our goal this year was to win state.”
“I thought the resiliency of the girls playing in the heat was just impeccable,” said Sheppard.
“The attitude of the girls was just amazing,” said Trevor. “You could tell them to go play somewhere and they just said OK. You tell them where they are batting and they said OK. You could tell them they were sitting this game, and they said OK.”
The Eagles have not completed their season, as they still have three league games left to play in Lincoln. The York girls are 20-1 on the year, and state champions at the 8-U level in Nebraska.