Hailey Hammer: Destroyer of Hitter’s Souls. (John Fisken photos)
Lauren “Munchkin” Rose: “Fool, if you even think about running on me, I will make your entire family cry!!”
The final score was deceptive.
Though a look at the record book will show the Coupeville High School softball squad fell 2-1 to visiting Klahowya Wednesday, every other part of the game felt like a win.
“We were 100% better of a team then how we played on Monday (in a loss at Chimacum) and I feel like this is one of those losses we can feel good about,” said Wolf coach Deanna Rafferty. “The girls had a great defensive game.”
Wolf hurlers McKayla Bailey (4) and Katrina McGranahan (1) combined to whiff five Eagles, and when the ball was put in play, their defense sparkled.
Lauren Rose, the fireball-flingin’ frosh catcher who will not be run on (ever!) nailed one who dared to test her arm, cracking off “an excellent throw to second base.”
Hailey Hammer was her usual slick-fielding whiz at third, knocking down hard hits and gunning out runners, while Hope “The Surgeon” Lodell and Tiffany Briscoe pulled off sprinting catches in the deepest reaches of the outfield.
“Overall we had a perfect defensive game and I am incredibly proud of how the girl played their defensive game,” Rafferty said.
Both of Klahowya’s runs were hard-earned ones coming off of “legitimate hits,” as the Wolves never shot themselves in the foot with errors.
At the plate, however, Coupeville struggled a bit.
“It’s the same tune,” Rafferty said. “We’re lacking on offense and need to pick it up.”
The Wolves scratched out their solo run off of a single from Bailey, a beautiful sacrifice bunt from Briscoe and a resounding double from Hammer.
Unfortunately, the batters coming up after the senior slugger left Hammer stranded.
The loss dropped the Wolves to 4-8 overall, 3-3 in Olympic League play.
Coupeville travels to Port Townsend Friday (“We are looking forward to going and getting a win”) and has a busy schedule as it heads into May.
A string of rain-outs early in the season put a crimp in the schedule, but most of those games have now been moved to the end of the season.
The restructured final stretch:
May 1 @ Port Townsend (league game)
May 4 Bellevue Christian
May 5 Chimacum (league game)
May 7 @ Klahowya (league game)
May 15 @ South Whidbey
May 18 @ Meridian
May 19 La Conner
Coupeville Sports 
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