“The Bainbridge 9-10 girls All-Stars became the first-ever island softball team to advance to the state tournament as they completed a three-game sweep of the District 2 tournament on Wednesday by trouncing host Sequim 12-1.The team opens state tournament play in Vancouver on Friday at 6:00 p.m. Pitcher Lindsay Willmann went the distance against Sequim, throwing a one-hitter and striking out 12 as the game was called after five innings due to the ten-run rule. Willman had an outstanding tournament, allowing just two hits in nine innings and fanning 24.Bainbridge scored what turned out to be the deciding runs in the top of the first. Ariel Hujar led off with a single and Haylee Baker reached base on an error. Both girls scored on RBI groundouts by Chelsie Kakela and Cara Thompson.Bainbridge tacked on single runs in the second, third, and fourth innings before breaking the game open with seven runs in the fifth.Olivia Finlay led off the inning by reaching first on an error. Karis Tsolomitis followed with a single and stole second to put runners on second and third. Victoria Wellbrock drove both runners home with a triple to right center field. Hujar’s single drove in Wellbrock. Baker also singled and fielding errors on the next three hitters accounted for the remaining four runs.Hujar went three for three to lead an eleven-hit Bainbridge attack. Willmann aided her cause with two hits, including an RBI double, and Brittany Wisner and Heather Schneider also contributed hits.Sequim scored its only run in the fourth inning on a double and a Bainbridge error. They also mounted a scoring threat in the first on three walks with two outs, but Willmann struck out the next batter.Bainbridge’s catcher Baker led the team defensively by throwing out Sequim’s only steal attempt of the game in the second. In the following inning, Baker threw to second on a fake steal by a Sequim runner, and shortstop Hujar’s relay throw caught the runner off the bag at first.The kids did very well last night, said coach Tony Gaspich. This is a pretty exciting time for us, and hopefully we’ll do well in the tournament.The tournament is an eight-team, double-elimination format. The team is assured of games on Friday and Saturday.We’re learning as we go along, because we’ve never gotten to this level, Gaspich added. Because of the distance to the tournament, some parents are considering giving up their jobs. So our strategy is not to lose. That way we minimize the number of games we have to play.But no matter what happens, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the girls.11-12s bow out with 16-1 lossThe Bainbridge 11-12 softball all-stars went further in the district tournament than any of their predecessors had ever gone.Unfortunately, on Tuesday they ran into what coach Kevin Dwyer termed an immovable object and the resulting 16-1 loss to Sequim ended their season with a second place in the tournament.Their coach said that we’d given them more competition than they’d had all season, said manager Jennifer Myers. Our girls came out strong the first two innings and played their hearts out. That’s more important than the final score.Bainbridge took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Kelsey Middleton walked, moved to third on an out, then scored on a passed ball.But Sequim scored what Myers termed too many runs in the third.They just lit up the sky, she added, and the game was called in the fourth because of the 10-run rule.The girls played hard, stayed focused and really enjoyed the experience, said Myers. With the success of our team and the 9-and-10-year-olds, a winning tradition is starting on the softball side. Everybody was working together this year.The team included four members from the regular-season champion Blaze – Chelsea Baker, Molly Dwyer, Middleton and Chelsea Whealdon. The Blaze won playoff games from fellow Bainbridge teams Storm and Diamonds, and was undefeated against two North Kitsap opponents. Other Blaze team members included Hannah Crichton, Hayley Baker, Amanda Rodriquez, Laura Hall, Meika Munroe, Hailey Mathieson, Sarah Shea and Kayla Swain. “