HHS Pitcher Breaks Two Records

HHS softball pitcher Ella Tinsman broke two school records this season.

Tinsman broke the record for total strikeouts in a season, replacing the previous record of 195 held by Olivia Douglas with 224 total strikeouts.

“I think my opportunity of pitching a lot this season was how I got that (record). I had been kind of tracking it at the end of the season, and then I was just thinking, ‘Well, if I get this many this game, then maybe I can get it.’ But I think it put a little pressure on me, and I probably shouldn’t have been keeping track of it, but it was cool that I got it,” Tinsman said.

Tinsman also broke the school record for no-hitter games after pitching four perfect games during the season. The record of three games was previously held by Olivia Douglas.

“So the first game, McCook, I didn’t really know (that I was pitching a perfect game). And honestly, I feel like I had kind of gotten in my groove since the beginning of the season,” Tinsman said. “I was really nervous at the beginning, but by then I’d had experience with pitching, and then my second one, I think I did know what was going on. And then I kind of just knew that we had to get the outs no matter what it took. And if they did get a hit, then they got a hit.”

Before this season, Tinsman has played club softball where the team is made up of girls from around the state who meet together for practice and competitions.

“When I would play club, I would go to like Omaha and Beatrice for practices, but high school (softball) is a lot different, because it’s here, and the girls you play with go to your school, so you see them more often,” Tinsman said. “You just get that, like connection with each other. And you make a lot more friends almost that are in the school. You get to talk to them more.”

Tinsman remembers how supportive her teammates were when the coaches announced she had broken the school record for strikeouts in a season.

“It was amazing. All my teammates were, like, so supportive, and they were so happy. I think it was right after maybe one of our district games is when Marquardt announced it to everybody, and they were all so happy for me. It was a good moment.”

One moment from the season that stands out to Tinsman is playing in the Class B state tournament. 

“I’d probably say just going to the state tournament and getting that experience (was my favorite part of the season). It’s a very different environment,” Tinsman said. “There’s a lot more people, a lot more noise, there’s music after every single inning, it’s on TV, so it’s just a lot of pressure. And I think we stayed pretty calm the whole game. We could have handled our nerves a little bit more, but I think for the most part, we did well. And in my opinion, it feels like we won just getting to state, getting to the state championship. It’s just an amazing feeling.”

One unique aspect of the state tournament was that Tinsman knew many of the girls from Beatrice through her friend she has played club softball with for four years.

“We were playing my best friend’s team, Beatrice, and I knew almost all the girls on that team, so it was just such a special moment to be playing against them. Because at the beginning of the season, we were like, ‘What if we play each other in the state tournament?’ It was just so cool to actually have it happen,” Tinsman said.

Nothing Tinsman has accomplished throughout the season has surprised Head Softball Coach Blake Marquardt, including a grand slam Tinsman hit in the last district game against Blair that qualified the team for the state championship.

“Nothing that she does surprises me, because she’s such a good athlete and just a fierce competitor and a good person,” Marquardt said. “She works extremely hard for what she does, and she does get the benefits from it, but a grand slam in that moment on the big stage with the pitcher that we were facing was not something I anticipated from about anybody.”