Coupeville Sports

   Hard-hitting freshman Sarah Wright will take over catching duties for the Wolves, allowing Lauren Rose to return to 3B. (John Fisken photos)

   Fellow frosh Veronica Crownover works on fielding during the early days of practice.

The old gang’s back together.

While Coupeville High School softball will have its third coach in as many years, for most of the players, it’ll be an easy fit.

With Kevin McGranahan taking the reigns of the program, much of his roster has already played, quite successfully, for him at the little league level.

Two years ago virtually this same roster, playing as the Central Whidbey LL Venom with McGranahan and assistants Ron Wright and Justine McGranahan, went undefeated (ten-running every foe) all the way until the state tourney.

While they lose four starters from a team that went 7-12 under one-year coach Deanna Rafferty (McKayla Bailey, Hailey Hammer and Monica Vidoni graduated while Kyla Briscoe jumped to track), the new addition of the Wolves is loose, confident and very, very happy.

“The team has really rallied behind this new coaching staff and are very excited to get this season going,” Kevin McGranahan said.

The core of the squad is battle-tested, and while they’re young, they have a history of winning and a rock-solid belief in themselves.

Sophomores Katrina McGranahan (P), Lauren Rose (3B) and Hope Lodell (OF) are joined by juniors Tiffany Briscoe (OF), Jae LeVine (INF) and Robin Cedillo (OF) as returning letter winners.

Junior Kailey Kellner (INF) and sophomore Heather Nastali (OF) are also returning players with huge upside, while four other newcomers will be in the thick of things.

Freshmen Sarah Wright (C), Tamika Nastali (OF) and Veronica Crownover (1B) were all key players in the rise of the Venom, while sophomore transfer Mikayla Elfrank (INF) arrives from Langley to rejoin girls she once played with in her little league days.

Excitement in the coaching change has been so high CHS has enough girls to field a JV team for the first time in years.

The Wolves are sitting with 20 players, an unheard of number on the prairie (two years ago Coupeville went to state under David King with a roster that barely crawled over half that).

“We are going to field a JV team so it seems the program is on the rise and hopefully we can build from here,” Kevin McGranahan said. “There are a lot of girls that have never played before but they are definitely very excited to learn and help grow this program.

“I will use three of the varsity girls (Crownover and the Nastali sisters) to play as a swing player and play with the JV to help guide their learning process and use their leadership.”

With his varsity squad, Kevin McGranahan will look to utilize their natural skill-set and build on their sense of camaraderie.

“The strength of this team is going to be our team speed and the way these girls all play for each other and are a team and not individuals,” he said. “We will play solid defense.”

When asked about areas his players might need to work on, the veteran coach just laughed and left it for outsiders to try and figure out on their own.

“No coach will say weaknesses for the press,” Kevin McGranahan said with a smile.

The Wolves, who went 5-4 in their first go-round in the 1A Olympic League (Chimacum edged Klahowya for the title), have lofty goals but realize every journey begins with a simple step.

“Goals for the season are of course to win state, but just to give 100% and play together as a team and have fun doing it,” Kevin McGranahan said. “I feel like this team can be very competitive if we do those things.

“The team to beat for us is the next team on the schedule; you have to take a season one game at a time.”

Win or lose, the “new” coach is happy to be back on the job, and the feeling is mutual from his players and parents.

“We have a bunch of great ladies out there giving 100% to the team,” he said. “Even in the cold and high winds they keep going. We as a community can be very proud of them.”

To see the softball schedule, pop over to:

http://www.olympicleague.com/index.php?league=21&page_name=game_schedule&school=24&sid=4018&sport=15