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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