Sedro-Woolley ousted the North Whidbey 11-12 baseball team from the district tournament with a 10-4 win Tuesday, July 13, at Windjammer Park.
Sedro-Woolley then defeated South Whidbey, which was the only undefeated team left in the tournament, 8-7 in the first game of the championship series Wednesday, July 14. The two teams meet again tonight, July 15, at 6 p.m. at Windjammer Park to determine the district champion and which team will advance to the state tournament.
In the North Whidbey/Sedro-Woolley game, the local team spurted to an early lead with two runs in the top of the first inning. A walk to Alex Harrison and singles by Robert Herring and Tyler Snavely fueled the attack.
Sedro-Woolley picked up a single run in the bottom of the first; then North Whidbey struck for two more in the top of the second.
A single by Quentin Tungate and errors off the bats of Kevyn Johnson and Jared Hunt helped North Whidbey push across the two runs and take a 4-1 lead.
From that point, it was all Sedro-Woolley.
Sedro-Woolley piled up six runs in the bottom of second to take the lead for good. It spanked six hits in a span of eight batters; the final three hits were doubles.
Sedro-Woolley out hit North Whidbey 13-4, and North Whidbey didn’t get a hit after the second inning until Tungate’s single in the sixth.
In regard to the lack of offense, North Whidbey coach Jerry Newton said, “We were making contact but we were just hitting it at people.” He added, “We hit in the games we won and didn’t in the ones we lost.” North Whidbey finished 2-2 in the tournament.
While its offense was inconsistent, North Whidbey’s defense was solid throughout the tournament. Newton said it wasn’t an accident: “We worked hard on it.”
Newton said his players’ attitudes were great and he was “very proud” of their “total effort.” He added, “We played to our strengths.”
He was also pleased with how his players embraced the “team concept.” He said, “They are all stars and they all want to play all the time.”
With 14 players on the team, each had to sit sometime in the tournament. Some, Newton said, struggled with this at first but better understood the “team first” attitude as the tournament progressed.
