Breeanna Messner (left) and McKayla Bailey pose with the sportsmanship awards they won at the state tourney. (Amy King photo)
The magical mystery tour ended with a mix of smiles and tears.
Back-to-back losses at the 1A state tourney in Richland Saturday brought a close to one of the wildest Coupeville High School softball seasons in school history, but the memories put together by this squad will linger for a long time.
And I’m not just talking about the billion and a half cookies they made and/or bought for me this season. Though that was … sweet.
The splendid trio of CHS seniors — Breeanna Messner, Haley Sherman and Madeline Roberts — who played all four years with passion and hustle that were remarkable, went out on the short end of an 8-1 loss to Warden and a 5-2 thriller to Okanogan.
But they also went out having gotten to play nine playoff games this season, stretching through districts, tri-districts and state.
No Wolf softball team had put together that long of a postseason run since the immortal 2002 squad, which finished 3rd at state — the best finish by any team in any sport in school history.
Coupeville opened its first trip to the state tourney in 12 seasons by facing one of most imposing pitchers in the field.
“Warden had a dominating pitcher, 6-foot-2 or close to that,” said CHS coach David King. “She was long, threw hard and with her length it helped her fastball get on our hitters quicker than they were used to.
“She had a good rise ball and we were swinging under early on and just missing,” he added. “Later in the game, she seemed to slow down, lost some of her accuracy and we started to get the bat on the ball.”
The Wolves didn’t get a runner on until Hailey Hammer eked out a two-out walk in the fourth, and 15 of their 21 outs came via strikeouts.
McKayla Bailey, who was firing her own missiles from the mound, got a single off her rival hurler, while Sherman, back after recovering from injuring her ankle during tri-districts, thumped an RBI double to right center.
Warden, which cranked back-to-back home runs in the third, broke the game open with a five-run fourth, combining four hits, a walk and an error for the runs.
Bailey got back in a groove, however, keeping Warden on their heels after that.
The sixth was her best inning, as she shut her opponents down one-two-three with a strikeout, a pop up and a grounder that she snagged and flipped to Hammer to end the inning.
The second game of the afternoon was closer, but, once again, errors, which had bothered Coupeville during the regular season, reemerged as a villain.
“The errors hurt us this weekend,” King said. “When we only have one legitimate pitcher it’s not just tough on our team having to get extra outs, but it’s taxing on our pitcher.”
Coupeville did come up with a couple of web gems, however.
Freshman Tiffany Briscoe made “a very good running catch” in right, while Messner exploded from her position behind the plate to snuff out a bunt attempt, spearing it in mid-air and making “probably the defensive catch of the year.”
At the plate, the Wolves hit better in game two, getting doubles from Messner and Madeline Strasburg, but couldn’t find the big break-out inning they needed to upend Okanogan.
Bailey led the Wolves with three hits at state, while Messner and Hammer had two apiece. Strasburg, Sherman and Roberts each had one.
As they return home to The Rock, one thing remains ever true — this team, these 14 girls, endured, they improved, they went out with class and style.
Long after their season was supposed to be over, the surprise of the spring kept playing, and their giddy grins are the story of the season.
Wolf baseball, which went to state, was expected to be good (the core of that team won a state title as little leaguers).
Makana Stone is electric on the track oval, and Sylvia Hurlburt, Lathom Kelley and Co. are a worthy support crew.
Christine Fields has gone to state three times in three seasons, just like older brother Austin before her. Golf excellence flows through their veins.
Boys’ soccer, with the wham-bam scoring punch of sophomores Abraham Leyva and Zane Bundy, took huge strides, while Allie Hanigan and her tennis compatriots held their own all season with the best of the Cascade Conference.
But softball? Softball almost didn’t happen this season.
There were serious questions as to whether the Wolves would have enough bodies to field a team, and, when they did (barely), half the roster was unproven freshmen who would have played JV at any of the 2A schools from the Cascade Conference who beat up on CHS during the regular season.
But they never quit. They never gave in. They came back, game after game, through epic wins and demoralizing losses. They stayed upbeat. They remained a team to the end.
And they got the postseason run they so richly deserved, but couldn’t have expected. Small miracles do happen to good people.
Messner, Roberts, Sherman, Hammer, Strasburg, Bailey, Briscoe, Monica Vidoni, Emily Licence, Robin Cedillo, Erin Josue, Emily Coulter, Jae LeVine and manager Kailey Kellner — well done, ladies.
You made your town very, very proud.
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