Landon Roberts and the Central Whidbey Little League Majors baseball squad are flying high after back-to-back wins over Oak Harbor. (Stephanie Montgomery photo)
Our game, our Island.
Making a bid for Whidbey dominance, the Central Whidbey Little League Majors baseball squad swept a pair of games, played on two days at two different fields, from the Oak Harbor Mariners.
After escaping with a 7-6 win Tuesday at Windjammer Park, the Wolves came home to Rhodey Thursday and strolled to a 6-2 victory.
The sweep lifts CWLL to 4-3 on the still-young campaign.
“It’s been a good, tough season so far,” said Central coach Jon Roberts. “Learning a lot about the game of baseball and teaching it to 10-13 year-olds.
“We continue to make silly mental errors while playing rather good baseball,” he added. “The bats are starting to come alive as the boys learn to catch up with the faster pitchers.”
In the first match-up the Wolves rallied from a two-run deficit to nab the come-from-behind W.
Levi Pulliam and Landon Roberts shared pitching duties, combining for seven strikeouts and scattering four hits.
CWLL committed seven errors in the game, giving Oak Harbor hope, but the Wolf bats were strong enough to answer the call.
Peyton Caveness led the way, whacking a pair of singles and a double while scampering across home plate to score three times.
Chase Anderson collected three singles, Zane Oldenstandt crunched a huge double and Jack Porter and Landon Roberts each had a base-knock.
While CWLL struggled at times on defense, it came up huge in the game’s crucial moment.
Landon Roberts, patrolling center field for the first time, chased down a rip to right-center and heaved a dart to third to prevent an inside-the-park home run by Conner Cash.
“It turned out to be the difference between extra innings and a win,” said Jon Roberts, his very-relieved dad/coach.
While Tuesday was touch-and-go, Thursday was a beat-down.
Caveness opened with two shutout innings, whiffing four, before Anderson followed with a four-inning, eight-K performance.
CWLL took advantage of a ton of free passes (including several batters being plunked), while peppering in some crucial hits along the way.
Porter and Oldenstandt delivered singles, while Caveness tore the cover off the ball, smoking a single and a triple.
In a side note, Coupeville High School hardball star Dane Lucero, who provides the little league players with a glimpse of what they can one day accomplish, made his debut as an umpire.
He earned praise from Jon Roberts for quickly showing he would be an impartial judge.
“Dane did a great job and made a great call at second base when a Wolves player was tagged out in a throw from home with an emphatic OUT with the arm pump!!”
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