Local youth softball teams getting ready to cheer on the Huskers

EAGLE, Neb. (KLKN) —The success from Nebraska softball is trickling down to the younger generation.

Chaos Softball is a youth developmental program founded in 2010 by Rick Dunavin. There are six teams and three different age groups, all traveling across the country to compete in tournaments.

But now they’ll be cheering on the Big Red on the biggest stage. It’s the Huskers’ first WCWS appearance since 2013, and that’s helping pave the way for players like those competing on Chaos.

“A lot of people are looking up to them now. It’s new,” said Dakota Butzke, a junior at Centennial. “They got a lot better this year. They’ve been good in the past, but it’s only going to go up from here.”

Now, according to Dunavin, this year’s team is growing the sport one girl at a time.

Nearly half of this year’s roster was born and raised in Nebraska, which only instills more confidence in girls across the state.

“Homegrown softball players are becoming so big,” Dunavin said. “You don’t have to be from California or Florida to go big or go home.”

“Seeing how softball has become more of a big thing because of all the players, that’s been pretty cool,” said Nora Davey, junior at Lincoln High.

But, Dunavin also says that it motivates the future to work even harder.

“Now, they’ve got an attainable goal. They live in Nebraska; they could go to Nebraska and do exactly what these girls are doing.”

The team has plans to watch the game at their facility in Eagle, following their Thursday night practice.