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Step back and regroup!!

Posted in Softball, tagged 1A Olympic League, CHS Wolves, Hope Lodell, Lauren Rose, Softball on April 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Lauren Rose was one of three Wolves to smack a double Thursday in a loss at Chimacum. (John Fisken photo)

“Well, we never got off the bus.”

The game after “The Game” proved to be a bit of a downer for the Coupeville High School softball squad and coach Kevin McGranahan.

Two days after battling Lynden Christian, the #1-ranked team in 1A, down to the final out, the Wolves struggled to find a rhythm Thursday and fell 7-4 at Chimacum.

The conference loss drops Coupeville to 6-3 overall, 1-1 in Olympic League play and puts them a half game behind Chimacum (1-0, 5-3), the defending league champs.

Klahowya (0-0, 5-4) and Port Townsend (0-1, 0-5) round out the standings.

While the Wolves played inspired ball against the high-flying Lyncs, something was missing in the first of three meetings with the Cowboys.

“The girls were not their usual selves all game,” McGranahan said.

Umpires with an inconsistent strike zone hurt Coupeville, especially in the early going.

“The girls were disciplined and not swinging at obvious balls being called strikes,” McGranahan said. “We tried to adjust but too little too late and to their credit they didn’t chase the bad pitches like we teach them.”

Lauren Rose lashed a double off the left field fence to pace the Wolf offense, while Hope Lodell and Katrina McGranahan added two-base knocks of their own.

The younger McGranahan also singled and struck out seven Chimacum batters while working in the pitcher’s circle.

Coupeville plays three of its next four at home, starting with a match-up against Klahowya Tuesday, Apr. 19, and the Wolves will look to get back to their winning ways quickly.

“We will regroup and tweak some things and have a few hard practices,” Kevin McGranahan said.

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Venom still deadly!!

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged Central Whidbey Little League, Chelsea Prescott, Scout Smith, strikeouts, Venom on April 14, 2016| 1 Comment »

Scout Smith (black hoodie) headed outdoors Thursday and whiffed 12 hitters in a 10-1 win. (John Fisken photo)

Scout Smith might not be the biggest player on the field, but she’s a beast nonetheless.

Gunning down hitters left and right Thursday, the Coupeville Middle School 8th grader whiffed 12 North Whidbey batters as she sparked the Central Whidbey Little League juniors softball squad to a resounding 10-1 home win in its season opener.

The game revived the Venom brand and its day-glo uniforms.

Two years ago, the CWLL juniors went undefeated through the regular season and advanced to state.

After a year with no team, a new batch of Wolves have reclaimed the mantle and got off to a highly-successful start.

With Smith, or Scoutosaurus Rex as her fan club started describing her, on fire in the pitcher’s circle, the Venom were in command all game.

Not that they were ahead all game, though, as their offense took a bit to get fully going.

Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth — the run came in on a throwing error — Central Whidbey had put runners on in every inning, only to strand them.

Smith singled in the first, Maya Toomey-Stout walked in the second and Chelsea Prescott singled in the third, but each time the Venom couldn’t follow up.

And then things changed in a snap.

Emma Mathusek reached on an error to lead off the fourth, took second on a passed ball and scooted home when Smith smashed a hot shot off the second baseman’s glove.

Marenna Rebischke-Smith then won the game (though no one knew it at the time) by crushing an RBI single to straightaway center to give Central Whidbey its first lead.

Not content to stop there, the Venom plated four in the fifth and four more in the sixth, effectively turning a pitcher’s duel into a rout.

Cynthia Rachal kicked things off in the fifth when she out-ran the catcher’s throw to first after a third strike skittered away, while Prescott eventually brought her home with a bullet of an RBI single up the gut.

With North Whidbey frazzled, the Venom took advantage, running on almost every pitch and tacking on runs on a heady mix of passed balls and errors.

Hannah Davidson, Smith and Toomey-Stout all added RBI singles in the late going, as the singing and chanting, once started in the Central Whidbey dugout, never stopped.

All ten Venom players in attendance had an impact.

Melia Welling drew two walks and scored a run, Willow Vick patrolled right field with panache and Mollie Bailey anchored the squad with her work behind home plate, non-stop chatter and her impeccable fashion style in post-game footwear.

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Monica mashes!!

Posted in Softball, Wolves in college, tagged CHS Wolves, home run, Monica Vidoni, Rainy River Community College, Softball on April 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Wolf grad Monica Vidoni (center) smacked her second college home run Wednesday in Minnesota. (Photo courtesy Vidoni)

Monica Vidoni has left the yard. Again.

The Coupeville High School grad cranked her second college home run Wednesday, part of Rainy River Community College’s epic doubleheader dismantling of Hibbing.

The Voyageurs improved to 16-7 on the season with 31-1 and 16-0 wins.

Vidoni’s home run came in the second game and gave her 13 hits and eight RBI in 21 games during her freshman season in Minnesota.

Rainy River has 22 home runs this year, with six different players having cleared the fence.

Softball season is capping a full year for Vidoni, who also played volleyball and basketball for RRCC.

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Batter up!!

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged Central Whidbey Little League, Coupeville Crush, Iverson Insurance, Opening Day, Softball on April 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

A little rain can’t deter Little League players. (Renae Mulholland photos)

Makin’ magic in the press box.

The sweet taste of success.

South Whidbey’s pitcher, a rival on this day, played all-stars with the Coupeville girls last summer.

The start of a new season.

The girls of summer are back.

Central Whidbey Little League kicked off a new season Tuesday, and the Coupeville Crush, the league’s Majors softball squad, rolled to a 9-2 win over rival South Whidbey.

Coupeville hurler Izzy Wells went the distance, fanning 12 batters.

Renae Mulholland, proud mom of Crush player Abby, was along to dodge some rain drops and capture moments from Opening Day, which she shares with us.

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“We put one heck of a scare in ’em!!”

Posted in Softball, tagged CHS Wolves, Katrina McGranahan, Lynden Christian, ScoreCzar, Softball, Veronica Crownover on April 13, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Freshman Veronica Crownover had three hits and two RBI against the #1 team in 1A Tuesday. (John Fisken photo)

Not all losses are equal.

Returning from an 11-day layoff, the streaking Coupeville High School softball squad hit a road bump Tuesday, falling 7-4 in a non-conference game at Lynden Christian.

But while the defeat snapped a five-game winning streak for the Wolves, dropping them to 6-2 on the season, CHS made a statement in a battle of titans.

The host Lyncs, who improved to 7-0, are ranked #1 in 1A in the most recent ScoreCzar rankings and have gone undefeated while fighting primarily above their weight class, with five of their seven games coming against 2A or 3A schools.

Even coming in cold (LC was already back in a groove, having beaten 2A Anacortes Monday), the Wolves did far better than most of Lynden’s opponents this season.

Coupeville’s four runs were the second-most scored against the Lyncs, while Lynden’s seven runs were its second-fewest.

The three-run margin also tied for the second-smallest loss by an LC foe.

Chelan, the only other 1A school Lynden has played (and which sits at #20 on ScoreCzar to Coupeville’s #21), was massacred 13-2 on its home field.

By contrast, Coupeville had the tying run on base in the top of the seventh before Lynden Christian wiggled away with the win.

“We put one heck of a scare in ’em,” said Wolf coach Kevin McGranahan. “As usual the girls played with heart and as a team and definitely did better than the 21-6 score from last year.

“I can’t be more proud of this young team and the way they keep playing for each other, ” he added. “Gonna be a very exciting second half of the season.”

The two squads battled to a 1-1 tie until a “few young team errors” allowed the Lyncs to put up six runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Fighting back hard, as they have all season, the Wolves rallied in the late going to make things interesting.

Coupeville plated three in the seventh and had the bags juiced with two outs, but LC “made a great play and got the third out.”

“It was a very hard-fought game and these ladies gave it everything they had,” McGranahan said. “I would put these ladies up against anybody, with their heart and determination they are never out of any game.

“I believe in good losses and bad losses and this was a very good loss,” he added. “They all hurt, but this was a good measuring stick game against an undefeated team that has been mercy-ruling their competition.”

Coupeville’s young guns led the way, with sophomore Katrina McGranahan thumping two triples and a double, while also whiffing three Lyncs from the pitcher’s circle.

Veronica Crownover stroked three singles and knocked home two runs, while fellow freshman Sarah Wright collected an RBI and gunned down a runner at second while working behind the plate.

The Wolves (1-0 in league play) now head into the heart of their schedule, with eight of their next nine games against 1A Olympic League rivals.

First up is a trip to Chimacum (4-3, 0-0) Thursday.

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