When the Saronville Shiners’ 14U (14-and-under) baseball team gathered for the USSSA State Championship, they had not played together since May 20.
Three days later, the small-town squad was celebrating a state championship after defeating some of Nebraska’s top travel baseball programs and leaving more than a few opponents asking the same question: “Where is Saronville?” The weekend didn’t start the way the Shiners had hoped. They lost their first game 8-5 but quickly bounced back with a 10-4 win in their second game to earn a spot in the tournament’s top championship bracket.
From there, they kept winning. The Shiners defeated the Bellevue Bruins 7-1, followed by a commanding 22-4 victory over Nebraska Prime Blue.
Their next game against the Elkhorn Turtles turned into a pitchers’ duel, with neither team scoring until late in the game. Beckett Heitmann scored the game’s first run, giving the Shiners the momentum they needed to earn another victory. Kaige Jones pitched most of the game before Cam Heitmann came in to close it out.
That win sent the Shiners to the championship game, where they faced Gretna Thunder Black, the same team that had beaten them earlier in the tournament.
Gretna scored first, but the Shiners answered in the fourth inning and never looked back. Hayden Schlichtman blasted a grand slam home run, the defense settled in and Jedt Livgren pitched the entire game to help secure the championship.
The final play was one the team won’t soon forget. Kaige Jones made a play at third base before Brooks Ebert completed the game-ending double play at home, touching off the celebration.
The championship wasn’t the result of one player. Big contributions came from across the roster.
Jaden Beam, Conner Aspegren, Schlichtman and Bentley Farmer came up with key defensive plays in the outfield. Grady Arp held down first base, while Kaige Jones, Cam Heitmann, Jedt Livgren, Gage Tuma and Beckett Heitmann anchored the infield. Behind the plate, Brooks Ebert caught two straight games Sunday in the summer heat on turf fields.
The team is coached by Alex Jones, Jeremy Heitmann, Corey Heitmann and Corey Ebert.
The coaches were quick to credit everyone who helped make the season possible, including the parents who supported the team every step of the way.
Shay Jones reiterated that point when she shared, “We couldn’t have made this work without the players, the coaches, the Aspegrens and Eberts for hosting practices in their shops, and the families for making a dream turn into a reality,” the team shared after the championship. “Without them, we are nothing.”
For a program built to give kids from Nebraska’s small towns a chance to play together, winning a state championship was a dream realized.
And now, a few more people across Nebraska know exactly where Saronville is.
