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Lose? No thank you!!

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged Central Whidbey Little League, Comeback, Coupeville Crush, Izzy Wells, Softball on May 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »

We win, son. We win. (Renae Mulholland photo)

They danced with the devil and escaped.

After rolling through most of its schedule ten-running foes left and right, the Central Whidbey Little League Majors softball squad came dangerously close to taking its first loss of the season Tuesday night.

Not so fast.

Rallying for six runs in its final at-bats, the Coupeville Crush sent the game to extra innings, then pulled out a stunning 19-18 come-from-behind victory in Oak Harbor.

Central Whidbey was actually down to its final out, but the Crush sluggers found some magic left in their back pockets to wiggle away and improve to 13-0 on the season.

Kylie Van Velkinburgh ripped a three-run, two-out single back up the middle in the top of the sixth, then came around to score the tying run when she successfully stole home.

Having knotted the game up at 17, the Crush blanked a stunned Oak Harbor squad in the bottom half of the inning, as Central Whidbey hurler Izzy Wells struck out the side.

Starting the seventh with a runner on second (thanks to softball extra-inning rules), Coupeville immediately plated them when Jill Prince smacked an RBI triple over the head of the right fielder.

She then came home herself on an RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of teammate McKenna Somes.

Oak Harbor scraped out a run in the bottom of the seventh, before the Crush slammed the door.

Wells gunned down back-to-back hitters, then Prince smoothly fielded a ground ball and stamped on first to end the season’s most improbable win.

The Crush have three regular season games left, starting with a home game 6 PM Thursday against Anacortes at Rhododendron Park.

After that, they’ll play in the Bill Sparks Tournament starting June 3.

“I’m excited about the tournament as we will see three new teams, one from South Skagit and two from Sedro,” said Crush coach Mimi Johnson.

It’ll also be a family reunion, as Johnson’s niece pitches for one of their tourney rivals.

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“They love playing the game!!”

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged Central Whidbey Little League, Coupeville Elementary School, Gwen Gustafson, Softball, Yellow Jackets on May 21, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Yellow Jacket catcher Madalynn Georges sets the target. (Paula Peters photos)

Allison Nastali makes plans to park the ball somewhere up around Deception Pass.

The Yellow Jackets stand united during pre-game festivities.

Emma Hargrave rocks her Central Whidbey colors at a U-Dub softball game.

Rising stars (l to r) Hope Sinclair, Gwen Gustafson and Vivian Farris celebrate another win.

The future is bright, almost as bright as the uniforms.

Softball is on the rise at every level in Coupeville, from a talented, young high school squad on down through three levels of little leaguers.

The youngest batch of diamond dandies is the Yellow Jackets, Central Whidbey Little League’s Minors squad.

The 11-woman team currently sits at a sparkling 9-1, with four games left on their schedule.

Their only loss was to an Anacortes team, a defeat they avenged with an 11-0 win in their most recent game.

The Yellow Jackets roster is a who’s who of future stars:

Vivian Farris
Madalynn Georges
Gwen Gustafson
Emma Hargrave
Allie Lucero
Madison McMillan
Allison Nastali
Alena Osborne
Sofia Peters
Hope Sinclair
Savina Wells

As they’ve played through the season, team mom Paula Peters has had a chance to see them up close and personal and she offers us this inside peek at the stars of tomorrow:

The really cool thing about this group of girls is that six out of 11 have known each other since kindergarten and all have attended Coupeville Elementary.

Two dads are coach’s, Mike Peters (he also runs concession) and Lark Gustafson and Ryan Georges is an assistant coach.

Three invested dads and their daughters.

The parents of these girls are really an awesome group. They help carpool, run concession and support each other.

I am Sofia’s mom and have been given the “team mom” spot and I am simply honored. To say I am lucky is not quite enough.

I have watched six of these girls grow from little girls to young ladies.

I have given band-aids, hair ribbons and hugs and I can tell you that every game, every win leaves a huge lump in my throat.

The last game this season we will take a group photo and the day these girls graduate from high school they will get that picture in a frame.

How does a group of 9, 10 and 11 year old girls become 9-1?

They love playing the game first, they help each other out and it is not uncommon to see the girls walk up to the pitcher and give her support; they do the “shake it off” and go back to playing.

I know that I am going on and on but as you can tell these girls mean quite a bit.

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Venom’s sting remains deadly!!

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged Central Whidbey Little League, Chelsea Prescott, Scout Smith, Softball, Venom on May 17, 2016| 1 Comment »

Scout Smith, seen here in an earlier game, had it all going Tuesday — pitching, hitting and defense. (John Fisken photos)

Mollie Bailey can get that helmet off in 0.2 seconds when necessary.

The beat-downs continue.

Pounding away at the plate Tuesday, while still finding time to throw down some dazzling glove work in the field, the Central Whidbey Little League Juniors softball squad rolled to another victory.

Thrashing host North Whidbey 14-3, the Venom improved to a tidy 7-3 on the season.

Breaking the ten-run barrier for the eighth time in 10 games, Central Whidbey has now outscored its foes 152-70.

The entire lineup picked apart North Whidbey, with Cynthia Rachal racking up three hits and Mollie Bailey getting plunked three times by wild pitchers.

Scout Smith, Chelsea Prescott and Hannah Davidson all thumped doubles, with Prescott also garnering “an excellent slap hit.”

When she wasn’t getting peppered, Bailey backed up her pitcher (Smith) quite ably, throwing off her helmet to chase down a foul ball behind her.

“The ump even asked her how she got her helmet off so quick,” said Venom coach Charlotte Young.

Bailey’s quick thinking wasn’t the only stellar defensive play, as Smith also teamed up with second baseman Maya Toomey-Stout to pick off a runner.

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Queens of the diamond!!

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged Central Whidbey Little League, John Fisken photos, Maya Toomey-Stout, Scout Smith, Softball, Venom on May 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Maya Toomey-Stout laughs at the idea you would try and take an extra base on her. Laughs. (John Fisken photos)

Two hands, every time. Chelsea Prescott, looking ready to star in her own softball instructional video.

Emma Mathusek looks down the street, sees Prairie Center, and aims for it.

“I taught her that!” Ema Smith, unofficial Venom hitting/fielding/pitching/team chanting/sunflower-seed-spittin’ coach.

The many moods of the bench, mid-game.

Toomey-Stout, AKA “The Gazelle,” owner of the fastest feet on The Rock, comes flying home.

Scout Smith snaps off the big nasty.

So serious…

Their skills are as explosive as their uniforms.

Clad in the bright green garb of the Venom, a fast-rising pack of softball sluggers is busy terrorizing rival teams on the diamond this spring.

Rolling to a 6-3 record, Central Whidbey Little League’s Juniors squad has drilled foes to a tasty 138-67 tune so far.

And, when they’re not scoring runs in huge heaps, they’re catching the attention of the paparazzi, as shown by the snappy pics above.

They come to us courtesy of the Diet Coke-fueled John Fisken, who made time in his busy schedule to wander out to the prairie Thursday night.

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Crushin’ everyone in sight!!

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged Central Whidbey Little League, Coupeville Crush, Softball, Stella Johnson, undefeated on May 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Jill Prince knocked in a pair with a blast to deep right field Thursday, as the Coupeville Crush rolled to its 10th straight win. (Renae Mulholland photo)

Undefeated and lovin’ life. (Katy Wells photo)

Rollin’ right along.

Ten-running everyone they encounter, the Central Whidbey Little League Majors softball squad has soared to a 10-0 record this season.

Mixing superb pitching with stellar hitting and inspired defense, the Coupeville Crush have more than lived up to their name.

Their latest victim was Oak Harbor Gold, which fell 14-4 Thursday night.

Crush hurlers Kaela Meffert and Izzy Wells combined to shut down the North Enders at the plate, combining for eight strikeouts while getting a little help from their defense.

Audrianna Shaw patrolled third base with a vengeance, gunning down runners, while both pitchers snagged line drives hit right back at them.

Meffert also teamed with catcher Stella Johnson on a bang-bang play at the plate after leaving the pitcher’s circle to play short.

After running down a fly, Meffert wheeled and fired the ball on a bead to nail a runner headed home, pulling off a sweet double play.

Coupeville got all the offense it would need in the first, plating five.

Sofie Martin kicked things off with a gorgeous single, Meffert was drilled by a pitch, then Coral Caveness laid down a picture-perfect bunt.

After a handful of walks kept the runners moving base-to-base, Wells crunched a single to break things open.

The runs kept coming after that, with four in the second (though Abby Mulholland was denied on a steal of home when plate umpire Jim Wheat stood tall and withstood the screams of agony from Crush fans), one in the third and the final four crossing in the fifth.

Jill Prince crushed “an amazing shot to right” to knock in a pair, then came around to steal home herself, while Meffert, Kenna Somes and Bam Ries all collected base knocks.

The final run, which invoked the 10-run mercy rule, came via Johnson, who took one for the team, getting plunked with the bags juiced.

While the Crush was swinging hot, Coupeville coach Mimi Johnson sent a shout-out to Oak Harbor’s pitcher.

“I will say, Macy Oliver has really been working hard on her pitching! She is developing a wicked curve ball!,” she said. “All in all, it was another fun game!”

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