Players of last year’s state runner-up Yutan-Mead Patriots weren’t just sitting at home this summer. A handful of these girls were putting their skills to work on Primetime Watts select softball team with a very victorious season.

“All the failures from the past years have motivated us to have the best success yet this season,” said senior Alyssa Husing. 

Joining Husing on the team were seniors Laycee Josoff and Ella Watts, junior Maycee Hays and eight other girls from the Omaha area. The girls said their chemistry was a huge part of their triumph.

“[It’s the] strongest part of the team,” said head coach of Primetime and assistant coach of Yutan-Mead Bill Watts.  “They really enjoy being around each other on and off the field.”

Off the field is where the girls made some of their best memories. 

“We’ve gone whitewater rafting and I fell into the river,” Husing said. “That was a really fun experience with my team.”

 Although they had a lot of fun, Primetime still had their eye on the prize of winning the Class A Nebraska State Championship. 

“Once the game started, we got off to a slow start,” Coach Watts said. “Then the bats came alive. It felt like we were unstoppable; we just kept hitting.” 

Good things tend to happen when hitting is contagious, and Primetime proved that. 

“If [Fury Gold] scored, we knew we had possibly a chance of losing,” Ella Watts said. “I hit a home run that set off to a couple of base hits, and we actually ended up beating them and winning the state championship.”

Now that Primetime Watts were state champions, they sought to win again at nationals. 

“Several games came down to the wire, so staying in the game mentally was challenging,” Coach Watts said. 

In one game, the team had less than five minutes to secure the win.

“We had to get three outs within three minutes, so it was really competitive,” Husing said. 

Trying to finish out consolation finals with a win, their adrenaline was pumping with excitement and energy.

“[It was] just all the great plays my teammates made. That was probably one of our best tournaments,” said Ella Watts. 

Despite the great plays, however, Primetime just missed the mark and ended their conquering season getting third at nationals. 

“We really had a chance to win [the national title] but just fell a little short,” Coach Watts said. 

In the end, both the placement and experience proved to be memorable for the Primetime Watts players. 

“The best part of nationals was not only spending time with my team and having fun off the field,” Husing said, “but coming together and earning a medal on the field.”