Coupeville Sports

   Tiffany Briscoe, still smiling after catching a ball with her face during a recent practice. (Photo courtesy Amy Briscoe)

Softball is just getting started.

While the other spring sports are either completely done (baseball, soccer) or deep into postseason play (golf, track, tennis), the diamond women returned from an eight-day absence Friday to play the first of three final non-conference regular season games.

The gap between games may have hurt the Wolves, who struggled in an 11-3 loss at South Whidbey.

“We had a rough game riddled with errors and a couple sloppy plays,” said CHS coach Deanna Rafferty. “Although we hit really well, our defense was where we let South Whidbey beat us.”

The loss dropped Coupeville to 6-11, with games at Meridian Monday and home against La Conner Tuesday still ahead.

The Wolves, the #3 seed out of the Olympic League, head to the district playoffs May 22.

Facing off with its Island rivals, Coupeville got doubles from McKayla Bailey and Katrina McGranahan and a single from Hailey Hammer.

Rafferty also liked the team’s bunting ability, with Tiffany Briscoe and Hope Lodell laying down successful sacrifices.

While the Wolves as a whole struggled with their gloves, second baseman Jae LeVine pulled off a nifty double play, snagging a pop fly and alertly catching a runner straying off of first.

As her squad moves forward, Rafferty will look to continue building around an offense that, even with a week-plus off, still had some pop.

“I am incredibly proud of our hitting and hope we can carry it through to our game Monday against Meridian.”