Scout Smith had a pair of singles Saturday as Coupeville clashed with high-flying Forks in a doubleheader. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
This is not going to go the way you think.
Luke Skywalker’s words of wisdom in “The Last Jedi” were likely echoing around Coupeville Saturday, though, with all the wind, everyone could be forgiven for not hearing them.
On a day when the prairie was lashed by rolling, dirt-flinging, sustained winds that sliced through the souls of even the most die-hard of fans, the Wolf softball squad came back to Earth.
The CHS sluggers, coming off of a romp against Meridian, entered Saturday with a superb 6-1 record.
That record has now taken a ding or two, courtesy a very-impressive Forks team.
A Spartans unit that plays together as both a high school team and a travel ball squad showed what year-round commitment can inspire, as they drilled the Wolves 12-0 and 10-0 to sweep a doubleheader no one was sure would be played in the first place.
The non-conference losses drop Coupeville to 6-3, and its players, who managed just five hits on the day while battling flame-throwing Spartans and Mother Nature, will have some time to reflect on what went wrong.
CHS is off until next Saturday, Apr. 14, when it travels to Friday Harbor.
As he surveyed the damage, Wolf coach Kevin McGranahan was clear-eyed and committed to making sure his players bounce back quickly and efficiently.
“Long story short, Forks hit the ball and we didn’t,” he said. “We ran into a very good team today and we have some things to work on.”
The Spartans (7-2), who compete in the brutal Evergreen League, where they clash with fellow 1A powerhouses like Montesano, Elma and Hoquiam, are GOOD.
And yes, that word was meant to be all caps.
Forks, one through nine, hits with precision and power, it rarely make mistakes in the field and it boasts five pitchers with top-level stuff.
So, even though Wolf hurlers Katrina McGranahan and Scout Smith weren’t off by much Saturday, to beat the Spartans you would have to be close to flawless.
And Coupeville, whether bothered by the wind, the precision of their visitors, or a little jet lag from playing five games in six days, was not flawless on this day.
Game 1:
Katrina McGranahan came out all guns blazing, whiffing the side in the first, en route to nine K’s in the game.
But then things fell apart for a bit in the second, as Forks used four hits, including one greatly helped by the wind, which caused a routine fly ball to madly curve away from a CHS fielder at the last second, to bust things open.
Down 4-0 and unable to muster much offense, the Wolves went 11 batters into the game before they got their first runner aboard.
That was Smith, who ripped a one-out single to straight-away center in the fourth.
When the wind died (for at least six seconds) and McGranahan immediately followed with her own base-knock to right, the hints of a rally begin to emerge.
Only to be promptly smashed, as Forks cut down the lead runner on a grounder off the bat of Sarah Wright, then escaped the inning with a strikeout.
The game got away from CHS after that, with the Spartans plating three in the fifth (including a long two-run home-run) and five more in the sixth to enact the mercy rule.
Smith added a second single, while freshman Mollie Bailey toasted a single to center to cap Coupeville’s limited four-hit attack.
Game 2:
If the offense was blunted in the opener, it was DOA the second time around, with a Lauren Rose single and a Bailey walk accounting for the only Wolf base-runners.
Forks methodically picked away, scoring runs in small clumps, with the only bright spot for Coupeville coming from its defense.
Emma Mathusek nailed a runner coming in to third with a throw from left, Rose devoured everything which came her way in the middle of the infield and CHS turned a tricky double-play to stuff a rally.
The play of the game came from McGranahan, who was manning shortstop with Smith in the pitcher’s circle.
While Forks kept 99% of their hits on the ground Saturday, one Spartan lofted a ball high into the swirling madness in the first inning.
Breaking from short, McGranahan had to fight the wind, which caused the ball to suddenly reverse course, and an ump who couldn’t seem to get out of her way as she charged in, veered, then dove face-first.
Spearing the ball in the very tip of her glove, she snagged the orb as it dropped like an anvil, then held on through the collision with the ground, earning easily the biggest cheer of the afternoon.
Heck, even the ump who made her job harder was smiling about the play afterwards – a small victory on a rough and tumble day.
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