Scout Smith (black hoodie) headed outdoors Thursday and whiffed 12 hitters in a 10-1 win. (John Fisken photo)
Scout Smith might not be the biggest player on the field, but she’s a beast nonetheless.
Gunning down hitters left and right Thursday, the Coupeville Middle School 8th grader whiffed 12 North Whidbey batters as she sparked the Central Whidbey Little League juniors softball squad to a resounding 10-1 home win in its season opener.
The game revived the Venom brand and its day-glo uniforms.
Two years ago, the CWLL juniors went undefeated through the regular season and advanced to state.
After a year with no team, a new batch of Wolves have reclaimed the mantle and got off to a highly-successful start.
With Smith, or Scoutosaurus Rex as her fan club started describing her, on fire in the pitcher’s circle, the Venom were in command all game.
Not that they were ahead all game, though, as their offense took a bit to get fully going.
Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth — the run came in on a throwing error — Central Whidbey had put runners on in every inning, only to strand them.
Smith singled in the first, Maya Toomey-Stout walked in the second and Chelsea Prescott singled in the third, but each time the Venom couldn’t follow up.
And then things changed in a snap.
Emma Mathusek reached on an error to lead off the fourth, took second on a passed ball and scooted home when Smith smashed a hot shot off the second baseman’s glove.
Marenna Rebischke-Smith then won the game (though no one knew it at the time) by crushing an RBI single to straightaway center to give Central Whidbey its first lead.
Not content to stop there, the Venom plated four in the fifth and four more in the sixth, effectively turning a pitcher’s duel into a rout.
Cynthia Rachal kicked things off in the fifth when she out-ran the catcher’s throw to first after a third strike skittered away, while Prescott eventually brought her home with a bullet of an RBI single up the gut.
With North Whidbey frazzled, the Venom took advantage, running on almost every pitch and tacking on runs on a heady mix of passed balls and errors.
Hannah Davidson, Smith and Toomey-Stout all added RBI singles in the late going, as the singing and chanting, once started in the Central Whidbey dugout, never stopped.
All ten Venom players in attendance had an impact.
Melia Welling drew two walks and scored a run, Willow Vick patrolled right field with panache and Mollie Bailey anchored the squad with her work behind home plate, non-stop chatter and her impeccable fashion style in post-game footwear.
Coupeville Sports 