Coupeville Sports

Whidbey Thunder sluggers take a brief break from crunching base hits to pose for a group pic. (Jackie Saia photo)

They brought the big sticks.

Bashing five home runs over the weekend, the Whidbey Island Thunder 18U softball squad won three of five games at the Cascades National Championship in Olympia.

The offensive barrage was fueled by Lakewood slugger EmmaJoy Wise, who smacked the ball at a sizzlin’ .818 clip while accounting for four of her team’s taters.

Jivanna Bird, a Canadian ace making her Thunder debut, lofted the team’s other home run, while Oak Harbor star Layla Suto hit .778 on the weekend.

Coupeville’s trio was a duet this time around, as shortstop Taylor Brotemarkle sat out while dealing with an injury.

Her Wolf teammates, Teagan Calkins and Madison McMillan, swung hot bats, combining for 10 hits against top-level pitching.

The Thunder came out of the gate hot, rolling to three straight wins while outscoring their foes 26-3.

“The girls came out and played absolutely flawlessly in the first three games of the tournament,” said coach Matt Suto. “Our bats and defense were on fire.”

Things got chippy in the quarterfinals, where Whidbey fell to a Utah team backed by jaw-flapping fans who crossed the line with non-stop verbal abuse.

In a fitting bit of karma, those fans then got to watch their own squad fall apart and come up short of winning the title.

The Thunder, who finished fifth in a 15-team field, closed with a loss to Velocity Fastpitch in a game where every hit seemed to land right in a mitt.

“We would hit it right at them and couldn’t find a gap,” Matt Suto said. “It was extremely frustrating, but it’s something that we have to overcome and deal with.

“Overall, I’m extremely impressed with these girls. Taking fifth place is a true accomplishment by the girls and my coaching staff.”

The trio of Ramona Ryder, Zoe Abbott, and Grace Swenson divvied up the pitching load and all “did a fantastic job,” while Calkins “was an absolute brick wall behind home plate.”

“She battled and blocked everything she could and also had to battle hot heat, and she was absolutely amazing this weekend,” Matt Suto said.

“Every player on the team contributed somewhere or another,” he added.

Whidbey outfielders Anna Friedrichs, Layla Suto, and Hayden Davies closed off the gaps, limiting rival hitters, while Loto Tupu and McMillan “were great on the corners.”

“I can’t thank the girls and the parents enough for a great weekend of ball and showing class after the situation we had to deal with against the team from Utah,” Matt Suto said.

His squad will get back at next weekend, when it travels to Kent for another tournament.

Weekend stats:

Zoe Abbott — One walk
Jivanna Bird — Four singles, one home run
Teagan Calkins — Six singles
Hayden Davies — One single, two walks
Anna Friedrichs — One walk
Jayme Kallio — One single
Madison McMillan — One single, two doubles, one triple, two walks
Ramona Ryder — Two singles, two walks
Layla Suto — Six singles, one double, three walks
Grace Swenson — One single
Loto Tupu — One single, three walks
EmmaJoy Wise — Three singles, two doubles, four home runs, one walk

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The Whidbey Thunder carry big bats, and they swing them with a great fury. (Shelly Ryder photo)

Adapt and attack.

It was a wild weekend of tourney action for the Whidbey Thunder 18U softball squad, which overcame numerous obstacles on its way to earning a pair of wins.

The scrappy band of sluggers, who mix players from Coupeville, Oak Harbor, Sedro-Woolley, and Anacortes, also picked up a diamond dandy from Poulsbo in Kailee Engdahl, who immediately meshed with her new teammates.

“She helped fill a role in the success of the team,” said Thunder coach Matt Suto.

“And that’s what makes us a great team, is that we have great players that when their number is called, they come in and do their job and the girls trust each other.”

Whidbey split its four pool games, then fell just short in its first bracket game.

Along the way, the Thunder had to overcome miscommunication from the tournament director over which pool game wouldn’t count in the standings, and at least one ump doing his best to channel legendarily awful former MLB strike caller Angel Hernandez.

But no matter what was thrown at his team, Suto’s sluggers responded.

“A great weekend of ball for the most part,” he said. “The girls played hard all weekend long.

“We battled through adversity, injuries, and disappointing officiating! Even though we didn’t win the tournament we still battled hard every game!”

When the umps were giving them a chance to swing, the Thunder delivered, bopping big hits to all fields.

Coupeville twin titans Teagan Calkins and Madison McMillan smacked home runs, as did Oak Harbor’s mighty masher, Loto Tupu.

The Thunder were on point on defense as well, giving hurlers Grace Swenson, Zoe Abbott, and Ramona Ryder plenty of help.

As the tournament played out, though, Whidbey was stung by injuries, with Abbott tweaking an ankle and the team’s top hitter, Layla Suto, going down after a bang-bang play at home.

The Thunder will get some time off to heal, then get back at it with a few practices before starting tournament play back up at the end of the month.

Suto’s squad heads out of the country for the Canada Cup June 28-July 1, then is slated to play at the Cascade Nationals July 10-14.

After that, the Thunder have two more tourneys at the end of July as they wrap up summer play.

As they go forward, both the present and future are bright for the young stars.

“I’m proud of these girls and so fortunate to get the opportunity to watch them grow as players and as a team,” Suto said.

“We are right there. We are gonna break out and make a statement — I can feel it coming.”

Weekend stats:

Zoe Abbott — One walk
Taylor Brotemarkle — Four singles, one double, one walk
Teagan Calkins — Four singles, one home run, two walks
Hayden Davies — Two walks
Kailee Engdahl — Two singles
Anna Friedrichs — Four singles
Jayme Kallio — Three singles, one double, one walk
Madison McMillan — Two singles, one double, one home run, two walks
Mia Regan — Four singles
Ramona Ryder — Four singles, one double, one walk
Layla Suto — Six singles, one triple, one walk
Grace Swenson — Three singles, one walk
Loto Tupu — Three singles, one home run

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