Katrina McGranahan (middle) and Emily Licence team up for a bang-bang play at second. (John Fisken photo)
Do you believe in Hope?
You’d better, because Hope Lodell and her teammates on the Central Whidbey Little League Juniors All-Star softball squad are for real.
Flashing big bats and slick defensive moves, the Venom crushed visiting North Whidbey 14-2 Monday to move within a game of advancing to state.
Now a flawless 16-0 on the season, Central Whidbey will go for the knockout punch against their Island rivals 6 PM Tuesday at the Coupeville High School softball field.
If the unexpected happens, the two squads will return Wednesday for a winner-take-all third game.
The chances of that happening are somewhere between remote and never-gonna-happen.
Central Whidbey has been a juggernaut this season, routinely blitzing opponents and ending games early thanks to the ten-run mercy rule.
Monday was no different, as the Venom came out swinging from the heels and never let up.
Central drew first blood when Katrina McGranahan crushed a long two-out double to right in the top of the first, then strolled home when North Whidbey bobbled both the throw back in and the catch.
When Sarah Wright followed her to the plate and whacked a stand-up triple to straight away center, it looked like the Venom would be going for their ten runs all in the first.
It wasn’t to be, however, as North Whidbey escaped without any further damage, and then dodged again in the second, after Central put its first two runners on.
Clinging to just a one-run lead, Central turned to its cleanup hitter and Wright responded.
With Lauren Rose and McGranahan on base, the CMS 8th grader unleashed a liner into the gap for a two-run triple, then came around to score herself on a wild pitch two batters later.
The Venom effectively blew the game wide open in the fourth, plating eight and spraying the ball all over the field.
Rose conked a two-run double, McGranahan and Veronica Crownover smashed two-run singles and Wright collected another RBI on a single that just about ripped the cover off the ball.
Central built the lead to 14-0 in the fifth, with Crownover and Emily Licence driving home runs, and, after that it was all academic.
Which didn’t mean it wasn’t electric.
Venom hurler Bella Northup, who, unfortunately, is the only Central player who will be suiting up for Island rival South Whidbey as a high school player, and not Coupeville, had the high, hard cheese goin’ strong.
Whiffing seven, she was virtually unhittable and sailed along until the fifth, when she tired a bit, and a string of walks and an error allowed North Whidbey to get on the board.
Even then Central stayed strong, closing the door with a bang.
Lodell, patrolling center field with a ruthless intensity, jumped out of her shoes to snag a one-out liner, then smartly doubled off a straying runner to complete the game-ending double play.
The play brought an overflow crowd, which included former CHS softball legends Breeanna Messner and Bessie Walstad and current players like Tiffany Briscoe, to its feet.
The roar heard round the prairie washed over Lodell and her team (McGranahan, Rose, Tamika Nastali, Heather Nastali, Wright, Crownover, Northup, Mia Littlejohn, Licence and Robin Cedillo), which briefly celebrated and then moved on to thoughts of Tuesday.
Another win in the books, perfection rolls on.
