The hottest bat in all the land belongs to Sarah Wright (right), seen here with fellow CMS athletic superstar Lindsey Roberts. (Sherry Roberts photo)
The champs.
Sarah Wright is on a mission.
A mission to personally beat the stitching right out of every softball thrown her way, that is.
Swinging a sizzlin’ bat that can’t be slowed down, much less stopped, the Central Whidbey Little League Juniors All-Star softball catcher pounded rival North Whidbey into submission practically by herself Tuesday.
Collecting five hits — including three doubles — Wright drove in six runs as she and her undefeated Venom teammates romped to a 17-6 victory, clinching a trip to this weekend’s state tournament.
Now a pristine 17-0, and having won every game by 10 or more runs, Central Whidbey will kick off the double-elimination, eight-team season-capper Saturday in Shoreline.
Their opening foe will be Ridgefield, a town whose softball pitchers are currently huddled in the corner, crying at the idea of facing Wright and her high-powered teammates.
If they approach the plate at state with the intensity and precision shown in their two-game sweep of North Whidbey to capture the District 11 title, the Venom will be hard to beat.
Regardless of how many times North Whidbey flipped their hurlers around, Central Whidbey was locked in, rolling up runs in each of the five innings played Tuesday.
Hope Lodell, Bella Northup and Katrina McGranahan each knocked in two runs apiece in support of Wright, and the Venom ran wild on the base-paths, racking up a number of runs when they forced North Whidbey into crucial throwing errors.
Central Whidbey opened in typical style, scoring four in the top of the first.
Playing as the road team on their home field after losing a coin flip, the Venom jumped on North Whidbey’s pitcher quickly.
Lodell eked out a lead-off walk, then Lauren Rose scampered to first after nimbly dropping a bunt that hit the dirt and immediately started digging its way to China.
After a fielder’s choice put runners at the corners, Wright strode to the plate for the first time and began her reign of pain, slicing a two-run double to straight-away center.
An RBI single from Northup, who shot a liner over the second baseman’s head, and a bases loaded walk to Heather Nastali staked McGranahan to a 4-0 lead before she took the pitcher’s mound.
It was at that point that Central Whidbey showed a brief moment of weakness in a season marked by nothing but strength and more strength.
Two bad throws — where the ball was airmailed over the intended glove by several feet — allowed North Whidbey to put together its own four-run first, tying things up.
It was just a brief bump in the road, however, as the Venom threw down five more runs in the second and kept pressing the gas pedal through the floor.
Everything went Central Whidbey’s way in the second, as they scored three of the runs after what should have been the third out.
When the North Whidbey catcher dropped a third strike on Emily Licence, she took off like a shot and not only made it safely to first but watched in satisfaction as a teammate trotted home when the ensuing throw went deep into right field.
That set up Lodell, who, two batters later, made visiting CHS co-coach Amy King a prophet.
With the speedy Venom lead-off hitter flexing her guns in the afternoon sun, daring the pitcher to try and slip one past her, King whispered “left center is wide open.”
Boom!
Lodell, who will be a freshman at CHS in the fall, turned on the pitch and cracked a laser shot to left center, plating two and sending dad Mike Lodell into a screaming frenzy the likes of which had not been seen … since his daughter’s previous at-bat.
It was a sound that would be repeated as Central Whidbey closed out the game and punched its ticket to state.
Battling the gusty wind that plagued the game, Venom first baseman Veronica Crownover made a nifty snag on a high pop-up to start the bottom of the fifth.
After that, all that was left was for McGranahan to collect the final two outs via strikeout, and she did so by dealing her highest, hardest cheese of the afternoon.
The golden spring of Coupeville softball continues, with the Venom becoming the third squad to advance to state.
The Sizzlin’ Sisters, Central Whidbey’s 9/10 team, are off to Asotin this weekend, while the CHS squad made it to state for the first time in 12 seasons this spring.
Two members of the Wolf squad — Licence and Robin Cedillo — are on the Venom roster and will be making their second trip to a state tourney this spring.
State tourney bracket:
http://www.littleleaguewa.org/washington-state-little-league-tournaments/bracket/521-Junior-Softball-State
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