Chelsi Stevens and her Central Whidbey Little League softball squad are halfway to winning a district title. (Kristi Stevens photo)
They’re halfway to the promised land.
The Central Whidbey Little League Majors softball squad kept its unbeaten streak alive Monday, thrashing Sedro-Woolley 10-0 in the District 11 playoff opener.
Playing in Oak Harbor, the Wolves combined timely hits, a keen eye at the plate, and the overpowering pitching of Adeline Maynes to push their record to 13-0 on the season.
Central Whidbey now has two chances to punch its ticket to the state tourney.
Game #2 of the best-of-three district royal rumble is Tuesday on the fields next to the John Vanderzicht Memorial Pool, with first pitch set for 6:00 PM.
If Sedro stays alive, a winner-take-all game #3 would be Wednesday, same location, same time.
The state tourney goes down in Vancouver July 1-9.
Monday’s game was close for a bit, with the Wolves pulling away to end things early thanks to the 10-run mercy rule.
Central Whidbey put up three runs in the bottom of the first, went scoreless in the second, then slapped on a fourth tally in the third.
Two more runs in the fourth frame stretched things out to 6-0, before a four-run uprising in the bottom of the fifth put a bow on things.
“Team was very resilient and battled every inning,” said Wolf coach Aaron Lucero.
“Had some hiccups I attribute to a few weeks layoff, but we kept fighting and never backed down,” he added. “Big game jitters. Sedro was a tough opponent and made some good plays.
“Luckily we had solid pitching, baserunning, and put pressure on the defense every opportunity we could.”
Sedro’s offense was never able to get much going, as Maynes went the distance in the pitcher’s circle, retiring 12 hitters via a strikeout.
She also scored three times, with seven different Wolves tapping home plate.
Sydney Van Dyke came around twice, while KeeAyra Brown, Emma Cushman, Kennedy Strevel, Ava Lucero, and Cameron Van Dyke also made the scoreboard operator earn their (likely nonexistent) paycheck.
Chelsi Stevens, Allie Powers, Samantha Antonio, Mary Western, Cassandra Powers, Selah Rivera, and Olivia Martin also saw playing time for the Wolves.
“Very proud of these young women,” Aaron Lucero said.
“Told them at the end of the game our work isn’t over and need to come out tomorrow ready to play ball.”
Coupeville Sports 