Bellevue East’s varsity Baseball team is in the midst of their season and have been preparing for districts after last season’s doubleheader at districts led to new Nebraska School Activities Association, or NSAA, rules.
A rule change made by the NSAA for the 2025 season prevents doubleheaders during district play. This means that teams are protected from playing two games on the same day at districts.
“I caught the entire fifteen inning game against Grand Island and that’s the reason why they don’t let us do doubleheaders any more in case games last that long,” sophomore Ethan Greenwell said.
In the 2024 spring season Bellevue East played a fifteen inning game against Grand Island at districts on May 4 and another game against Lincoln SouthWest the same day. Baseball games usually consist of 9 innings, making 15 a very long game.
“Well, that was definitely a different type of day, we played 15 innings in one game and then we won 5-4,” senior Tanner Miller said. “Then we had to play another game right after and we lost 8-7 in the seventh inning,”
The doubleheader took a toll on Bellevue East’s players physically. The team played a total of 6 hours of baseball. According to Greenwell who played the catcher position, the game was exhausting. Despite the long day, the team maintained a competitive mindset.
“It was definitely tiring, but that was probably the toughest I’d ever seen our team play,” Greenwell said. “We battled it through, we fought to the very end.”
This year Bellevue East will play 18 games in total. On April 14, the team had won eight games and lost seven. There are still two more games left in the season.
“Up and down, we’re eight and seven right now so we aren’t doing too bad but we’ve got plenty of room to improve,” Greenwell said.
The team practices Monday through Saturday to prepare for games. This allows players to work on and improve their skills. Practicing can also create a time for team bonding where teammates can get to know each other better.
“The team dynamic is a bunch of guys that want to play baseball with each other and have fun and it’s like a family,” Miller said.
A competitive spirit plays a large role in this group’s team dynamic. The players strive to work hard on the field. The mentality is to play hard regardless of the score.
“Just play as hard as you can, it doesn’t really matter what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, just make sure that you give your full effort and that should be enough,” Greenwell said.
There are several different positions on the field, but the most impacted by the new rule change are the pitchers. According to the NSAA, pitchers must rest a certain number of days depending on the number of pitches they throw in a game. Due to the limited amount of pitches that can be thrown, it can create problems if games are on the same day and the pitchers have not rested.
“[At districts last year] We were out of pitching and just very tired,” Miller said.
A lot goes into making Bellevue East’s Baseball team game ready. Baseball is one of the biggest sports at East based on the number of players. It is important that gear is moved quickly during practices and games to make sure the team runs efficiently. According to a team manager, senior Lenna Fowler, she helps the team not only through her work, but also through her support.
“I pretty much help the coaches by taking things and bringing things like buckets to the shed and to the field,” senior Lenna Fowler said. “Then during games I do the Ipad Game Changer.”
With the new rule change, this year districts will look a little different in the way that the team won’t be disadvantaged like last year. The team is set to play at districts on Thursday May 8.
“We’ve been battling and trying to make a name for ourselves,” Miller said. “We have districts coming up this week so we’ll see how that goes.”
