Fastpitch takes district, heads to state

An in-the-park grand slam home run from senior Keasha Campbell and peerless back-to-back pitching performances by freshman Christie Robinson bulldozed the way to the quickest district tournament championship possible for South Whidbey Falcon fastpitch.

It took just two games Saturday on sunlit fields at Sedro-Woolley's Janicki Park -- an 11-0 win over Meridian and a 5-0 victory against Mount Baker -- for the 21-1 Falcon girls to prove they were the best and deserved a return to the state tournament.

If any of the competition from around the state has been paying attention to Puget Sound fastpitch this season, there is a good chance there might be seven state qualifiers waiting with trepidation to face Robinson. The freshman drilled batters from both Meridian and Mount Baker, allowing only two hits over nine innings of work.

After getting a bye in the first round of the tournament, the Falcons worked quietly behind Robinson's mound work against Meridian for four innings in their opening game before teeing off on the opposition's pitching.

Having built a 4-0 lead earlier on base hits, walks and a Carolann Lubach triple in the fourth, the Falcons buried the Trojans under a two-out, fifth-inning rally. After a Julie Robinson double and two walks loaded the bases, Keasha Campbell smacked the ball deep into the outfield and past the defense.

The ball lodged against the bottom of the fence, slowing the Meridian fielding and giving Campbell the time she needed to round the bases for an in-the-park grand slam.

The Falcon senior was definitely in the zone when she crossed home plate. She said she had no idea she'd hit a grand slam until she got into the dugout.

"I wasn't watching," she said. "I was watching my coach."

In all, the Falcons scored five runs in the inning, making their lead insurmountable.

"After about the fourth inning, we really crushed them," said Falcon Coach Todd Lubach.

The day's second game, this time against Mount Baker, was closer. A duel between the two best pitchers in the North Cascades Conference -- Robinson and the Mountaineers' Karly Postlethwaite -- this contest placed a premium on scoring. Behind Robinson's 11-strikeout, one-hit complete game, the Falcons posted their first run and, as it turned out, the only one they needed, in the second inning when Lubach hit a leadoff single, was sacrificed to second by Mary Murphy, and then came home on a two-out, Christie Robinson single.

South Whidbey picked up single runs in the third and fourth innings, as well as two in the fifth to gap the Mountaineers 5-0 by game's end.

In winning the championship, the Falcons earned an 8 a.m. appointment with a team from Ephrata High School in the first round of the state 2A fastpitch tournament in Wenatchee. If the Falcons win that game, they will likely face Richfield, the team that beat them at last year's tournament and sent the South Whidbey home early.

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