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The Student News Site of Millard West High School

The Catalyst
The Student News Site of Millard West High School

The Catalyst
The Student News Site of Millard West High School

The Catalyst
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Survive and advance

Wildcats extend season to force another elimination game
Landen Swift, Staff reporter
May 21, 2025
Landen Swift
Zooming towards home, Junior Jake Daniel sprints home to score the teams first run of the game. “It felt great to finally get on the board after we were struggling to get runs in when bases were loaded,” Daniel Said. “We needed a spark to get the team going even though it was late in the game.”

On Friday May 16, was the start of the 2025 class, a state baseball championship with eight teams hungry and eager to fight for a state title. The Wildcats would open the first round against their Q Streetrival Millard South Patriots putting up a fight in that one they ended up falling to the patriots 2-1 in round one. They would then be matched up against the eight seeded Papillion-La Vista Monarchs. The Monarchs did not go down without a hard fought battle, they knew it was gonna be a tough road.

The Monarchs are coming into this game after a daunting loss to the Lincoln East Spartans in the first round of the tournament losing 6-0 to the #1 seeded team. The Wildcats were coming off a tough loss against the Millard South Patriots in the first round and looking to bounce back in the elimination game.

The Wildcats gave the starting pitching job to sophomore Colton Williams for this game, and the Monarchs would give it to Landon Albrecht on the rubber.There were no runs scored through three innings as the Wildcats were trying to adjust to the Monarchs pitching. The Wildcats would get on the board first in the bottom of the fourth inning. 

In the fourth inning, junior Jake Daniel got the Wildcats on the board first. That was after a big shot by freshman Kade Skoumel up the middle to score Daniel. 

“It was very frustrating for us to have runs on the bases and not be able to capitalize,”  Daniel said. “It was great to score a run in the fifth inning to give our team confidence. We needed it after having multiple opportunities not getting points on them.”

The sixth inning was soon under and Williams was relieved of his duties due to the Cats knowing they may have had the game win secured. Williams would finish with giving up one hit and striking out nine while on the mound. Senior Payton Roberts got the nod in hopes of closing the door on the Monarchs through the last two innings. He would strike out two and give up no hits.

Head coach Steve Frey values his pitchers and gets them to perform where they need to be. He talks about Williams’ performance on the mound yesterday. 

“He threw a lot of strikes and got ahead in the count when he needed to,” Frey said. “He didn’t give up too many passes and made some big pitches when we needed it which really helps when it comes the defense stepping up when we need them to.”

The Monarchs would go without points the whole game while the Wildcats were back in the fifth inning. It was rare for both teams to have a low scoring show out. It was expected to be a evenly matched game on paper as it was the #5 seed vs #8 which is not a very big difference. When this was written the Wildcats advanced past the first elimination game and faced off against the Millard South Patriots once again as the Patriots lost to the Spartans to drop to the losers bracket. The Wildcats would then lose to the Millard South Patriots 4-2 to end their 2025 campaign.

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About the Contributor
Landen Swift
Landen Swift, Staff Reporter
Landen is a senior and is involved with being a Wildcat Crazy here at Millard West. He is also involved in the Millard West Yearbook. He enjoys watching and taking pictures of sports events for Millard West. He hopes to improve his film taking and interviewing skills through the year.