Coupeville Sports

   Wolf catcher Sarah Wright smashed a fences-clearing home-run Friday, propelling CHS softball to a huge league win. (John Fisken photo)

What a difference a year makes.

Clearing a major psychological hurdle, the Coupeville High School softball squad knocked off host Klahowya 5-2 Friday, its second straight win over the Eagles this season.

The victory lifts the red-hot Wolves to 3-1 in Olympic League play, 10-1 overall.

That ties the 2002 squad for the best record by a CHS softball team through 11 games.

It also pulls the Wolves within a game of two-time defending league champ Chimacum (4-0, 6-1), the only team to beat Coupeville this season.

The second of three games with the Cowboys comes on the road next Friday, Apr. 28.

The Wolves have non-conference games against Lynden Christian (6-7) Saturday and Meridian (2-9) Monday and a league clash with Port Townsend (0-4, 0-6) Wednesday before the shootout at the Chimacum corral.

For a (very small) moment, though, CHS can bask in a reversal of fortune against Klahowya and two-time league MVP Amber Bumbalough.

Last year, a very-young Wolf squad was swept by the Eagles, losing 7-1, 9-1 and 16-6.

This year, a still-young (they often start seven underclassmen) but more-seasoned Coupeville team has broken the hex, helping drop Klahowya to 1-3 in league, 4-4 overall.

After winning their first meeting by one run, the Wolves came out Friday and controlled every aspect of the game.

“This was a huge win. We dominated from start to finish,” said Coupeville coach Kevin McGranahan. “We played error-free softball and just completely dominated them.”

Wolf hurler Katrina McGranahan won her individual dual with Bumbalough, tossing a two-hitter while whiffing eight Eagles.

At the same time, Coupeville mashed 12 hits, including a solo home-run over the fence in right-center off of the bat of sophomore slugger Sarah Wright.

It was the eighth tater whacked by a Wolf this season, with Wright becoming the sixth different starter to hit a round-tripper.

CHS ripped hits up and down the line-up, collecting at least two base-knocks in each of the first five innings as it built a 5-0 lead.

After stranding two runners in the first, the Wolves broke through in the second, scoring the game’s first run off of a double from Veronica Crownover and a single off the bat of Hope Lodell.

Wright went ballistic in the third, launching a two-out moonshot to make it 2-0, and that seemed to open the floodgates.

Mikayla Elfrank followed with a single, went to second on a passed ball, scooted to third on an overthrow, then scored when the Eagles booted a ball hit by Crownover.

Four hits in the fourth — singles from Tiffany Briscoe, Robin Cedillo, Lauren Rose and McGranahan — plated two more.

Meanwhile, Coupeville’s pitching ace was throwing her best game of the season.

McGranahan blitzed through the first 11 Klahowya hitters, not allowing a base-runner until Bumbalough poked a two-out single in the fourth.

Just to keep everyone on their toes, the Wolf hurler promptly plunked the next Eagle, then got out of the inning unscathed when she induced a ground-out to Elfrank.

Staring down her rivals, McGranahan mowed down Klahowya one-two-three in the fifth and sixth, had a wee bit of trouble in the seventh when the ump narrowed their strike zone, then closed the game with a bang.

First she got a key ground-out to Jae LeVine, then reared back and whiffed the game’s final hitter, catching them looking at strike three.

Crownover (two doubles), McGranahan, Wright and Briscoe had two hits apiece, while Cedillo, Rose, Elfrank and Lodell all chipped in with singles, as eight of nine starters collected hits on the afternoon.