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Archive for the ‘Little League’ Category

Softball sluggers swing into prime time!!

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged , , , on July 6, 2014| Leave a Comment »

"Yep, keep backin' up. Further ... further ... nope, still gonna hit it over your head."

“Yep, keep backin’ up. Further … further … nope, still gonna hit it over your head.”

Katrina McGranahan flies into second, easily beating the throw.

Katrina McGranahan flies into second, easily beating the throw.

Who’s ready to rumble?

A perfect record is on the line 6 PM Monday, when the unbeaten Central Whidbey Little League Juniors All-Star softball squad opens districts against North Whidbey.

The game, which will be played on the Coupeville High School field, is the first step towards a state berth for a team that has routed teams left and right.

A flawless 15-0 on the season, Central Whidbey has taken liberal advantage of the ten-run rule, ending most of its games early this season.

Now, it needs two wins against its Island arch-rivals to advance to state (July 12-18).

Game two is 6 PM Tuesday at CHS, and, if the two teams split, a deciding game three would be 6 PM Wednesday on the same field.

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Sedro plays spoiler!!

Posted in Baseball, Little League, tagged , , , on July 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Nick Etzell covers second in a game last season. (Joe Lippo photo)

Nick Etzell covers second in a game last season. (Joe Lippo photo)

In the end, not even the combined forces of Whidbey could knock out the champs.

Sedro-Woolley capped an unbeaten run through the district playoffs Thursday, bouncing the Whidbey Island Junior (13/14) baseball squad out of the playoffs.

The 10-0 win, called after six innings thanks to the ten-run rule, sent Sedro on to the state tourney. Whidbey would have had to win back-to-back games Thursday and Friday to snatch away the district crown.

Three Coupeville Middle School students — Nick Etzell, Jake Hoagland and JoJo Welling — played for Whidbey, which had a roster that mixed players from North, Central and South Whidbey.

Welling was one of three hurlers to take the mound Thursday, teaming with Joseph Dixon and Cody Newman.

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Whidbey Juniors crash championship series!!

Posted in Baseball, Little League, tagged , , on July 3, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Two wins away from state. (Lisa Jenne photo)

Two wins away from state. (Lisa Jenne photo)

Not even a crash to “Crash” could stop Whidbey.

Despite losing catcher Taylor “Crash” Brown after he collided with the South Skagit catcher while caught in a rundown, the Whidbey Island Junior (13/14) baseball squad won at districts Wednesday to move within two victories of the state tournament.

The 15-10 triumph over Skagit lifts Whidbey into the championship series against unbeaten Sedro Woolley.

The Island squad, which is comprised of North, Central and South Whidbey players, with three Coupeville players (Nick Etzell, Jake Hoagland and JoJo Welling), needs to take two in a row to advance.

They open the finale 6 PM Thursday in Anacortes. Win that one and they return to play again Friday.

The two teams faced in the opener of districts, with Sedro pulling out a come-from-behind 3-2 win in extra innings, when a grounder got past the Whidbey shortstop.

With elimination on the menu, Whidbey and Skagit took turns trying to out-hammer each other Wednesday. The two teams combined for 17 runs in just the first two innings, with Whidbey staked to a 10-7 lead.

Whidbey lost Brown in the sixth, when he got partway home before having to head back to third.

With a teammate having arrived on the bag while he was gone, Brown spun back for home and slammed into the Skagit catcher and had to be looked at by paramedics after complaining of pain in his right knee.

Once things were resolved, Welling set down Skagit the rest of the way to seal the win.

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Pack the stands for tomorrow’s stars!!

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged , , , on July 3, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Katrina McGranahan (John Fisken photos)

Katrina McGranahan, poppin’ smiles and home runs. (John Fisken photos)

Central Whidbey catcher Sarah Wright will not be trifled with.

Central Whidbey catcher Sarah Wright will not be trifled with.

There is a juggernaut coming.

The Central Whidbey Little League Juniors All-Star softball team, which features players who will be moving up to Coupeville High School in the fall, went a flawless 15-0 this season.

Time and again, they crushed opponents, with only the ten-run rule there to save their hapless foes.

Now, local fans will get a chance to see players such as Katrina McGranahan, Hope Lodell and Lauren Rose take the field they will one day rule.

Central Whidbey will kick off the district tournament at home, playing on the CHS field, 6 PM Monday.

Be there or be forever doomed to listen to people tell you for years, “Oh, I knew they were going to be big. I saw them play back in the old days.”

So, don’t say you weren’t warned.

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Spare a buck for the Sizzlin’ Sisters!!

Posted in Fundraisers, Little League, Softball, tagged , , , on July 3, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Mollie Bailey (left) has always wanted to be a catcher, all the way since her younger days. Which, admittedly, weren't THAT long ago...

Mollie Bailey (left) has always wanted to be a catcher, ever since her younger days. Which, admittedly, weren’t that long ago…

The most explosive offensive team in all the land.

Bailey (standing in front of coach Lark Gustafson’s upraised right arm) and her teammates celebrate.

Can you say no to Mollie Bailey?

The irrepressible third child in a family of irrepressible, athletic, camera-lovin’ superstars (following big sisters McKayla and McKenzie), Bailey and her teammates need your help.

Their softball squad, the Sizzlin’ Sisters — a 9/10 team that combines Central and South Whidbey players — romped to a district title and punched their ticket to the state tourney.

Of course, state, which starts July 12, is about as far away as you can possibly get, with the host — Asotin — sitting right on the border with Idaho.

It’s a six-and-a-half-hour drive from Whidbey (if traffic is good).

While few non-family members will be likely to make the jaunt to Eastern Washington to cheer on the Sisters, you can help them just the same.

Toss them a buck or two (or more) and help offset the travel costs for the girls, who represent the future of Wolf sports.

Well, and Falcon sports … but hopefully they’ll all move to Coupeville before high school and we won’t have to think about that.

Regardless, this is a chance to do something for young ladies who have risen above and played their hearts out.

Help fuel their dream (and their parents car’s)!!

To help, jump over to:

http://www.gofundme.com/b0kpvo

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