It’s hard to imagine a better way for the North Whidbey Little League 9/10 softball team to start its district tournament, and a tougher way for Central Whidbey to begin its.

North Whidbey scored five times in the last inning to wipe away a four-run Central Whidbey lead and take the District 11 opener 11-10 in Mount Vernon Tuesday, June 30.

North Whidbey now challenges Sedro-Woolley at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 1; the winner moves on to the championship series which begins at 6 p.m. Friday, July 3. The second game, if necessary, is set for noon Saturday, July 4.

Central Whidbey will face the North Whidbey/Sedro-Woolley loser at 6 p.m. Thursday.

North Whidbey had two comebacks in its win over Central Whidbey.

Central Whidbey, which also includes several players from South Whidbey, sprinted to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Kaia Swegler Richmond singled, Mckaela Meffert was hit by a pitch and Isabelle Wells walked, then all three circled the bases and scored on a series of wild pitches and stolen bases.

North Whidbey made it 3-2 with a pair of runs in its half of the inning.

Peyton Samek and Isabella Whalen each singled and scored with the help of a Central Whidbey error and several wild pitches.

North Whidbey took the lead with a pair of runs in the second inning. With two outs, Rallye Chambers walked, then Emily Wilson, Samek and Whalen hit consecutive singles.

Central Whidbey, like North Whidbey, twice came back from deficits. Down 4-3, Central Whidbey scored a run in the third inning to even the game when Meffert walked and moved around on a walk to Chanel Sterba, a stolen base and a wild pitch.

North Whidbey regained the lead, 5-4, with a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Wilson walked and was pushed around on hits by Samek, Whalen and Abby Ries.

Central Whidbey went up 7-5 with a three-run fifth. Walks to Abby Mulholland, Meffert, Sterba and Gwen Gustafson and singles by Isabelle Wells and Chloe Larue fueled the rally.

North Whidbey responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Macy Oliver singled and advanced on three wild pitches.

Central Whidbey built a 10-6 cushion with three runs in the top of the sixth with the help of walks to Johnson and Meffert and singles by Richmond and Sterba.

North Whidbey then produced its miracle comeback, scoring all five runs without recording an out.

Wilson started the rally by walking, stealing second and then scoring on a pair of errors. Samek walked, stole second and scored on Whalen’s sharp base hit to right field. Ries followed with a base hit that scored Whalen, making it 10-9.

Ries and Emily Steinke, who walked, then scored the tying and winning runs on a wild pitch and an error.

Whalen led the North Whidbey offense with four hits, Samek added three and Ries finished with two. Samek also had 13 strikeouts as the North Whidbey pitcher.

Richmond topped Central Whidbey with two singles; Meffert scored four runs after walking three times and being hit by a pitch. Pitcher Sterba struck out 12.

(Emily Wilson scores on a wild pitch for North Whidbey. Photo by John Fisken.)