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Archive for the ‘Little League’ Category

Hammerheads droppin’ haymakers

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged , , , , on May 15, 2019| 1 Comment »

When you introduce yourself to the umpire. “I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I’m so mean I make medicine sick!” (Jackie Saia photo)

The bats have spoken, one more time.

Cracking 20 runs for the sixth time this spring, the Central Whidbey Little League Majors softball team rained down sweet destruction on yet another foe.

This time out, the rival was the North Whidbey Dragons, and they fell hard, losing 20-2 Tuesday to the sweet-swingin’, home plate-tappin’ Hammerheads.

With the victory, Central Whidbey rises to 11-1 on the season, having outscored opposing teams 199-52.

There was a moment – a very brief moment – when North Whidbey looked like it had a chance, as the visitors slapped two runs on the scoreboard in the top of the first at Rhododendron Park.

That changed, rapidly, as the Hammerheads responded with nine runs in their half of the first, before tossing in another 11 runs in the second inning, just for good measure.

North Whidbey could do very little against Central’s one-two combo in the pitcher’s circle, as Hammerhead hurlers Chloe Marzocca and Allison Nastali combined for five strikeouts in three innings of work.

Meanwhile, the only thing which could slow down CWLL at the plate was the fact the mercy rule went into effect after the top of the third, preventing the Hammerheads from hitting a third time.

Nastali pounded out three hits to lead the Central offense, while Marzocca added two, and Jada Heaton, Brionna Blouin, Katie Marti, Mia Farris, and Madison McMillan smacked a base-knock apiece.

The Hammerheads also picked up 12 walks, with Teagan Calkins, Taylor Brotemarkle, Mayleen Weatherford, and Aleksia Jump getting aboard that way.

All 11 Central Whidbey players scored at least once, as Nastali and McMillan zipped across home three times each.

Things get a little different in the coming days, as the Hammerheads host a four-team, double-elimination “Softball Classic” featuring teams from all sections of the Island.

Games run from Thursday, May 16, through Wednesday, May 22 (if the championship goes to two games) and pit Central Whidbey against South Whidbey, as well as both North Whidbey teams, the Bandits and Dragons.

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Hammerheads chomp Skagit twice

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged , , , , , on May 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

“Scoring runs? It’s kind of my thing!” (Jackie Saia photos)

Brionna Blouin gets some planking in during a pause in the action.

Teagan Calkins stands tall behind the plate.

“You thought you might beat us? You thought wrong!”

Find a way to win.

The Central Whidbey Little League Majors softball squad kept its season-long hot streak alive Saturday, sweeping a road double header against South Skagit with two very different victories.

The Hammerheads opened the twin-bill at Mt. Baker Middle School by pulling out an 11-8 win in extra innings, then dominated in the nightcap, pounding their foes 16-2 in a game shortened by the mercy rule.

With the sweep, the Majors mashers return home sporting a 10-1 record on the season.

How it played out Saturday:

 

Game 1:

Chloe Marzocca ripped off 16 strikeouts from the pitcher’s circle for the Hammerheads, but Central Whidbey had to overcome being caught in a triple play and losing the lead late.

After building an 8-2 margin, thanks to a four-run first inning and then a steady drip of one-run frames, CWLL stumbled, briefly, giving up six runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Never blinking, the Hammerheads calmly regrouped, moved into the unexpected seventh and dropped three runs on the board to seal the deal.

Central Whidbey finished the game with 11 hits, as Mia Farris, Madison McMillan, Brionna Blouin, and Allison Nastali led the way with two base-knocks apiece.

McMillan blasted a triple, while Teagan Calkins, Jada Heaton, and Mayleen Weatherford chipped in with singles.

The Hammerheads also showed patience at the plate, picking up seven walks, with Taylor Brotemarkle earning two free passes.

Calkins, Heaton, McMillan, Aleksia Jump, and Katie Marti also won duels with the South Skagit hurler, then bolted to first to claim their base.

 

Game 2:

Nastali replaced Marzocca in the pitcher’s circle, whiffing three across four innings, while her catcher, Blouin, was on fire.

The Hammerheads backstop picked off a runner on the base-paths and twice tracked down foul balls behind the plate, pulling in the rapidly-dropping balls for crucial outs.

At the plate, Central Whidbey jumped on everything, taking advantage of five dropped third strikes, while also pounding out seven hits, many of the extra-bases variety.

Nastali and McMillan had two hits apiece, with McMillan garnering another triple.

Marti matched her with a three-bagger of her own, Calkins swatted a double, and Brotemarkle singed the grass for a single.

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So many hits, so many runs

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged , , , , , on May 11, 2019| Leave a Comment »

“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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Some kind of magic

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged , , , , on May 9, 2019| 1 Comment »

Taylor Brotemarkle charges in to snag a hot ground ball Thursday, as the Central Whidbey Little League Majors softball squad bounces its arch-rivals. (Photos by Jackie Saia)

Katie Marti (right) celebrates with teammate Allison Nastali, who dropped down the game-winning bunt single.

“My heart is still rapidly beating. Really was a great game.”

Fred Farris has seen a lot of games play out, as an athlete and a coach, but what went down Thursday night might have been a first for him.

His Central Whidbey Little League Majors softball team rallied from two runs down, then KO’d their arch-rivals on a walk-off bunt single.

When Allison Nastali dropped a madly-spinning ball which kissed the first-base line and somehow, miraculously, stayed fair, it sent Hammerheads teammate Taylor Brotemarkle screaming home with the winning run.

And the 5-4 victory, over the visiting North Whidbey Bandits, was major payback for Central Whidbey’s only loss of the season, which came just two days ago.

Now sitting at a shiny 8-1 on the season, the Hammerheads proved they can win any way you like, by blowing out other teams, or by going toe-to-toe with their best rival.

It was a game which could have gone either way, but, in the end, fell in the win column for a team which “kept their cool and refused to lose.”

Central Whidbey pitcher Chloe Marzocca, who whiffed four in a complete-game performance, kept the Bandits at bay for four innings.

She got big-time help from her defense, and led 2-0 headed into the top of the fifth in a six-inning game.

“We played almost flawless defense for four innings and Chloe was awesome on the mound,” Farris said.

“Brionna (Blouin) was absolutely phenomenal at third, gunning down four runners at first,” he added. “Mia (Farris) was equally impressive with her stretches on those plays and had four unassisted putouts at first, including a dive back to the bag to barely get a runner.”

The defense finally cracked – for just a bit – in the fifth, and North Whidbey took advantage, scraping out four runs to snatch the lead away.

But with Mayleen Weatherford “leading the way in keeping the girls believing they were going to come back and win,” the Hammerheads did exactly that.

Notching a run of their own in the fifth, thanks to Mia Farris showcasing some nicely aggressive base-running, Central Whidbey clamped down in the top of the sixth, holding their rivals scoreless.

Coming up for their final at-bats, the Hammerheads needed one to tie, two to win, and were facing North Whidbey’s ace, Reese Wasinger, who had baffled them two days ago.

This time, though, the bats won the battle.

Central Whidbey tied the royal rumble, then went for broke with Nastali at the plate, Brotemarkle dancing at third base, and down to its last out.

The bunt came off Nastali’s bat and danced a dangerous path right down the line, as Fred Farris and Co. went wild.

“Ball started just fair and spun for what seemed like a week before dying on the first baseline chalk,” the Hammerheads coach said.

“Taylor was up the line and crossing home before the ball had a second bounce,” Farris added. “Allison was up the line quick; their only hope was to let it go foul. I can’t believe it didn’t!”

The bunt single capped a two-hit day for Nastali, who also thumped a double.

Marzocca added two hits and a walk, with Brotemarkle (2), Teagan Calkins (2), Aleksia Jump (1), Weatherford (1), and Mia Farris also eking out free passes.

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CWLL baseball off to sizzlin’ start

Posted in Baseball, Little League, tagged , , , , on May 7, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville baseball stars Jordan Bradford (left) and Camden Glover celebrate another win. (Photo by Carron Chernobieff)

Softball isn’t the only sport tearing up the Island this spring.

The Central Whidbey Little League Majors baseball team is off to a scorching start as well, rolling to a 6-1 mark.

Their latest victim was the Oak Harbor Angels, who went down hard Tuesday night, falling 17-4 to Coupeville’s diamond men.

Central Whidbey, whose only loss this season was a 1-0 thriller with South Whidbey, came out swinging the big bats against Oak Harbor.

The Wolves plated three runs in the first, thanks to a booming double from Chase Anderson and sharply-hit singles zinging off the bats of Landon Roberts and Jacob Schooley.

With Jordan Bradford dealing on the hill, peppering strikes, Central Whidbey was able to deal more easily with a number of players being out of position.

Jack and Johnny Porter are out-of-state for two weeks, so Roberts slapped on the catcher’s gear for the first time this season, while several of his teammates bounced to unfamiliar playing destinations.

Not that it mattered, as Bradford whiffed two hitters in the first, and the Wolves nailed a runner coming in to third.

Spurred on by its defensive stand, Central Whidbey opened up the offensive floodgates, sending nine runners across the plate in the second inning thanks to five hits and four walks.

Marcelo Gebhard, Anderson, Roberts, Bradford, and Schooley all had the magic touch, rifling base-knocks, and the tone was set for the rest of the game.

Bradford set two more Oak Harbor hitters down swinging, then turned the mound over to Aiden O’Neill, who made a successful season debut as a pitcher.

The Wolf reliever struck out two, before Roberts came on to play Mariano Rivera, whiffing the game’s final three would-be sluggers.

John Rachal, Camden Glover, and Roberts added base-hits down the stretch, while Anderson and Roberts teamed up for a sparkling defensive play, the Wolf shortstop pegging a nice throw that his first-baseman plucked out of the air while in a full stretch.

The Wolves get right back at it Thursday, when they travel to Windjammer Park in Oak Harbor to face off with the North Whidbey Mariners, a team they’ve already beaten once.

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