Coupeville Sports

Hailey Hammer surveys the wreckage after thumping a hit last season. (Shelli Trumbull photos)

Hammer guards the line at first base.

Hailey Hammer digs the long ball.

The Coupeville High School sophomore softball slugger launched a towering shot against Archbishop Thomas Murphy last season, then added an equally impressive one during summer ball. A pretty smooth defensive player on the corners, Hammer carries a big stick and knows how to speak with it.

“My strength, I would say, would be my hitting,” Hammer said. “I love that I can just go out and have fun with my friends that also love this game. Also, every great hit or making a great play.”

Hammer and fellow frosh phenom McKayla Bailey made a big splash for the Wolves last season and will be among a core group of players new Wolf coaches David and Amy King will look to as they head into this season.

Hammer, who bounced between first and third, has far more diamond experience than her age might indicate. She first picked up the sport in tee-ball, and like the flame-throwing Bailey, plays virtually year-round. She currently suits up for a select softball team in Everett on Sundays.

With softball mixing with the just-ended basketball season and a full school schedule, Hammer is always on the go.

“I barely have time off since I have school Monday-Friday, then I have Boys and Girls Club basketball coaching and then I have select softball,” Hammer said.

A fan of her biology class (“We do a lot of fun labs”) and the movie “Pitch Perfect” (“Bessie (Walstad) and I quote it all the time!”), Hammer finds time for family and friends, and draws support from both.

“My parents (Mark and Linda) have really impacted me,” Hammer said. “(Big brother) Hunter comes to all the games that he can, to cheer me on, along with my mom and dad.

“The coach Kings have taught me so much about softball and basketball,” she added. “And Bessie, of course. She’s my partner in crime.”

Walstad, the team’s senior catcher, has been a particular role model for the younger Hammer, a combination teacher and close friend.

“My highlight would have to be playing with Bessie,” Hammer said. “She knows how to cheer me up and last year we had a cupcake war after practice.”

As the Wolves head into a new season (the first day of practice is Monday, Feb. 25), Hammer is thrilled to get back on the diamond on a regular basis.

“Some goals I have are to win, of course, but to also get closer as a team,” she said. “Softball is my favorite sport. I just love the sport!”