“We held our own!!”

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“We held our own!!”

July 11, 2015 by David Svien

Central Whidbey sluggers give a thumbs-up to being at the state tournament for the second straight season. (Renae Mulholland photo)

Reunited and it feels so right. Central Whidbey coach Mimi (Iverson) Johnson (left) and Marysville’s Natalie (Slater) Maneval were teammates at Coupeville High School and Skagit Valley College.

Win or lose, they were going to end the day in the swimming pool. That was a stone-cold fact.

So, while Central Whidbey’s coaches mull over an opening loss at the state little league softball tourney, their players have already moved on, happily splashing away in Vancouver.

The Pineapple Ninjas, Central Whidbey’s 9/10 All-Star squad, fell 7-1 to Marysville Saturday.

The loss drops the District 11 champs into a loser-out game 4 PM Sunday against East Seattle, which fell 6-0 to Gig Harbor.

Making its second straight trip to the big dance, Central Whidbey came up a bit short, but not for lack of effort.

“We held our own and played better than last year!,” said coach Mimi Johnson.

Central hurler Chanel Sterba “pitched her heart out” while Stella Johnson collected her team’s lone RBI, plating Kaia Richmond in the third.

Marysville jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first, then added two more in the third and capped things with another two-spot in the fifth.