Photo by James Parrish Shelby Webster puts one into play for the North Platte Express against the Orland Park A's.

Photo by James Parrish Brooke Frederick of the North Platte Junior Belles looks to take a lead at second base.

Photo by James Parrish Kenzi Wiseman of the North Platte Sensations pops one up against the Plainfield Twisters.

The three North Platte softball teams-the Belles, the Sensations and the Express, were eliminated on Saturday in the double elimination tournament at the Northern Nationals.

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Before being eliminated though, the Sensations and the Belles picked up victories in their opening games in the loser's bracket on Saturday.

In their first game, the Sensations defeated the Richmond Rockets of Illinois 9-3 behind a grand slam by Shirley Keck that broke a tied game.

The Belles were also victorious in their morning game, beating the Colorado Dirt Devils 11-5.

Belles coach Shelly Byrn said that her team got off to a great start against the team from Fort Collins, Colo. and never looked back.

"We started right off the bat," said Byrn. "We had a good first inning and from there, we were pretty consistent. We had only one inning where we didn't put anything up."

The North Platte Express took the field after the Belles won for their first game of the day against the Orland Park A's.

Orland Park scored the first run of the game in the second inning but in the third inning, the Express got going.

Kaite Franzen hit a triple and then Reanna Crane brought her home with a one-out single. Sadie Vargas then brought Crane home with a fielder's choice to give the Express a 2-1 lead.

But those were the only two runs the Express scored. The A's tied the game at two in the fourth and in the top of the seventh, they scored twice to take a 4-2 lead.

The Express went down in order in the bottom of the seventh to see their season come to an end.

"We were in it until the end," said Express coach Mark Franzen. "We just left too many people on base but we fought hard until the end. I am very proud of the girls."

Franzen said that his team had a good season. They moved up a class and competed very well. He also said he's looking forward to next season, in which most of the Express' personnel will be returning.

"It was good season," Franzen said. "We took our lumps early but we played better throughout the season. It's a good solid group. We're a young 16 so we'll be back."

The Junior Belles took the field for their second game of the day to play the BNGSA Angels of Bloomington, Ill.

The Belles scored took the lead in the top of the first inning on Brook Boucher's two-run single.

But in the bottom of the third, the Angels tied it up with one swing of the bat on a home run. The Angels scored another run in the fifth to go up 3-2.

With their backs against the wall, the Belles scored the run they needed to stay alive and after holding the Angels in the bottom half of the seventh, the game went into extra innings.

With Brooke Frederick as the mandatory runner on second base to start the inning, Boucher hit a one-out single to give the Belles the lead.

But that was the only run the Junior Belles put up in the eighth and the Angels took advantage. The leadoff hitter reached on an error to score the runner from second and then the following batter hit one to shortstop Samantha Byrn who couldn't make a throw at the plate to get the second baserunner and the Angels won 5-4.

Byrn said it was a tough ending to a successful season.

"We didn't get enough run, that's always the adjective," she said. "But we accomplished our number one goal this season and that was to win the Class A state championship and that's something that you can't take away from the girls. We played hard against some good teams at this tournament. We put a lot of heart into it which is why it hurts so much now."

The North Platte Sensations also bowed out of the tournament, losing 11-9 to the Plainfield Twisters.

The Sensations had a good start. After giving up one run in the top of the first inning, they scored seven in the bottom half.

But they couldn't hold off the Twisters. The team from Plainfield, Ill. got back into it in the second by scoring five runs and pulling to within one run. Then in the third, the Twisters scored two to take an 8-7 lead and the Sensations never really recovered and their season also came to an end.