Sarah Wright, seen here catching in the district playoffs, has been a team leader all season, both at the plate and behind it. (John Fisken photo)
The perfect season is gone. The hunt for a state title still lives.
Too many errors in the field conspired to deflate the Central Whidbey Little League Juniors All-Star softball squad Saturday, as the Venom fell 11-4 to Ridgefield in the opening game of the state tournament.
The loss snapped a 17-game winning streak for Central Whidbey, but it gets a chance to bounce right back Sunday in a loser-out game at 4 PM in Shoreline.
Win there and the Venom keep on playing Monday.
It’s a tall order, but if they reel off six wins in a row, they would join the 2010 Central Whidbey Juniors baseball squad as state champions.
Central entered the state tourney having ten-runned all of its opponents, jumping on rival pitchers quickly and with ferocity.
Unfortunately, that ended against a talented Ridgefield pitcher, who struck out five over the first two innings, putting the Venom on their heels.
Trailing 7-0 entering the bottom of the third — the victim of a rash of errors in the field — Central finally broke through.
Robin Cedillo reached base, scooted to third, then scored on a hit by Hope Lodell.
Things looked to be getting better in the fourth, as the Venom, down 9-1, put together its first sustained rally.
Katrina McGranahan and Sarah Wright had back-to-back hits to lead things off, then Emily Licence loaded the bags.
Two runs came home, with McGranahan stealing home and Wright scoring when a third strike was dropped.
That was it, however, as the rally sputtered out.
Central fought until the end, with McGranahan cranking a lead-off triple in the bottom of the sixth. She came around to tally the Venom’s final run.
Even down by seven with no one on and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, the Venom refused to go meekly. Lodell drilled a pitch back up the middle for a single, but an epic comeback was not to be.
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