Top-ranked Millard South softball has depth and talent to win fourth-straight Nebraska Class A championship

Three-time state champion Millard South (Omaha) may take a lot of big shots on the softball diamond this fall. But the Patriots will most assuredly deliver the most knockout blows.

Beginning with last Saturday's 4-0 season-opening blanking of Top 5 foe Marian (Omaha), to whichever adversary his club draws in the postseason, Millard South coach Steve Kerkman will guide the Patriots through a rugged schedule aligned with some big hitters.

By the end of September, the Patriots will have played each of the softball programs ranked in the preseason Top 5s by both the Omaha World Herald and the Lincoln Journal Star at least once.

However, with 17 of 19 varsity players back from a season ago, the Patriots will take no prisoners. Kerkman's talented returnees look forward to the challenges that lie ahead.

"I love playing against that type of schedule," returning first team Super-State shortstop Vicky Kinney said following Saturday's win. "Coming into the season they were considered to be one of the teams to beat. Games like that this early give us an opportunity to see where we are and what we need to work on."

For senior Jordan Johnson, a first team Super-State hurler and the winning pitcher in the last two Class A state championship contests, it was a relief to get a win over Marian, a team that she thinks should be ranked in the Top 3.

"I was very anxious to go up against them," Johnson said of the Crusaders. "They are definitely a top contender. It just felt really good to get a win over them."

Senior second baseman Emily Hove, the third and final first-team Super-State selectee returning for her final season of competition under Kerkman, receives a sense of satisfaction from defeating top-notch competition.

"It's fun to play tough games," Hove said. "Especially early. We feel better about what we just accomplished, and I think we play harder from the get-go."

Next up for Johnson, Kinney and Hove and company is No. 2 perennial power Papillion-LaVista (Papillion), winners of 13 Nebraska big school state softball titles since 1995.

But the Patriots are more than capable of handling the onslaught, especially after starting the 2014 campaign 2-0 with the shutout of Marian and Tuesday's 14-1 triumph over then-No. 3 ranked North Star (Lincoln).

Kerkman's senior class now owns a 91-11 record following Tuesday's win, and if all goes as expected Millard South would become the second school in Nebraska prep softball history to have a class win four straight state championships. The other? Papillion-LaVista.

In all, the Patriots return four first-team Super-State players and another that was selected to the second team.

Sophomore center fielder Rylie Unzicker, who has already committed to play softball at the University of Nebraska, battled her way onto the state's Super-State first team by hitting .551 and breaking the school record for the highest batting average in a season. Junior rightfielder Camille Fowler hit .440 a year ago, and earned second-team Super-State honors.

"We all are equal," said Hove, who hit seven home runs last year as a leadoff hitter. "We play to help each other get better. It's awesome. We not only expect to be good, we push and we push and we push."

Seniors Kim Merwald (first base), Natalie Wilson (third base) and Leah Kalkwarf (left field) also return to man the positions they started at in 2013.

Merwald, a College of St. Mary softball commit, has started 70 percent of Millard South's softball games the last two seasons. Wilson and Kalkwarf are set to begin their fourth seasons on the Patriots varsity roster and their third seasons as starters.

Seniors Nikki McNeil, Maddie Siedlik and Val Kinney, who will play softball at South Dakota State, round out the final-year players Kerkman has at his disposal. In all, Kerkman has nine seniors listed on his loaded roster.

Other underclassmen set to do their part in keeping the Millard South state title barrage going this season, and beyond, are junior Nebraska softball commit Payton Huscroft, a .380 hitter a year ago, junior pitcher Ally Marcsisak (6-0 as the No. 2 pitcher in 2013), junior Paige Gerdes, who along with McNeil and Siedlik missed parts of last season with injuries, and junior catcher Riley Kister.

According to Kerkman, a finalist (regional representative) for the National High School Softball Coach of the Year award presented by the NHSHCA a year ago, the Patriots return starters to every position, but catcher.

The returning players from Kerkman's third-straight state title team hit .399 collectivel, a year ago, and were credited with 202 runs batted in, 54 doubles, three triples and 26 home runs. Kerkman welcomes back enough speed to account for 22 stolen bases in 2013 and a pitching staff that baffled opposing hitters, while compiling a 1.39 earned run average.

"We have a great combination of speed and power and a mix of righthanders and lefthanders," Kerkman said. "We will also be able to have great hitters coming off the bench as well.

"We have many starters back from last year, a dynamically fast outfield and many (of our) starters are all-state players and multi-year starters."

Just as the Patriots were getting ready to repeat in the first championship game against Papillion-LaVista last fall, Kerkman's squad received a gut-check blow in a 7-4 loss to a program that has competed in the state finals in 16 of the last 19 seasons.

"Every time we play Papio, we know that we always have to play our best," Johnson said. "We are both very hardworking programs that are working for a state championship every year. It's always a great game, and it's fun to have such an intense rivalry."

Millard South players did suck it up, and vanquished the program that dominated state competition until they themselves stepped to the forefront the last three seasons. The Patriots also won a state title in 2005 and finished as runner-up in 1994, 1996 and 2010.

The only school other than Millard South or Papillion-LaVista to win a Class A state softball championship since 1995 is Lincoln Southwest in 2008 and 2009.

"We learned that we can never think anything is in the bag and that we have to play our game 100 percent of the time and be mentally prepared to handle adversity," Kerkman said of his club's 13-4 bounce-back championship win to conclude the double-elimination tournament.

As his squad begins preparations for Sept. 4's No. 1 vs. No. 2 tussle at home against the second-ranked Monarchs, Kerkman looks forward to the struggles and successes of the upcoming season.

"Our team is very excited for this year and we look forward to a great and memorable season," Kerkman said. "We have nine seniors on the team that are very success-driven and great leaders on the field and in the school.

"We need to keep everyone happy and putting the team first. We have a decent amount of depth but can't let drama get in the way."