“Can’t talk, have to check my stats!” (Photo by Suzan Georges)
Scoring runs? Not a problem.
After sweeping a doubleheader from visiting Anacortes Saturday, the Central Whidbey Little League Juniors softball team has scored 15 or more times in every single one of its 11 games.
So little wonder that the Wolves, after grabbing 18-10 and 19-9 victories at Rhododendron Park, sit at a flawless 11-0.
They’re doing it with pitching, with defense, but most of all, with booming bats, opportunistic base-running, and a love for stamping their feet on home plate.
And how many times have their spikes slammed down, you ask?
Oh, just 209 times so far, which means the Wolves are averaging an uncanny 19 runs a game. No big deal.
How Saturday played out:
Game 1:
After throwing five runs up on the board in the bottom of the first to claim a 5-2 lead, Central Whidbey never relinquished its advantage.
Though Anacortes didn’t go down all that easily.
The visitors twice rallied to within just two runs, at 6-4 and 12-10, but both times the Wolves responded emphatically.
The first time things got momentarily tense, Central Whidbey piled up five runs in the bottom of the fourth to stretch the lead back out.
Cue Anacortes chip-chip-chippin’ away at the lead, and then the Wolves hammering their rivals one more time, with a six-run assault in the sixth sealing the win.
Wolf pitcher Gwen Gustafson held Anacortes scoreless over the game’s final two innings, with barely a flicker of danger, and it was on to game two.
Central Whidbey piled up a mountain of hits on the day, raining down 20 in just the first game.
Savina Wells and Gustafson led the way with four base-knocks apiece, with Wells collecting a pair of doubles, while Sofia Peters, Maddie Georges, and Melanie Navarro had three singles each.
Rounding out the hit parade were Vivian Farris, Jill Prince, and Cypress Socha, while Adrian Burrows and Karyme Castro saw field time as well.
Game 2:
If the opener was semi-close, the nightcap turned into a rout quickly.
Trailing 3-0 when they came up in the bottom of the first, the Wolves promptly threw down 13 runs, with the first 11 batters reaching base safely.
Given a lead, Farris took to the pitcher’s circle and held Anacortes at bay, while getting some solid work from her defense.
Georges ripped a triple, while Wells, Socha, Gustafson, and Peters all doubled.
Central Whidbey collected “only” 13 hits in the second game, with Georges rattling a pair of singles to go with her three-bagger, but also eked out eight walks.
Burrows and Gustafson both picked up two free passes, Wells, Peters, Navarro, and Gustafson each finished with two hits, and Farris aided her own cause with a sharply-smacked single.
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