HASTINGS, Neb. — Even when Ella Tinsman was a freshman, she knew her way around the Hastings dugout.
That came from the previous two seasons, when she was a junior high student-manager for the Tigers. And the experience proved helpful last season, when Tinsman became the ace of the staff.
And teaming with a roster chock full of seniors, Hastings made the Class B final.
“It was a fun experience just seeing how the whole program works,” Tinsman said. “Then also when you do come in your freshman year you’re not as nervous to go in or scared of the seniors.”
Beatrice edged the Tigers 1-0 in eight innings for the state title, despite 15 strikeouts from Tinsman, who surrendered four hits and one walk. She was the lone freshman on The World-Herald’s All-Nebraska first or second team after finishing 23-3 in 2024.
And with Tinsman shining in the circle and at the plate again this season, the Tigers (16-5) are Class B title contenders — again.
She improved to 12-2 with Tuesday 2-1’s win, eight-inning win over Norris. She had a career-high 21 strikeouts, moving her season total to 196 in 79.1 innings. She also had 19 strikeouts against Bennington.
Hastings coach Blake Marquardt said it was clear early last year that the Tigers would lean on Tinsman.
“Ella went out on the first night and threw a perfect game against Gering,” Marquardt said. “Right there kind of set the tone for the team. I knew she was special, but you don’t know how that’s going to translate to the high school game until you get there.
“When you’re playing summer, you’re playing against kids just your age. Last year (in high school) she was 15 playing against 18-year-olds. That’s a big jump. But opening night, I think, set the tone.”
Tinsman is proving she’s ready for the pressure and attention as a Division I college recruit as well.
Marquardt said LSU coach Beth Torina and one of her assistants flew from Baton Rouge to watch Hastings’ 12-0, three-inning victory Aug. 26 over McCook. Tinsman threw a perfect game.
“Unfortunately, it was only a three-inning game because we put up 12 runs pretty quickly,” Marquardt said. “They literally flew up, caught the game here in Hastings, drove back to Omaha and flew back to Baton Rouge the next morning.”
Nebraska coach Rhonda Revelle and three assistants were in the front row when Tinsman, who had 16 strikeouts, led the Tigers to a 6-4 victory Sept. 16 over defending Class A champion Gretna.
Other schools that have expressed interest include Texas, Oregon, Texas Tech, Alabama, Florida, Duke and Creighton.
Instead of dreading the onslaught of interest, Tinsman enjoys researching the academic offerings and the culture of those college cities.
“This next summer is technically my recruiting year where they can start watching me more, and the next year is when they can start talking to me,” Tinsman said. “I try to focus on it when I’m away from the field by (responding to) emails and trying to stay connected with them while doing research.
“I’m not quite sure what career I want to go into yet, so I’ve been trying to look at some of those things.”
And while broadening her horizons, Marquardt and Tinsman are working to broaden her arsenal of pitches.
“We started with the fastball, change-up and screwball,” Marquardt said. “By the time she got into high school, I’d say 80% of the calls were curveballs. We went to the curve, change-up and a little bit of riseball.
“The rise has always been a developing pitch. This year we are, I’d say, 75% rise and 20% change. Now we’re working on a dropball. It’s a fast drop, but we’re trying to get that in a certain quadrant of the zone.”
The dropball has been two years in the making, and could become a staple of Tinsman’s repertoire once more movement develops.
But for now, Tinsman’s primary focus is on a strong finish to the regular season before postseason play begins in October.
“Last year I had a couple of home runs here and there, but I wasn’t as consistent as I wanted to be,” Tinsman said. “So my focus right now is just finding gaps and getting on base because that’s what we really need at this point to score timely runs.”
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