For the second year in a row, the Central Whidbey 9/10 all-star softball team qualified for the state Little League tournament at the expense of its rivals from North Whidbey.

Central Whidbey, coached by Mimi Johnson, overcame a loss in the first round to North Whidbey to win the District 11 crown in Mount Vernon and earn a trip to Vancouver for the state playoffs. The first state game is 1 p.m. Saturday, July 11, at the Glenwood Little League complex.

North Whidbey 11

Central Whidbey 10

The district tournament got off to a shaky start for Central Whidbey when it blew a four-run lead in the final inning to lose 11-10 to North Whidbey Tuesday, June 30.

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

Kaia 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 came back to take a 4-3 lead after two innings.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Central Whidbey 12

Sedro-Woolley 6

Central Whidbey pushed across four runs in the first inning and never trailed in Thursday’s win.

Singles by Johnson, Meffert and Wells, a walk to Sterba and a hit batter, Gustafson, led to the four-run inning.

Sedro-Woolley tallied a lone run in the second inning, then Central Whidbey added three more in the third to go up 7-1. With two outs, consecutive walks to Gustafson, Jill Prince, Abby Mulholland, Larue and Richmond resulted in the three runs.

Central Whidbey kept rolling, scoring twice in the fourth inning and three times in the fifth.

In the fourth, four walks and a single by Sterba produced a pair of runs.

A triple by Sterba along with another string of walks resulted in the final three runs.

In all, Sedro-Woolley pitchers walked 14 batters.

Sedro-Woolley scored single runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings and two in the fifth, but pitcher Sterba kept Sedro-Woolley from mounting any big innings with 12 strikeouts.

Central Whidbey 20,

North Whidbey 10

In the first win over North Whidbey Friday, Central Whidbey went up 7-1, then North Whidbey came back to tie the game with six runs in the bottom of the third inning.  Central Whidbey recovered and controlled the game from that point.

Central Whidbey scored two runs in the first inning when Richmond and Meffert walked and scored on wild pitches.

North Whidbey scored once in the bottom of the second inning.

Central Whidbey used six walks and a single by Larue to score five runs in the top of the third.

North Whidbey tied the game with six runs in its half.

Central Whidbey’s strong finish started with five runs in the fourth. Meffert doubled, Wells and Mulholland singled, and four teammates walked to fuel the big inning.

Three walks, another Meffert double and singles by Wells and Mckenna Somes led to four runs in the fifth inning.

In the sixth, two walks and singles by Meffert, Sterba and Somes produced four more runs.

North Whidbey scored once in the fourth and twice in the fifth.

Meffert led Central Whidbey with three hits. Wells, Sterna and Somes added two each.

Central Whidbey was aided by 21 walks.

Central Whidbey 15

North Whidbey 9

Down 8-4 in the title game Saturday, Central Whidbey sent 14 batters to the plate in the fourth inning and scored 11 runs with the help of 10 walks and two hits by Meffert.

North Whidbey started the game with two runs in the first inning.

Central Whidbey immediately responded with three runs on an error, walk and hits by Richmond and Sterba.

In the second inning, North Whidbey tallied five times.

Central Whidbey scored once in its half of the inning when Richmond walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

After a scoreless third inning, North Whidbey went up 8-4 in the fourth with a run on three hits.

Central Whidbey followed with its 11-run explosion and held on for the win.