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Mia Farris spent quite a lot of time on base this spring. (Jackie Saia photo)

Mia Farris has a big bat, and she knows how to use it.

The sophomore sensation spent much of the spring racking up stats on the softball field, helping pace Coupeville to a strong 14-6 campaign.

Hitting out of the #2 hole, Farris led or was tied for the lead in eight of 12 offensive categories and was just three RBI’s away from sharing the top slot for a ninth time.

She and her teammates achieved much of their success thanks to their offensive firepower, and with a huge chunk of the roster being comprised of underclassmen, the future is bright.

As he scanned his season-ending stat sheet, CHS coach Kevin McGranahan took particular delight in his team’s OPS numbers.

That stat combines on-base percentage with slugging percentage, and an average around .800 is considered strong.

For Coupeville, 14 of 16 players topped that mark.

“We had a very good offensive season,” McGranahan said.

Madison McMillan goes yard. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

 

CHS softball season stats, as compiled by Wolf coaches:

 

At-Bats:

Mia Farris – 74
Taylor Brotemarkle – 60
Teagan Calkins
– 59
Maya Lucero
– 57
Madison McMillan
— 57
Allie Lucero
– 56
Gwen Gustafson
– 55
Jada Heaton
– 36
Melanie Navarro
– 33
Sofia Peters
– 32
Haylee Armstrong
– 15
Layla Heo
– 7
Chloe Marzocca
– 5
Capri Anter – 4
Bailey Thule – 2

 

Hits:

Farris — 38
Brotemarkle — 31
McMillan — 31
Calkins — 30
M. Lucero — 25
Gustafson — 23
A. Lucero — 22
Heaton — 17
Navarro — 16
Peters — 11
Armstrong — 7
Marzocca — 2
Anter — 1
Heo — 1

 

Runs:

Farris — 40
McMillan — 37
Brotemarkle — 35
Calkins — 30
A. Lucero – 27
M. Lucero – 26
Navarro — 20
Heaton — 18
Gustafson — 17
Peters — 13
Armstrong — 10
Marzocca — 9
Anter — 3
Thule — 3
Heo — 1
Melanie Wolfe — 1

 

2B’s:

Farris — 12
Brotemarkle — 11
Calkins — 8
M. Lucero — 8
McMillan — 7
Gustafson — 5
A. Lucero — 5
Navarro — 4
Peters — 4
Heaton — 2
Anter — 1
Armstrong — 1

 

3B’s:

Farris — 4
A. Lucero — 4
McMillan — 4
Armstrong — 2
Calkins — 2
M. Lucero — 2
Brotemarkle — 1
Navarro — 1

 

HR’s:

Farris — 3
Navarro — 3
Calkins — 2
A. Lucero — 2
Armstrong — 1
Brotemarkle — 1
M. Lucero — 1
McMillan — 1

 

RBI:

McMillan — 31
Farris — 28
Gustafson — 21
M. Lucero — 20
Calkins — 19
Navarro — 19
Brotemarkle — 17
A. Lucero — 14
Heaton — 13
Armstrong — 5
Peters — 5
Anter — 3
Marzocca — 1
Thule — 1

 

Walks:

Farris — 36
McMillan — 22
A. Lucero – 19
Calkins – 17
Brotemarkle — 16
M. Lucero — 15
Peters – 14
Navarro – 13
Gustafson – 8
Heaton – 8
Thule – 6
Anter — 5
Armstrong – 5
Marzocca — 5
Heo — 4
Wolfe — 3

 

Batting Average:

McMillan — .544
Brotemarkle — .517
Farris — .514
Calkins — .508
Navarro — .485
Heaton — .472
Armstrong — .467
M. Lucero — .437
Gustafson — .418
Marzocca — .400
A. Lucero — .393
Peters — .344
Anter — .250
Heo — .143

 

On-Base Percentage:

Wolfe — 1.000
Thule — .750
Marzocca — .700
McMillan — .671
Anter — .667
Farris — .667
Brotemarkle — .618
Calkins — .618
Navarro — .617
Armstrong — .571
Heaton — .568
M. Lucero — .556
A. Lucero — .547
Peters — .543
Gustafson — .492
Heo — .455

 

Slugging Percentage:

Armstrong — 1.000
Navarro — .939
Farris – .905
McMillan – .860
Calkins – .814
Brotemarkle — .783
A. Lucero – .732
M. Lucero – .702
Heaton — .528
Gustafson – .509
Anter — .500
Peters — .469
Marzocca — .400
Heo — .143

 

OPS:

Farris — 1.572
Armstrong — 1.571
Navarro — 1.556
McMillan — 1.531
Calkins – 1.432
Brotemarkle – 1.401
A. Lucero – 1.279
M. Lucero – 1.258
Anter — 1.167
Marzocca – 1.100
Heaton – 1.096
Peters – 1.012
Gustafson – 1.001
Wolfe — 1.000
Thule – 0.750
Heo – .598

Sweet-swinging stat machine Teagan Calkins, ready to go ruin another pitcher’s day. (Jackie Saia photo)

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Jessica Caselden, local girl made good. (Photo courtesy Kassie O’Neil)

Wolf softball players are speaking out and speaking up. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

“The students at Coupeville would be devastated.”

With proposed budget cuts swirling, one calls for the school’s athletic trainer position to be eliminated.

The potential loss of Jessica Caselden, a CHS grad who returned to her hometown to teach and work with athletes, is not being well received by Wolf athletes.

CHS softball players, past, present and future, have fired the first shots across the bow, sending a series of impassioned letters to the school board in support of Caselden.

The young athletes, who range from high school seniors to middle schoolers, speak glowingly of an eternally upbeat, whip-smart young woman who gives them a role model, a fervent supporter, and a reassuring voice of calmness when dealing with injuries.

Caselden, who haunted the aisles of Videoville growing up, hanging out with brother Jack and dad Willie, is part of a tight-knit group of former Wolf student/athletes who have returned to Coupeville in recent years.

Like Kassie (Lawson) O’Neil, Mandi (Murdy) Black, and others from that group, Jessica is first-rate in every way.

As a school, as a community, as Wolf Nation, we are immeasurably better with her being back in Cow Town.

I agree with our softball players, 1000%.

This is not the way.

Jessica Caselden needs to be retained.

 

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Wolf 8th grader Capri Anter has a bright softball future. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It was informal, but hugely helpful.

Coupeville High School’s JV softball team got one more go-around on the diamond Friday, playing a four-inning game with host South Whidbey in which no score or stats were kept.

While they might not have gotten an official win, the Wolves did score the maximum number of runs allowed, with JV rules limiting teams to five tallies per inning.

What mattered most, however, was getting more field time for young players before bats and balls are officially put away for the season.

“It was a beautiful day to play some softball, and that’s just what we did,” said Coupeville JV coach Katrina McGranahan.

“We were able to show them just how powerful our future is.”

While all of her players had their star moments, the softball guru gave praise to three Wolves, two of whom have the potential for long diamond careers.

Capri Anter and Melanie Wolfe are just 8th graders, and the extra season of softball has been invaluable.

Melanie crushed a line drive to left field, earning her a double,” McGranahan said. “Man, what a confidence booster.

“I’m proud of her and how she was able to stick with the sport.”

With Coupeville’s three varsity pitchers graduating, Anter and fellow 8th grader Haylee Armstrong are the early frontrunners to inherit the job as freshmen.

As a former Wolf ace who prowled the pitcher’s circle from day #1 of her own 9th grade season, McGranahan knows the benefits of getting in as much work as possible.

Capri pitched well today!” the CHS coach said.

“Yeah, she may have hit a few girls, but hey, she stayed with it and fought through her frustrations to end the game with a solid comeback.”

While Wolfe and Anter can return next season, foreign exchange student Layla Heo returns to South Korea soon and McGranahan wanted to make sure the hard-working softball newbie would get one more time in the spotlight.

Layla got to play in her last game for the Wolves before she heads home after the school year! Bittersweet,” McGranahan said.

“She has improved so much as a player and as a person; I know she will be missed by her whole team.”

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Coupeville seniors (l to r) Sofia Peters, Maya Lucero, Allie Lucero, and Melanie Navarro exit as winners. (Photo courtesy Paula Peters)

The season ended as it began, with the Wolves thumping their next-door neighbors.

Returning to the diamond after an eight-day break, the Coupeville High School varsity softball squad swamped host South Whidbey 23-0 Friday in a game mercy-ruled after five innings.

The victory, fueled by a ferocious tsunami of hits, gives the 2B Wolves a sweep of their two-game season series with the 1A Falcons and leaves Coupeville’s final record at a sweet 14-6.

While there won’t be any playoffs for CHS softball this season, its five-pack of splendid seniors — Allie Lucero, Melanie Navarro, Sofia Peters, Maya Lucero, and Gwen Gustafson — finish their prep careers with a 42-9 record.

Not bad for a group which lost a season-and-a-half to pandemic restrictions but stayed together and finished strongly.

Gwen Gustafson tossed five scoreless innings and smacked three hits during her final high school softball game. (Photo courtesy Irene Gustafson)

Coupeville’s seniors, and their younger teammates, overwhelmed South Whidbey in the finale, crunching extra-base hits at the plate and playing precision defense in the field.

Wolf catcher Teagan Calkins, much spryer after a week-plus to rest an injured ankle, popped out of her crouch and gunned down a runner straying off the bag at first base.

The ball smacked into Allie Lucero’s glove before the wanderin’ Falcon knew what was what, and happened so quickly it almost seemed to catch the ump off guard as well.

He recovered, however, punching out the runner with an emphatic yell, which was quickly overwhelmed by the roar from the Coupeville bench.

Equally applause-worthy was a double play which could have been a triple play pulled off by sophomore shortstop Madison McMillan.

Spearing a liner out of midair for out #1, she whirled, slapped the tag on a runner going by for out #2, then whipped a laser to first in a bid to also catch that Falcon straying.

And she would have, except South Whidbey already had an out before the play happened, and you can’t get four outs in the same inning most days.

“We only need two, Maddie,” Coupeville coach Kevin McGranahan said with a chuckle as he headed for the dugout. “But I like your thinking.”

Coupeville actually only scraped out a single run in the top of the first, as South Whidbey clamped down, for a moment, on defense.

Taylor Brotemarkle smoked an RBI single back up the middle to make it 1-0, and while CHS failed to get more at the moment, it soon made up for it.

The Wolves, swinging from their heels and spraying the ball all over the field, tacked on five more runs in both the second and third innings, then closed with six more tallies in both the fourth and fifth.

Everyone in the lineup was hitting, from top to bottom, as all 11 Wolves who picked up a bat Friday collected at least one base knock.

Mia Farris mashed a three-run triple to straight away centerfield to bust the game open, while Calkins, Allie Lucero, and Brotemarkle all zinged RBI doubles to deep and dark parts of the park.

Not to be outdone, Farris came back around, and flexing her biceps in true “sun’s out, guns out” fashion, thumped a pair of doubles to go with her three-bagger, having herself a day.

And then, with the end of the season just a whisper away, Maya Lucero erupted, launching a cannon shot which cleared the fence in left field for a titanic tater that’s never, ever coming back.

Her final high school at-bat and her first out-of-the-park dinger, in one compact swing. Kismet.

Maya “The Mad Masher” Lucero. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

While Coupeville loses its five seniors, and foreign exchange student Layla Heo, 10 of the 16 players on the roster can return next season.

And they’ll be around for a while, as Chloe Marzocca, Jada Heaton, Bailey Thule, McMillan, Farris, and Brotemarkle are currently sophomores, while Calkins is a freshman.

Haylee Armstrong, who started most of the season, Capri Anter, and Melanie Wolfe are just 8th graders.

 

Friday stats:

Haylee Armstrong — One single
Taylor Brotemarkle — One single, one double
Teagan Calkins — Two singles, one double, two walks
Mia Farris — Two doubles, one triple, one walk
Gwen Gustafson — Two singles, one double, one walk
Jada Heaton — One single
Allie Lucero — Two singles, one double
Maya Lucero — One single, one home run
Madison McMillan — One single, one double, one triple, one walk
Melanie Navarro — One single, two doubles
Sofia Peters — One single, one walk

Coupeville’s young sluggers carry big bats and know what to do with them. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

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Fab frosh Teagan Calkins gets a helping hand from coach Kevin McGranahan after an injury. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The finale approaches.

Coupeville High School softball takes the field for the final time this season Friday, traveling to South Whidbey to clash with the Falcons.

Win and the Wolves earn a season sweep of their next-door neighbors — CHS won 20-2 first time around — while finishing with a spiffy 14-6 record.

As we count down towards the end, a photographic look at the best softball squad on Whidbey Island, courtesy Diet Coke-fueled photo clicker John Fisken.

Aaron Lucero imparts diamond wisdom to Chloe Marzocca. “Hit the balll … HARD!!”

Haylee Armstrong, already crunching homers and triples as just an 8th grader, stares intently at her bright future. She might want to wear sunglasses.

Melanie Navarro awaits an incoming strike.

Calkins, ankle secured, delivers a heartfelt Senior Night tribute to some of her older teammates.

“When I flex that muscle right there while hitting? The ball goes over the wall and it doesn’t come back.”

“Was it a hit or an error?”

“We’ll be the judge of that!”

Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

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