One was easy and won was tough, but they were both wins.

The two victories have launched the Central Whidbey Junior (13-14) Little League baseball team into the quarter finals of the state tournament at Medical Lake High School.

Central Whidbey ripped Redmond 12-1 in the opener Saturday, July 17, then edged West Seattle 6-2 in extra innings Sunday in the second round.

Next up is Fort Vancouver at 9 a.m. tomorrow, July 20.

In the big win over Redmond, assistant coach Ramon Villaflor said CW had “amazing pitching” from Korbin Korzan, Jake Tumblin and Ben Etzell. He added that the team played “solid defense all the way around” and “everyone hit the ball.”

It took an extra inning, but Central Whidbey erupted for four runs in the eighth to pull out the win over West Seattle. Villaflor said Brendan Ameluxan-Coleman’s double and Paul Schmakeit’s hustle single ignited the rally.

Pitchers Tumblin, Aaron Trumbull and Kurtis Smith combined to limit West Seattle to two runs.