Central Whidbey achieves league first

For the first time in their five year existence, Central Whidbey Little League has a team headed to the state tournament.

The Central Whidbey Junior Little League All-Star team, consisting of 13-14 year-olds, took first place at the District 11 tournament in Anacortes over the weekend.

“It was cool for them to be the first group of kids to go through the Little League program and get rewarded like this,” head coach Willie Smith said.

The CWLL team worked its way from the losers bracket, defeating Orcas Island twice to take the tournament title.

In game one Central Whidbey jumped out to an early lead they never relinquished. Highlights include a strong relief pitching performance by Cory Black and a perfectly executed squeeze bunt by Kyle Wilcox scoring two runs.

Central Whidbey did much of the same in game two against Orcas. They lit up their opponents pitching, collecting 15 hits en route to a 12-1 five inning win.

For the tournament, the CWLL All-Stars outscored their opponents 57-19. James Smith led the team offensively, hitting .700, followed by Casey Larson at .612 and Matt Williams at .500. Alex Evans, Ian Lind and Wilcox all had solid defensive performances throughout the tournament.

Central Whidbey will play either a team from District 5 or District 8 at 11 a.m., Saturday, July 19 in Centralia for the first round of the state tournament.

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