Coupeville Sports

   Nicole Lester made her varsity softball debut Thursday as the Wolves rolled to a big win. (John Fisken photo)

“It was good to see the girls back to their old selves.”

After hitting a brief rough spot in the schedule, the Coupeville High School softball squad bounced back with a fury Thursday afternoon, pleasing coach Kevin McGranahan.

Taking full advantage of a young Port Townsend program mired in the midst of a 30-game losing streak, the Wolves, as politely as possible, thrashed the RedHawks 24-6.

The win snaps a three-game skid for Coupeville and lifts them to 7-4 overall, 2-2 in 1A Olympic League play.

With Klahowya (1-1, 6-5) falling to Chimacum (3-0, 7-4) Thursday, the Wolves move back up into second place with more than half the league season left to play.

Facing a school which hasn’t won a softball game since April of 2014, Coupeville rained down runs.

The Wolves plated 10 in the first, then another eight in the second, forcing their coach to curtail his team’s running and find ways to keep the game moving as quickly as possible to its foregone conclusion.

He was able to swap players around and have them work at new positions, give daughter Katrina some time off in the pitcher’s circle and offer Nicole Lester her first start.

The freshman responded just the way her coach was hoping, turning on a pitch and smacking a sharp ground-ball on her first at-bat.

As a team, the Wolves were able to walk a fine line — they needed a win to get their mojo back, but didn’t want to unnecessarily embarrass their hosts.

“Port Townsend is a rebuilding team, but it was good to play them and let the girls just have fun and get back to the basics and play ball,” Kevin McGranahan said. “Everyone on the team contributed today and played well.

“The bats were on fire and we went station to station after the first inning trying to keep the scoring to a minimum.”

Katrina McGranahan carried the biggest bat, whacking two triples and a pair of singles while driving in six runners.

The Wolves collected five doubles on the day, with Mikayla Elfrank leading the way with a pair. Sarah Wright, Kailey Kellner and Jae LeVine also got in on the extra-base parade.

Wright and LeVine had three hits apiece, while Lauren Rose collected a pair of singles and Tamika Nastali beat out “a beautiful bunt.”

Veronica Crownover, Robin Cedillo, Tiffany Briscoe and Hannah Benway all collected base knocks, as well.

Katrina McGranahan (one hit and nine strikeouts in three innings) and Wright (two hits and four K’s) made for a formidable duo in the pitcher’s circle.