Robin Cedillo whacked an RBI single down the first-base line Wednesday afternoon. (John Fisken photos)
Swinging a big bat, Veronica Crownover collected two of Coupeville’s seven hits, including an RBI double to straight-away center-field.
Round one to the Cowboys.
A day that started in torrential downpour morphed into a wind-fest and then, in the biggest surprise, turned into a sun-splashed, fairly calm afternoon on the prairie.
Unfortunately for the Coupeville High School softball squad, its previously-pristine record absorbed its first ding at the same time, as aggressive, hard-hitting Chimacum showed why it’s the two-time defending champions of the Olympic League.
By the time the Cowboys were done raining down hits, and tearing up the base-paths, they had run off with a resounding 15-4 win in a game called after six innings thanks to the mercy rule.
The loss drops Coupeville to 2-1 in league play, 7-1 overall, and it slides a game-and-a-half behind Chimacum (4-0, 5-1).
The Wolves have six games to play before the first of two rematches with the Cowboys Apr. 28.
The squads also tangle May 8, with both games on Chimacum’s diamond.
Along with four non-conference games, CHS has league tilts with Klahowya (0-2, 2-3) and Port Townsend (0-3, 0-4) before they again face the Cowboys.
When they do, they won’t need big changes, just a general clean-up.
“It was a good loss,” said Coupeville coach Kevin McGranahan. “You never seek it (a loss) out, but it’s not always a bad thing.
“They hit the ball. I expected us to hit with them and we just didn’t today,” he added. “We need to hit and button down on the little knick-knack errors.”
The Wolves put bat on ball, and a glance at the score-book shows they were only out-hit 9-7.
But Chimacum, which was led by Shanya Nisbet (two doubles) and Grace Yaley (three singles), packed their hits together, while Coupeville’s base-knocks were far more strung out.
Add in an uncharacteristic five errors (and numerous bobbled balls) by the Wolves, and CHS was fighting uphill most of the way.
Trailing 3-0 after a half an inning, Coupeville cut the lead to 3-2 in the second, then promptly gave back five runs in the top of the third to seal its fate.
The Wolves scraped together their first runs after Mikayla Elfrank led off the second by lining a long shot to right field that was dropped for an error.
Veronica Crownover followed by crushing a laser shot of an RBI double to straight-away center-field — the hardest-hit ball by a Wolf all game.
Three batters later, Crownover, putting the pedal through the metal, beat a throw home after Robin Cedillo drilled a single off the first baseman’s glove.
Coupeville tacked on two more in the bottom of the third, slicing the lead to 8-4, and did all its damage after starting the inning with two outs and no one on base.
Katrina McGranahan walked, Sarah Wright slapped a single up the middle, then both came flying home on a thunderous double to left-center off of Elfrank’s still-smokin’ bat.
But, while the Wolves had runners on base every inning, they also left a lot of them high and dry, stranding runners in five of six innings.
The only time they didn’t, the inning ended on a runner being snuffed out at second on one of the few plays the field ump was actually on top of…
Chimacum hurler Holly Snider only whiffed two Wolves (while Katrina McGranahan notched seven K’s), but she was quite adept at getting Coupeville hitters to punch fly balls that her steady fielders ran down.
The Cowboys had three errors, but they all came at times where they ultimately mattered little.
Crownover, who also battled the wind to track down and snare a dangerous foul ball wide of first, paced Coupeville with two hits.
Both she and Elfrank had doubles while Cedillo, Katrina McGranahan, Hope Lodell and Jae LeVine added singles.
Coupeville Sports 
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