State bound: Central Whidbey wins district title / Junior softball

Late-inning heroics earned the Central Whidbey Junior softball team a trip to the state tournament.

Central Whidbey, which also includes three players from North Whidbey and one from South Whidbey, defeated Orcas Island twice Saturday, June 17, at Rhododendron Park to win the best-of-three series and the District 11 title.

Now Central Whidbey heads to the state tournament, which begins Monday, June 26, in Monroe.

“I am so proud of these girls,” coach Mimi Johnson said. “We lost to Orcas during regular season by one in each game, so the girls were very excited to face them again. These games were a battle to the end. This is my last year coaching Little League so it is fun to leave on a high note.”

Central Whidbey and Orcas Island are similar in talent. As Johnson noted, Orcas Island defeated CWLL twice a week earlier in the regular-season finale, winning both games by one run. One of the games went extra innings.

Saturday was Central Whidbey’s turn to win a pair of close games. The first contest was another extra-inning nail-biter, and Central scored five times in the top of the eighth to cement the 10-5 win.

In the second game, Coupeville scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to squeak out a 10-9 win.

Central Whidbey 10, Orcas Island 5 (8 innings)

CW produced a good beginning and an even better finish to win the opener.

Central Whidbey started with a bang when the first four batters reached base and all scored. Coral Caveness began it all with a single, then Audrianna Shaw doubled. The pattern continued as Melody Wilkie singled and Mollie Bailey doubled. MacKenzie Hodges singled later in the inning.

Orcas Island chipped away, eventually taking the lead 5-4 after four innings.

Central Whidbey tied the game with a run in the fifth when Stella Johnson singled and moved around on wild pitches.

Both teams threatened in the sixth and seventh but couldn’t score, sending the game into extra innings.

With one out in the top of the eighth, the players who got the big rally going in the first inning sparked the offense again. Caveness walked, Shaw singled, Wilkie doubled and Bailey singled. Central Whidbey wasn’t finished, as Madelyn Tucker and Johnson followed with base hits.

CW pitcher, Wilkie, recorded two strikeouts in the bottom of the eighth to finish with 14 Ks.

Wilkie also paced the offense, as she and Shaw rapped four hits. Johnson added three hits, Caveness and Bailey collected two, and Tucker and Hodges had one.

Central Whidbey 10, Orcas Island 9

Central Whidbey erased a 4-1 deficit with a five-run third inning behind hits by Caveness, Shaw and Johnson.

After Orcas tied the game in the fifth, Coupeville regained the lead, 7-6, with a run in the sixth on singles by Johnson, Anabel Thayer and Mareena Reblischke-Smith.

Orcas Island then rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh to go ahead 9-7.

Hits by Shaw, Bailey and Tucker set up Jill Prince’s game-winning two-run single with two outs.

Shaw finished with three hits; Bailey, Johnson and Prince recorded two apiece; and Caveness, Tucker, Thayer and Kylie Vanvelkinburg all singled.

Wilkie, again, was the winning pitcher, striking out 11.