PAPILLION, Neb. — Undefeated Gretna High claimed the gold bracket and tournament title over the weekend at the third annual NFCA Kaiti Williams Memorial Leadoff Classic hosted by Papillion-LaVista South and Millard North High Schools at the Papillion Landing Softball Complex.
The (18-0) Dragons defeated co-host Millard North, 10-0, in Saturday’s championship game to capture their second Kaiti Williams Leadoff title in the past three seasons. Gretna, the No. 3-ranked team in the latest NFCA Summer/Fall High School Coaches Poll, rolled through the event, going 5-0 and outscoring its opponents 33-1.
The Dragons scored victories over No. 25 Helias Catholic, No. 15 Lincoln Southwest, co-host Papillion-LaVista South and Millard West in their other four games. After winning the inaugural NFCA-branded event in 2022, Gretna went 4-1 and finished second to Papillion-LaVista last year.
Runner-up Millard North went 4-1 at the event, scoring 27 runs while shutting out its first three tournament opponents. The (11-4) Mustangs, who were nationally-ranked the first two weeks of the season, outlasted Elkhorn South, 8-7 in eight innings, to advance to Saturday’s gold final. Millard North also finished second to Gretna in 2022.
Blue Springs South (No. 12), Piedmont (No. 13) and Papillion-LaVista (No. 17) were the other two ranked teams at the event, which featured 26 teams from four states. Eighteen squads were from Nebraska, four hailed from Missouri, and two each were from Colorado and Oklahoma.
All teams played twice in Friday’s pool-play round, before being placing in one of three brackets for Saturday. The top eight teams played in the gold (championship) bracket, the next eight competed in the silver bracket, and the remaining 10 comprised the bronze bracket.
Other competing teams were Bellevue West, Blair, Grand Island, Fossil Ridge, Gretna East, Legend, Liberty, Lincoln Northeast, Lincoln Pius, Lincoln Southeast, Millard South, Norris, Omaha Mercy, Rock Bridge, Silo and Westview.
The tournament honors the memory of Williams, who starred at Papillion-LaVista South High and went on to a record-setting career at Division II Wayne State College, before dying unexpectedly due to an irregular heartbeat in 2015 at age 22.
Williams was the first Titan athlete to earn 12 varsity letters during her high school career, collecting four each in softball, basketball, and track and field. She earned academic all-state honors in all three sports, and captained all three squads her final two seasons.
She was all-state in softball three seasons, was a starter on the first Titan girls basketball team to reach the state tournament, and qualified for states all four years as a thrower on the track team, earning five medals and fourth-place finishes in the shot put and discus her senior year. Williams carried a 3.95 grade-point average and was honored as the Runza/KPTM Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the state of Nebraska in 2010-11.
In college, Williams played every game for the Wildcats’ softball squad and earned all-conference honors all four years. She finished as the school-record holder in batting average, runs batted in, doubles and total bases, and graduated with honors.
Williams was posthumously inducted into the Wayne State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018, and her No. 14 jersey is retired at the school.
Money raised at the tournament benefits the Kaiti Williams Memorial Scholarship, which helps female graduates of Papillion-LaVista South High pursue higher education and athletics at the collegiate level.
To donate to the Kaiti Williams Memorial Scholarship fund, visit https://midlandscommunity.org/fund/kaiti-williams-memorial-scholarship-fund/
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