Major boys are District 11 champions

After tearing through five opponents during the past week and a half, the South Whidbey Majors Little League All-Star team put their season on the line in a District 11 championship game Wednesday in Burlington.

And against the North Whidbey All-Stars, the South Whidbey 11- and 12-year-olds were overpowering in the later innings, taking the game and the tournament trophy 8-3.

The victory came despite a rocky start and an exhausting game schedule. The South Whidbey Majors fell behind in the first inning when North Whidbey select player Billy Lamson banged one over the fence off a two-strike pitch thrown by South Whidbey’s Hunter Rawls to put his team up 2-0. The score went to 3-0 by the end of the inning.

But that would be all the North Whidbey players would get. After that, Rawls settled in to throw 11 strikeouts and to walk just three while his team’s batters took control. In the bottom of the first, South Whidbey brought in three runs on three hits to tie. They went ahead in the fourth on three more runs, then finished the game in six innings.

Team coach Tom Fallon said his players showed themselves as experienced ball players in the game and the entire tournament. Seven members of the team were part of a 9- to 10-year-old Minors team that won a District 11 tournament two years ago. This year, the All-Star players — drawn from three South Whidbey district champion teams — came together quickly as a team, Fallon said, and displayed dedication and work ethic in both games and practice.

In talking about the game this week, Fallon did not single out team members, saying that each player contributed something necessary to the district championship. Members of the team are TJ Fallon, Craig Hawkinson, Andrew Groves, Hunter Rawls, Ben Bennett, Austin Bennett, Robert Kirby, Jasper Hayes, Alex Nettleton, David Woodbury, Duck Hanna, Riley Newman.

The team now moves on to play in the state tournament in Samammish. The tournament starts today with a 10 a.m. game against District 8 champion Chehalis.

Also making a name for themselves during the past week was an 11-year-old Majors team from South Whidbey. The team placed second in a District 11 tournament in Oak Harbor Wednesday night. Details on that tournament were not available this week.

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