“It was so hot my feet were baking. It was 106 degrees and one of the catchers passed out,” senior Alexis Handel, aka Tex, said when recalling one of her most memorable softball experiences. Handel is a player for Team Nebraska, a club softball team, and they had just won the USSSA 14U National Championship, something she is very proud of.

Handel is the oldest to three sisters: McKayle, Haylie, and Reese. After graduation, she plans to attend the University of Missouri-Kansas City to play softball for the Kangaroos and study health science. “I want to go into athletic training or some other job I can work with athletes,” Handel said.

Considering her love for softball, it comes as no surprise that Handel’s favorite school memory was beating the Kuemper Catholic Knights to move on to the State tournament for the first time in the history of Atlantic softball. Handel said she can remember the exact position she was in and the emotions she felt right before the team’s victory.

“Before the game, all I could think about was hitting dingers and how excited I was. Their fourth hitter was up. We all knew her, her name was Kayla Venner, and she had hit a home run off of Ally (Anderson) before, so Hinzmann knew not to pitch her inside. As Ally sent her last pitch, there was a smack against the catcher’s glove. Ally struck her out! I was shocked for a second when all of a sudden Ally screamed, ‘We’re going to State!’” Handel said the rest of the team crowded around her, Ally, and Catherine Leonard as they cried in a circle jumping up and down, in disbelief that they had beat the Knights, their Hawkeye Ten rival. Even though many memories were made, this is one she will always remember.