Holdrege, Neb. – The third year of co-op softball for Holdrege and Adams Central, and the second year for Minden, will offer some consistency for the players and coaches. It’s the first season since 2021 that nothing will change for the roughly 50-mile stretch of Highway 6 and 34. It’s definitely a welcome nuance for three schools who are used to competing against one another.
Head coach Jason Hale has taken an effective approach each off season to get his players acquainted with each other. He makes sure there is plenty of time spent together to build a strong comradery that naturally adds itself to a team mindset. Coach Hale knows his players are spending a lot of downtime together during traveling and at weekend tournaments. The off-season plans have been proven to pay off when the season begins.
After finishing 11-17 in the Trailblazers’ inaugural season last year, Highway 6 looks to take a step forward in 2024. The Trailblazers had their ups and downs but were able to come together and against some tough teams late in the 2023 season. With a 30-player roster that has an even mixture between the three schools, there’s some optimism for Highway 6.
Coach Hale doesn’t like to measure success and improvement solely by wins and losses. His goal for the team is to focus on getting better every day. Hale believes that as long as the Trailblazers work on that, the results will show themselves by the season’s end.
The Trailblazers open up their 2024 season in Holdrege on Friday, August 23. Hershey and Alliance come to town for a triangular that begins at 4:30 pm.
