South Whidbey 9/10 All-Stars fall at state Little League tournament

The South Whidbey 9- and 10-year-old All-Star team suffered its first loss in two weeks at the state Little League tournament.

By Ben Watanabe • July 18, 2012 11:29 am
Pacific All-Stars pitcher Tygan Duncan throws to South Whidbey’s Ethan Petty with Dexter Jokinen on second base in the Washington Little League 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars tournament July 14.
Pacific All-Stars pitcher Tygan Duncan throws to South Whidbey’s Ethan Petty with Dexter Jokinen on second base in the Washington Little League 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars tournament July 14.

The South Whidbey 9- and 10-year-old All-Star team suffered its first loss in two weeks at the state Little League tournament.

Then the South End All-Stars lost again, their first back-to-back losses of the postseason. After winning the District 11 title with four straight wins and no losses, South Whidbey was eliminated from the state tournament in Auburn by the Pacific (Lynnwood/Edmonds) and Spokane South All-Star teams. Pacific pummeled South Whidbey 18-1 and Spokane South edged the South End All-Stars 11-6.

“It didn’t go as well as we wanted it to,” said South Whidbey team manager Chris Schott. “It was just a different level of competition. Almost every team that was there was all 10 (year-olds).”

Conversely, South Whidbey’s All-Star squad had eight 9-year-olds on its 12-player team. The age difference led to a disparity in play, in Schott’s opinion.

Against Pacific, the South End All-Stars were outscored in a hurry. Pacific scored two runs in the first inning, seven in the second, five in the third and four in the fourth for an 18-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth. South Whidbey scored its only run on a bases-loaded walk before Pacific secured its victory in the 10-run rule shortened game. South Whidbey’s pitchers were Nick Young, Aidyn Frederick, Ethan Petty and Brighton Schott.

In the consolation bracket Sunday, South Whidbey led Spokane South early with a 2-0 edge by the first inning. Errors on what Schott called “routine plays” propelled Spokane to a 7-2 lead by the fourth inning and put pitchers Ethan Petty and Drew Fry on their heels.

The South End sluggers staged a rally with a string of hits, walks and one hit-by-pitch in the fifth inning and scored four runs to cut the lead to 7-6. Spokane brought in four more runs in the sixth inning to seal its victory and send South Whidbey back to the ferry.

Both Pacific and Spokane were in the consolation bracket Monday. Pacific was dropped 6-2 by Federal Way on Sunday, but recovered Monday with a 12-2 win against North Bothell. Spokane was eliminated by the Gig Harbor American Champions 21-0.

Given the relative youth of South Whidbey’s 9- and 10-year-old All-Star team, next year could be the South End’s chance to make waves at the state Little League tournament.