Coupeville softball sluggers (l to r) Capri Anter, Ava Lucero, and Sydney Van Dyke celebrate their awesomeness. (Photos courtesy Grant Van Dyke)
They lit off some fireworks.
Closing with three straight wins this weekend, the Island Vipers 14U softball squad captured a title at the Fun in the Sun tournament in Kent.
The sluggers, who boast players from all three Whidbey high schools, swept both games they played Sunday in bracket play to clinch the crown.
A 7-1 win over a squad from Sammamish sent the Vipers to the championship game, where they nipped the Washington Rage from Moses Lake 8-7.
The hot finish came on the heels of a third-place finish in pool play, as Whidbey held its own with top-ranked rivals.
After opening losses to squads from Woodinville and Seattle, the Vipers drilled a team from Puyallup 8-0 to start its turnaround.
Sunday’s title tilt started off with a bit of a clang, as Whidbey fell behind 4-0.
But the Vipers never faltered, rallying time and again.
“The players did a great job of embracing never being out of the fight and kept chipping away and playing aggressive softball,” said assistant coach Aaron Lucero.
“Chaos on the base paths mixed with timely hitting and effective small ball.”
With two outs and the potential winning run at third, Jolene Coleman came up huge, lacing a hard-hit shot past the shortstop to plate her teammate and capture the crown.
The Vipers awarded three game balls, one to Coleman for her timely base knock and one each to the pitching and catching duo of Adeline Maynes and Ava Lucero, who survived the heat and thrived.
“All my players know my rock and marshmallow speech and they were all rocks,” Aaron Lucero said.
“To come from behind from a pretty good hole in the championship game to winning on a walk off speaks volume of this team and the character that they have.
“I’m extremely proud of them. It was truly an entire team effort.”
Weekend stats:
Shea Allison — Three singles, one double, two walks
Capri Anter — One double, one triple, five walks
Haylee Armstrong — Four singles, three doubles, two walks
Jolene Coleman — Six singles, one triple
Emma Cushman — One walk
Lena Heggenes — One single, one triple, two walks
Ava Lucero — One single, two walks
Adeline Maynes — Three singles, one walk
Chelsi Stevens — One single
Cameron Van Dyke — One double
Sydney Van Dyke — One double, one home run, two walks
Abby Whitney — One single
Sophie Ziegler — Three singles, two doubles, one triple, one walk
Tryouts this Saturday:
The Vipers are looking to “round out their roster and add a second team to the club.”
Tryouts for both 14U and 16U teams will be this Saturday, July 13 at 10 AM at Rhododendron Park in Coupeville.
All girls ages 12-16 are welcome, though they can’t be older than 16 as of Dec. 31, 2024.
If your player can’t be at Saturday’s tryouts, you can set up a private tryout by contacting coach Grant Van Dyke at Islandvipers@yahoo.com.
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