Boosted by the bat of Sarah Wright and the arm of Bella Northup, the Central Whidbey Junior (13/14) Little League softball team returned to its winning ways with a 4-1 win over Bellevue/Mercer Island Sunday, July 13, at the state tournament at Meridian Park in Shoreline.

The win lifted Central Whidbey’s season record to 18-1 and into a loser-out game with Woodinville at 4 p.m. Monday, July 14. Woodinville opened the tournament with a 17-5 win over Evergreen and then lost 12-3 to Auburn.

Wright drilled a two-run home run with Katrina McGranahan (who singled) aboard in the fifth inning to snap a 1-1 tie.

Northup, meanwhile, buzzed through the District 9 lineup with a one-hitter, striking out nine and walking two.

Central Whidbey’s first run came on Robin Cedillo’s RBI single that drove home Northup. Hope Lodell tacked on the final run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Central Whidbey shook off the first-game jitters that haunted it the day before to play error-free, “solid fundamental defense,” according to coach Kevin McGranahan.

McGranahan said his club as a “great attitude” heading into the Woodinville game.