Marysville softball league takes off

For Randy McDanold, the Marysville Parks and Recreation coed softball league is more of a family get-together than anything else. When the team hit the field Wednesday, July 20, for the Marysville Parks and Recreation softball league season opener, McDanold’s roster included his two daughters, McKinzee and Kalina McDanold. Also on the team are Randy McDanold’s two nephews, Aaron and Andy Taylor, and their dad Don Taylor.

By Chris Trujillo • July 27, 2011 1:03 pm
Randy’s Light Construction’s Aaron Taylor takes aim at pitch during the team’s victory over the Slackers in a Marysville coed softball game
Randy’s Light Construction’s Aaron Taylor takes aim at pitch during the team’s victory over the Slackers in a Marysville coed softball game

MARYSVILLE — For Randy McDanold, the Marysville Parks and Recreation coed softball league is more of a family get-together than anything else.

When the team hit the field Wednesday, July 20, for the Marysville Parks and Recreation softball league season opener, McDanold’s roster included his two daughters, McKinzee and Kalina McDanold. Also on the team are Randy McDanold’s two nephews, Aaron and Andy Taylor, and their dad Don Taylor.

“We started playing in the softball league when my daughter McKinzee was 15,” Randy McDanold said. “This is a great way to get our family together. It’s a lot of fun. It can also get very competitive and we like that a lot.”

For the past six years Randy’s McDanold’s team, Randy’s Light Construction, has played in the less competitive Sunday league. During those years, Light Construction won the championship several times and never finished worse than second place.

“We are a good team,” Randy McDanold said. “We were able to compete well in the Sunday league, but we are in this new league now, so we will have to wait and see how good we really are. There are a few really good teams in the league, so we are excited to get going.”

Light Construction got off to a fast start by defeating the Slackers in their double-header, winning 15-5 and 15-4.

“We know that we can score runs,” Randy McDanold said. “We just have to play good defense to continue to compete in this league. We have some of the league’s better teams coming up.”

The Tres Hermanos, last season’s champions, opened the season by defeating Mike’s Machine in a double-header, winning 23-6 and 6-4.

“We played really well,” coach and player Shane Freeman said. “We are really excited for this season and we know that the teams will be coming after us.”

The Tres Hermanos and Mike’s Machine are no strangers to each other. Over the past five years the two teams have played 50 or more times. As for Tres Hermanos, nearly the entire team has played together for the last 10 years in the Marysville spring and summer leagues. The team has also played in various leagues in Everett over the years. This past spring the Tres Hermanos won the championship and finished with an overall record of 15-3.

“We have great chemistry because we have had little turnover,” Freeman said. “We’re a bunch of friends and we love playing together. We look forward to playing the other teams. This year I am sure will be very competitive.”

The teams continue play Wednesday, July 27, at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.