Oak Harbor tied for third and South Whidbey finished sixth in the aptly named COVIC Classic 14U eight-team baseball tournament Friday through Sunday, July 24-26, at North Whidbey’s Clover Valley Park.
The tournament was played following health department guidelines and tournament officials policed the teams and spectators to help enforce proper social distancing.
This is one of several tournaments the Oak Harbor summer baseball program plans to host this summer. Island is the only county in this area of the state in Phase 3, which allows for some athletic competition.
Oak Harbor’s club is a 13-14 Babe Ruth team. South Whidbey, the Whidbey Baseball Club Crabs, is a 13-14 Pony League team. Pony teams generally play on a smaller diamond (the base paths are 10 feet shorter and the mound six feet closer) than regulation fields.
Crabs 7, Oak Harbor 3
South Whidbey opened the tournament by defeating the host team 7-3 Friday.
The Crabs jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Josh Sterba doubled and Andrew Hilton singled with two outs.
South Whidbey tacked on two more runs in the fourth when Sterba was hit by a pitch and then Hilton blasted a home run.
Oak Harbor got one run back in the fifth when Jackson Wesley and Connor Cash reached on an errors.
Sterba and Hilton were again in the thick of the scoring in the sixth. Both were hit by a pitch and moved up on Liam Petty’s ground out and scored on Dylan Paine’s double.
Oak Harbor made it 5-3 with a pair of runs in the sixth. Jeroam Wood-Pina reached on an error and Aiden Anderson doubled; then with two outs, Alex Jenkins singled and Christian Gisvold doubled.
The Crabs countered by tallying twice in the seventh to finish the scoring.
Grady Davis and Sterba singled and come around to score when Hilton and Petty walked and Paine was hit by a pitch.
Sterba finished with double, single and four runs and was the winning pitcher. Hilton had a home run, single and two runs.
Jenkins had two hits for Oak Harbor.
Oak Harbor 6, Stanwood 3
After losing to the Crabs, Oak Harbor bounced back to defeat Stanwood 6-3 Saturday.
After the Cannons scored a run in the bottom of the first, Oak Harbor took the lead with a two-run second.
Stanwood knotted the game in the bottom of the second, then Oak Harbor score three times in the fourth to take the lead for good.
Each team scored once in the sixth.
Connor Cash hit a double to lead the Oak Harbor offense.
Barnstormers 17, Crabs 0
The Barnstormers, based out of Burlington with players from throughout Northwest Washington, exploded for 15 runs in the third inning to stroll to a 17-0 win Saturday.
Davis led off the bottom of the first with a single, which turned out to be the Crabs’ only base hit of the game. Only two others players reached base: Petty walked and was hit by a pitch and Kasen Parsell walked.
Oak Harbor 8, Stilly Valley 7
Wesley pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam to preserve Oak Harbor’s 8-7 win over Arlington’s Stilly Valley Venom Sunday.
Oak Harbor erupted for six runs in the first inning, added two more in the second and then held on for the win.
Seth Woolsett started the big first inning with a base hit and then the Wildcats took advantage of the Venom pitcher’s wildness. Jenkins, Adam Nurvic and Cash walked in front of a Wesley single. Parker Anderson walked, stole second and then scored the sixth run on a wild pitch.
In the second, the two runs were produced when Jenkins reached on an error, Gisvold boarded on a fielder’s choice and Nurvic rapped a single.
Oak Harbor had only three base runners from that point: Nurvic and Anderson singled and Cash doubled over the next four innings.
Rival 9, Crabs 8
After South Whidbey rallied for three runs to tie the game in the top of the final inning, Everett’s Rival won it with a run in its final at bat for a 9-8 win Sunday.
The Crabs held the lead until the bottom of the fourth inning.
South Whidbey scored twice in the top of the first on hits from Sterba, Hilton and Connor Bartel.
Rival scored once in the bottom of the first, then the Crabs made it 3-1 in the third behind doubles by Petty and Paine.
The South Whidbey lead grew to 5-1 in the fourth thanks to hits by Sage Northrup, Sterba, Hilton and Petty.
The Rival responded with a five-run fourth to go up 6-5 and then scored twice in the fifth.
Down 8-5, the Crabs rallied three runs in the sixth, and final, inning.
Hilton singled, Davis doubled, Petty walked and Bartel singled to get South Whidbey back into the game.
The Rival won it with a double and one-out single in the sixth.
Barnstormers 9, Oak Harbor 4
After putting only one runner on base over the first three innings (a single by Wood-Pina), Oak Harbor’s offense finally revved up in the fourth, but it was too little too late as the Wildcats fell 9-4 to the Barnstormers Sunday.
In the fourth, singles by Woolett and Jenkins, a walk to Cash and doubles by Nurvic and Wesley plated two Oak Harbor runs.
In the fifth, EJ Delacruz walked, Wood-Pina reached on a fielder”s choice and both eventually came around to score.
Dylan Paine prepares to bunt for South Whidbey Saturday. (Photo by Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times)
Third baseman Dylan Paine scoops up a grounder for the Crabs against the Barnstormers. (Photo by Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times)
South Whidbey first baseman Kasen Parcell waits for a throw in Saturday’s game. (Photo by Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times)
Christian Gisvold slashes a base hit for Oak Harbor. (Photo by Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times)
Oak Harbor second baseman Alex Jenkins gloves a pop fly Saturday. (Photo by Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times)
Adam Nurvic throws a strike for Oak Harbor. (Photo by Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times)
The Crabs’ Liam Petty settles under a pop-up Saturday. (Photo by Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times)
Oak Harbor third baseman Jackson Wesley attempts to tag a Stanwood runner Saturday. (Photo by Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times)
Oak Harbor’s Connor Cash rips a double in Saturday’s game. (Photo by Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times)
Centerfielder Jeroam Wood-Pina fires the ball back into the infield for Oak Harbor. (Photo by Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times)
Grady Davis delivers a pitch for the Crabs Saturday. (Photo by Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times)
