Madison McMillan (right) crunched a home run Sunday, impressing teammate Jada Heaton. (Photo courtesy Jennifer Heaton)
Everything was clicking.
The glove work was nearly impeccable. The pitching was overpowering.
And the bats? They were booming.
Putting together a rock-solid run Sunday, the Whidbey Island Thunder 18U softball squad rolled to its first tourney title of the season.
Cruising to 10-5 and 13-0 victories, the sluggers, who feature seven Coupeville players, were Silver Bracket champs at the School’s Out Invite in Mount Vernon.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the girls and this win,” said head coach Matt Suto. “It was a total team effort all weekend, and every player contributed.
“The girls absolutely tore the cover off the ball and played stellar defense behind great pitching from Grace Swenson.”
The flame-throwing hurler, one of two Sedro-Woolley players on the roster, was in control all day.
After blitzing through the Sparks in Sunday’s opening game, Swenson was 99.2% perfect in the championship tilt against the Venom Elite.
She faced just 10 hitters across three innings of work, with the Thunder ending the finale early thanks to the mercy rule.
Nine of those Venom batters went down meekly, with three striking out, and the lone player to reach base did so painfully after getting plunked by the imposing Swenson.
Coupeville’s Taylor Brotemarkle (left) and Sedro-Woolley ace Grace Swenson played strongly all weekend. (Kimberly Brotemarkle photo)
Whidbey broke the championship game open early, slapping five runs on the board in the bottom of the first.
Cranking out the hits, the Thunder got base knocks from Taylor Brotemarkle, Layla Suto, Madison McMillan, Swenson, Loto Tupu, and Jaymie Kallio, and didn’t stop there.
Three more runs in the second — fueled by three hits after they were working with two outs — stretched the lead to 8-0, then Whidbey coasted in for the win.
Layla Suto put a final punctuation mark on things with a resounding double back up the middle, coasting into second base as the Venom coach trudged across the field to surrender to his Thunder counterparts.
The semifinal game was a little closer than the championship game, but not by much.
Whidbey jumped out to a 7-0 lead, ringing up three runs in the top of the first and another four in the second frame to build a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
The opening assault came thanks to a barrage of extra-base hits, with Brotemarkle and McMillan crunching doubles, while Layla Suto smoked a three-bagger to deep right field.
The coach’s daughter, coming off of an impressive freshman season at Oak Harbor High School, came back around to crack a double an inning later.
Before the Sparks could recover their mojo, the very next hitter, Coupeville’s longball-lovin’ Madison McMillan, went deep.
Belting a home run to dead center, the junior-to-be permanently snuffed out any lingering hopes of a comeback by her rivals.
Overall, the hard-hitting duo accounted for 11 RBIs across Sunday’s two games, with McMillan sending six runners careening for home, while Suto knocked in five of her teammates.
Swenson and Brotemarkle were hot on their heels, each picking up three RBI on the day.
From there, the Thunder defense, anchored by Coupeville catcher Teagan Calkins, went into lock-down mode.
“Just killer defense from the entire team,” Matt Suto said. “This is the momentum we need to roll into Tri-Cities next weekend for the NSA state tournament.”
The champs. (Kimberly Brotemarkle photo)
The Thunder have a 14-woman roster most days, but picked up Oak Harbor’s Addison Morales for the weekend, and she pitched for the team in pool play.
Swenson and Kallio hail from Sedro, while Ramona Ryder, Lilly Norman, McKayla Smith-Day, Layla Suto, and Loto Tupu call Oak Harbor home.
Coupeville players fill out half the roster, with Calkins, McMillan, and Brotemarkle joined by Allie Lucero, Haylee Armstrong, Jada Heaton, and Maya Lucero.
Championship bracket stats:
Taylor Brotemarkle — Four singles, one double
Teagan Calkins — One single
Jaymie Kallio — Three singles
Allie Lucero — One single
Maya Lucero — Two singles, one double, one walk
Madison McMillan — Two singles, one double, one home run
Lilly Norman — One single
Ramona Ryder — Two singles
McKayla Smith-Day — One single
Layla Suto — Two singles, two doubles, one triple
Grace Swenson — Three singles, two walks
Loto Tupu — One single, one walk
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