Some of the top teams from a four-state (Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado, Oklahoma) region will take the diamond for the 2nd Annual NFCA Kaiti Williams Leadoff Classic. Gretna, Lincoln East, and Millard West, currently the top three ranked teams from Nebraska are in the field along with Blue Springs South, Rock Bridge, and Liberty. Three of the top teams from Missouri. Blue Springs South won the Missouri state championship last year.
Pool play games start on Friday at 9 AM and continue throughout the day with the last games set to start at 5:45 PM. Saturday is broken down into a gold, silver, and bronze bracket depending on how teams place in their pool. The championship game is set for 4 PM on Saturday at Papillion Landing. The full schedule can be found on the Papillion South softball website here.
The tournament is dedicated to Kaiti Williams, a former Papillion South Titan, who unexpectedly passed away in the spring of 2015 at the age of 22 from an irregular heartbeat. Katie was the first Titan athlete to earn 12 varsity letters in her career, 4 each in softball, basketball, and track and field. She was also an academic all-state in all 3 sports. After graduating from high school, Kaiti attended Wayne State where she earned all-conference honors in softball all 4 years. In 2018, Kaiti was elected to the Wayne State College athletic Hall-of-Fame.
You can donate to the Kaiti Williams Memorial Scholarship Fund by visiting the Kaiti Williams Memorial Scholarship Fund website.
Teams Playing in the 2023 Kaiti Williams Leadoff Classic:
- Papillion South (co-host)
- Millard North (co-host)
- Millard West
- Millard South
- Gretna
- Papillion La-Vista
- Omaha Burke
- Lincoln Southwest
- Lincoln Southeast
- Westview
- Lincoln Pius
- Grand Island
- Elkhorn South
- Roncalli
- Blair
- Gretna East
- Lincoln Northeast
- Blue Springs South, MO
- Helias Catholic, MO
- Rock Bridge, MO
- Valor Christian, CO
- Silo HS, OK
- Liberty HS, MO
- Legend HS, CO
