Here comes the heat! Izzy Wells struck out 18 batters across two games Saturday, leading Coupeville to a doubleheader sweep. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
First test? Passed.
Taking the field for the first time since the 2019 state tournament, the new-look Coupeville High School softball squad made a bold statement Saturday afternoon.
Sweeping a doubleheader from visiting Friday Harbor, the Wolves fired the first shots across the bow of their new home in the Northwest 2B/1B League.
When last we saw CHS softballers, they had just played three games in one day at the 1A state tourney, demolishing highly-ranked Dear Park and coming within a play of eliminating Cle Elum.
Since then, COVID-19 wiped out a season and brought a premature end to the careers of stars such as Scout Smith and Emma Mathusek.
Jump forward to Saturday, and the Wolves, now a 2B school, finally got to return to play, with a chance to face the defending champs from their new league.
While Coupeville claimed first-place in the 1A North Sound Conference in 2019, Friday Harbor went a flawless 12-0 in the NWL that season.
That won’t be happening this time around, thanks.
Winning 7-3 and 6-3 in games which weren’t as close as they might sound — Friday Harbor scored only one run outside of the 7th inning all day — the Wolves made an emphatic statement.
Their handful of returning state tourney vets — fireball-tossing pitcher Izzy Wells, slammin’ slugger Chelsea Prescott, easy-going catcher Mollie Bailey, fleet-footed Coral Caveness, and fast-rising two-way star Audrianna Shaw — all looked sharp.
Even better, the next gen stars, many of whom were making their debut on a high school field, were sensational.
From Gwen Gustafson, who made one eye-popping catch after another in centerfield, to Jill Prince and Maya Lucero, who launched lasers off their bats, the young guns already have some serious pop.
“I was very happy with my “red-shirt sophomores” and how they played,” said Coupeville coach Kevin McGranahan. “They showed right away the game was not too big for them.”
Mixing and matching his lineup a bit between games, the Wolf diamond guru got incredible balance across the board.
Coupeville finished the twin-bill with 17 walks and 16 base-knocks, with 12 different players reaching base, 10 with hits.
How the day played out:
Game 1:
Friday Harbor was late after its bus broke down, requiring CHS to retrieve their opponents at the ferry dock.
Whether that affected the visiting team’s pitchers, or whether Coupeville’s hitters all just have eagle eyes, it worked out to the advantage of the team in red and black.
The Wolves piled up 11 walks in the opener, tossed in a few hits at important moments, and scored in every inning except the bottom of the sixth.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Wells limbered up her arm by playing a hardy game of catch with Bailey, as the duo combined to ring up an impressive 12 strikeouts.
Coupeville’s first two runs came courtesy of well-timed double steals, with the runner heading to second drawing the throw, before a runner at third scooted home.
The first time around it was Caveness tip-toeing down the line, the second time Shaw juking the Friday Harbor catcher out of her shoes.
The Wolves broke the game open with three runs in the third inning, all scored with two outs.
Shaw whacked an RBI single to centerfield, with the ball diving under the glove of the oncoming defender, before Prince smoked a two-run single to right-center, which drew a roar of approval from mom Jennie (Cross) Prince.
“I saw that!,” said the woman who still holds the CHS shot put and discus records three decades down the road, while her daughter ducked her head and beamed brighter than the sun.
Prince and Shaw also made nice snags on defense, supporting Wells, who was slingin’ heat while new CHS assistant coach, and former Wolf star, Katrina McGranahan hollered support from the bleachers.
When she wasn’t gently bouncing her adorable young son, the one-time diamond phenom was dropping pop quizzes on the greenest of Coupeville’s new players, giving them a gentle, but very-effective entrance into game strategy.
Meanwhile, out on the field, her father’s squad built its lead all the way up to 7-0, thanks to opportunistic base-running.
While Friday Harbor did claw back a bit in the seventh, scraping together a three-run rally, it was too little, too late.
Looking like the calmest pitcher to ever toe the rubber, Wells reared back one final time, sent the ball skidding into Bailey’s glove as a Friday Harbor bat went by too slowly, then skipped off the field in search of a quick between-game snack.
Game 2:
If the opener was about walks, the nightcap — played with just a hint of sprinkles replacing the here-sometimes, gone-sometimes sun which graced the prairie earlier — was all about hits.
Eleven of them, to be exact, with eight of nine starters notching at least one.
On the day she celebrated her birthday, second-baseman Heidi Meyers led the way, clubbing a single and double out of the leadoff slot, while Wells and Bailey also had a pair of hits each.
Heidi Meyers celebrated her birthday with a pair of base-knocks.
The game was actually scoreless until the bottom of the second, thanks to Friday Harbor gunning down a runner at the plate, and the Wolves pulling off an unusual double play.
Wells recorded yet another strikeout, with Bailey popping out of her crouch to nail a runner trying to steal second on the same pitch.
As the ball nestled perfectly into Prescott’s glove, the irrepressible Bailey nodded ever so slightly at her rabid fan base, while undoubtedly firing off finger pistols in her head.
That seemed to trigger the offense, as it came out firing on all cylinders in the bottom of the second.
Bella Whalen, making her Wolf debut, kicked things off by tearing the ball in half, her screamer down the third-base line reminiscent of former power hitters such as Veronica Crownover and Sarah Wright.
While this hit was a long single, she also thumped one deep foul ball off of a power line Saturday, and kept her teammates bouncing on the edge of their seats each time she strolled to the plate.
With Whalen aboard, Wells dumped a single into left, and Coupeville was off to a three-run inning.
One run came in on a passed ball, a second on an RBI grounder off of Shaw’s bat, and the final one on a long liner to center by Maya Lucero.
While Meyers didn’t get a hit in the inning, she did get a roar from her teammates after she almost killed first base coach Ron Wright with a rocket hit right at his chest.
The birthday girl came back around later in the game to mash an RBI double, while Lacy McCraw-Shirron added an RBI single as Coupeville cruised out to a 6-1 lead.
Down the stretch, the Wolves sparkled on defense as well, with Gustafson patrolling center like a legend, including making one truly sensational snag while running full-tilt towards right.
CHS also saved a run after a botched play, as Whalen alertly grabbed a wildly-skittering ball, spun, and delivered a pin-point strike to Bailey, who rode the incoming runner down to the dirt for the inning-ending out.
On the day, Shaw and Bailey led the way at the plate, with three hits apiece, while Meyers and Wells each had two.
Caveness, Prescott, and Whalen all walked three times, with Kylie Van Velkinburgh, Gustafson, and Wells eking out two base-on-balls each.
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