Coupeville Sports

After a tough loss, the Whidbey Island All-Star juniors softball squad is ready to sprint back into action at the state tourney. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They can still win a title.

Saturday’s opener at the state tourney in Vancouver didn’t end the way the Whidbey Island All-Star juniors softball squad wanted, as it lost a late lead and fell 12-11 to Camas.

But the big dance is a double-elimination tourney, and with short memories and blazing bats, the Inferno can fight their way back.

The road to redemption begins Sunday afternoon, when Whidbey plays a loser-out game against South Hill Little League of Puyallup.

Win there, and the Inferno return to action Monday.

Keep coming out on top and they could play all the way through July 15.

It won’t be an easy path at this point, with Whidbey needing six straight wins across five days to claim a state title.

But, if the Inferno come out like they did for the first four-and-a-half innings Saturday, it’s not an impossible dream.

Facing the tourney hosts, Whidbey jumped on Camas early, building a 4-0 lead after an inning and a half, eventually stretching the lead all the way out to 10-4 headed into the bottom of the fifth.

Haylee Burleigh got things started early, whacking a triple to right in the top of the first, before scooting home on an RBI single off the bat of Savina Wells.

Madison McMillan followed Wells to the plate, bopping a run-scoring double to center, and the Inferno were heating up.

A double from Loto Tupu and a single to short from Adyson Morales set the table in the second, with Payton Ludemann bringing both of her teammates around to score on a shot to right.

Up 4-0 and cruising, Whidbey hit a brief bump in the bottom of the second, however, allowing Camas to crawl back in the game and tie things up.

But, as quickly as the hosts showed a bit of life, the Inferno returned to issuing a beat-down.

Three runs in the third, and another three-spot in the fourth, while Wells was firing BB’s from the pitcher’s circle, put Whidbey in a pleasant position.

The Inferno were getting contributions from everyone on the roster — 11 of 13 players collected a hit in the opener — and many of the base-knocks were of the extra-base variety.

Coupeville’s Katie Marti crunched an RBI double in the third, while Oak Harbor’s Layla Suto and Tupu crashed back-to-back one-out three-baggers in the fourth.

And there could have been more.

Up 10-4, the Inferno stranded Tupu at third, starting their only dry stretch of the afternoon — a run of nine straight batters who went down from the end of the fourth inning through the start of the seventh.

Given a reprieve, Camas dug deep and scratched out five runs in the bottom of the fifth to get all the way back to 10-9.

The fatal blow was a bases-loaded triple from Papermaker slugger Kallie True, but the Inferno  promptly picked her off third to end the inning and strand the tying run.

Camas had found its groove, unfortunately, and pushed two more runs across in the bottom of the sixth to claim the lead for the first time all day.

Though trailing 11-10, Whidbey came up huge on defense for a second-straight inning, with McMillan pulling off an unassisted double play on a liner to third to end the bleeding.

Down to their final two outs, the Inferno proved plucky and then some.

Bringing an end to her team’s run of nine straight outs, Tupu whacked a one-out single, with Taylor Brotemarkle following with a hit of her own.

Getting crafty, Whidbey used a bunt to bring the tying run home, with Morales artfully using her bat to drop the ball with perfection.

A Ludemann single loaded the bags, but this time it was Camas which escaped, as it pulled off its own double play on a liner, with the ball flying to first base this time around.

The Inferno came a single out from sending the game to extra innings, only to see the Papermakers drop in the game-breaking hit in the bottom of the seventh.

True singled, stole second, went to third on a fielder’s choice, then came home with the winning run on a walk-off RBI single from Ainsley Schweitzer.

Whidbey’s hit parade was led by Tupu, who collected three base-knocks, including a double and triple.

Burleigh, Wells, McMillan, and Brotemarkle each had two hits, while Teagan Calkins, Suto, Morales, Marti, Ludemann, and Lilly Norman netted one apiece.

Jada Heaton and Mia Farris rounded out the active roster, with Heaton collecting Whidbey’s lone walk on the afternoon – courtesy of getting hit by a pitch.

Wells went the distance for the Inferno, whiffing five, with 80 of her 127 pitches being strikes.