1976 State Softball Champions Duchesne High School 50th Anniversary of the Team at the 10/2/26 Homecoming Game
To kick off our Homecoming game festivities, please help us welcome back to Frank Barro Stadium the 1976 Duchesne Softball State Championship Team!
Girl’s high school sports were in their infancy in the early 1970’s. Prior to the fall of 1976, St. Charles County high schools had accumulated 8 state championships – all male teams.
The Missouri State high school activities association hosted the first-ever statewide softball championship tournament in the fall of 1976, and your Duchesne Pioneers won it? Members of that team are standing before us tonight. They not only represent the first state champion softball team, but also the first female team from St. Charles County to bring a championship back to our area.
The 1976 season was a special one. Under head coach Sue Burkemper McClintock and assistant coach Marita Freymuth (Malone), the ladies put in the work that championships are made from. They finished the season with a record of 16-2. They were Co-GAC champions sharing the title with Fort Zumwalt.
The pitching and defense the Lady Pioneers faced during the regular season more than prepared them for post season play. They were battle-tested and ready for the first-ever opportunity to make a deep post-season run. Coach McClintock’s philosophy seemed simple but effective: “Score runs and give 100 percent effort all of the time.”
In the regional game the Lady Pioneers played an undefeated Affton team. The game ended in a 6-3 Pioneer victory behind the strong pitching arm of Kathy Cassmeyer and the outstanding glove of shortstop Nancy Abeling. The Pioneers kept it interesting but thanks to timely hitting from Pam Boschert and Linda Steinhoff the ladies were able to close out the game with a victory and were headed to Jefferson City for the first ever Final Four in girls Softball.
In the semifinal state game, the Pioneers faced Gainesville High School. They made quick work of the Bulldogs, playing only 5 innings and advancing to the state championship after a 13-1 victory.
The state championship game brought the Pioneers against Westphalia-Fatima in a historic game for the first-ever Missouri State High School Softball championship. A shaky third inning made it a tense game before the Lady Pioneers broke the game open in the fifth
inning, scoring six runs, led by Nancy Abeling and Mary Rufkahr’s homeruns. The Pioneers cruised to a 14-5 victory behind the pitching of Kathy Cassmeyer, and history was made!
One last note of interest – assistant coach Marita Freymuth missed that championship game. Coach Freymuth was working on a different diamond that day. She was married at St Peter Church while the girls were celebrating the state championship and became known as Coach Malone from that day forward.
Now Let’s meet the ladies:
Head Coach and GAC Coach of the Year - Sue Burkemper McClintock
Assistant Coach - Marita Freymuth Malone
Joan Feldmann Duello
Anne Thro Eichler
GAC Honorable Mention - Etta Burmeister Green
Martha Boschert Hollander
GAC Second Team - Joan Hammond Kane
GAC First Team - Mary Rufkahr Ohlms
GAC First Team - Pam Boschert Ohrman
Robyn Schmitt Peyton
GAC First Team and Most Valuable Player - Kathy Cassmeyer Urbish
Other members of the team who could not make it tonight include:
Kathy Alloway
Bonnie Kuehler Getzinger
Jennifer Wynn Iffrig
Margaret Schelich Moore
Linda Steinhoff Nash
Barb Reiling Rogers
Nancy Meyer VanDover
Jill Honerkamp Zupec
And our thoughts are with three members of the Championship Team who have passed:
Dawn Boschert
Jane Hammond
Nancy Abeling Malin
On the 50th anniversary of the first-ever girls state championship at Duchesne High School, let’s hear it one more time for our Duchesne Pioneers 1976 State Softball Champions!