9-10 year-olds dominate district

The 9-10-year-old North Whidbey Little League All-Star softball team completed the District 11 tournament with a flawless 4-0 record in Burlington on Wednesday night ...

Perfection.

The 9-10-year-old North Whidbey Little League All-Star softball team completed the District 11 tournament with a flawless 4-0 record in Burlington on Wednesday night, defeating Anacortes 13-3 for the right to go to the state tournament in Kirkland, July 23-31.

The team gained three 10-run victories in its four wins, starting with an 11-1 win over Anacortes, a 17-7 victory over Sedro-Woolley and a 10-8 win over Burlington to move on to the championship game.

Leading hitters during the tournament were Laura Rosen (.700), Marissa Fakkema (.650) and Morgan Young (.600).

It wasn’t just the hitting, however, that lifted to the NWLL team to a state berth. The team’s defense and pitching also played a major role.

“Our great pitching and catching made our defense tough to score on,” NWLL head coach Al Fakkema said.

Pitchers Emilee Saar and Mariah Martin each started two games and both were nearly untouchable.

Other key performances on the NWLL team came from Shelby Bender, Lydia Dolph, Baily Brown, Sam Zimmerman and Kyanne Jones.

Coaches Fakkema, Robert Young and Carl Martin also want to thank the families who came over to support the team.

An opponent for the state tournament was yet to be determined as of press time, but North Whidbey will face the top team from District 7 in the Seattle area.

To keep updated on the tournament log on to eteamz.active.com/wadistrict11/news.