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Archive for the ‘Softball’ Category

Win today, build for the future

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on April 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Cousins Haylee Armstrong (left) and Capri Anter, just 8th graders, promise a bright future for Wolf softball. (Jackie Saia photo)

“We did great!”

Coupeville High School JV softball coach Katrina McGranahan came away from Thursday’s road trip to Darrington pleased with what she witnessed.

Her Wolves rapped out 16 hits on their way to a 17-7 win, but getting field time for her young players was the biggest victory.

With most of Coupeville’s foes not fielding JV squads, McGranahan and Co. went 2-0 in limited action.

CHS was supposed to have one more contest for its second team, but a game next week at 2A Sedro-Woolley was canceled due to the potential host team having a lack of players.

That was even more reason for the Wolves to take advantage of Darrington being ready, willing, and able to play Thursday.

Coupeville was missing several players due to illness, but shuffled its roster, sliding a few varsity players down to fill gaps in the lineup.

Wolf 8th graders Capri Anter and Haylee Armstrong both saw time in the pitcher’s circle, with the duo combining to whiff four Loggers.

Coupeville’s three varsity hurlers — Allie Lucero, Maya Lucero, and Gwen Gustafson — are all seniors, leaving plenty of opportunity for the young guns to claim that role going forward.

“Capri did a great job,” McGranahan said. “She was able to hold her own right from the start and stayed solid the entire time.

“Haylee also got some much-needed work in. They both have potential so they need all the time they can get to practice!”

Coupeville pounced from the get-go, raining down six runs in the top of the first and never looking back.

While Darrington narrowed the gap to 7-6 after three frames, the Wolves roared right back into killer mode, slapping five runs on the board in both the fourth and fifth innings.

Along with bashing a ton of hits, CHS took time to work on the finer points of the game.

“Darrington was a decent JV team,” McGranahan said. “They put the ball in play and ran the bases and made the outs.

“But it just wasn’t comparable with what our team was, and for that reason the girls got to work on some skills that tend not to get any work.

“They were batting lefthanded, slap hitting, bunting, and push bunting,” she added. “These were all skills that we have practiced before but never really get the chance to use in games!”

 

Thursday stats:

Capri Anter — Two singles, one double, one walk
Haylee Armstrong — One triple, one walk
Teagan Calkins — Three singles, one walk
Gwen Gustafson — Three singles
Layla Heo — Two singles, one walk
Melanie Navarro — One walk
Sofia Peters — Two singles
Bailey Thule — One single, one triple, two walks

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Steady Wolves nab another win

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on April 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Sophomore sluggers Madison McMillan (left) and Jada Heaton have helped carry Coupeville to a 12-5 record. (Jennifer Heaton photo)

They never flinched.

Locked in a low-scoring rumble for a bit Thursday in Darrington, the Coupeville High School varsity softball squad could have panicked when the host Loggers cut their deficit to a single run.

Instead, the Wolves ripped off seven unanswered runs, threw down back-to-back scoreless innings on defense, and rolled to their ninth win in their last 10 games.

Eventually exiting with an 11-5 win, Coupeville gets to 9-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 12-5 overall.

Now the Wolves head home for Senior Night Saturday — played at 1:00 PM in the afternoon — then close the season on the road.

After facing off Saturday with La Conner (2-7, 2-13), CHS travels to Friday Harbor (7-1, 10-4) Thursday, May 4, before playing a non-conference game May 12 at South Whidbey.

The Friday Harbor clash will determine the NWL champs, and which team earns District 1’s lone playoff berth for 2B schools.

Thursday’s rumble with 1B Darrington, while having no effect on playoff positioning for the Wolves, was still a solid test for Kevin McGranahan’s squad.

“We had to earn this one today; took us awhile to get the bats going,” Coupeville’s coach said.

“The girls stayed the course, and eventually we got some clutch hits to plate some runs and pull away enough to get the W.”

The Loggers, who sit in third place in the conference, hung tough, trailing just 4-3 after four innings.

Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the first, with Wolf hurler Allie Lucero striking out the side, before Coupeville pushed three runners across in the top of the second.

Walks to Madison McMillan and Allie Lucero primed the well, with Maya Lucero crunching a two-run double to left to get the scoreboard operator working.

Melanie Navarro laced an RBI single over the shortstop’s head to make it 3-0 — one of three times the senior slugger reached base — before Darrington escaped.

Melanie Navarro has swung a big bat for the Wolves. (Jackie Saia photo)

The Loggers scraped together their own run in the bottom half of the inning, capitalizing on a bunt which burrowed deep into the dirt in fair territory, but CHS immediately matched the score.

Taylor Brotemarkle singled, went to second on an error, coasted into third on a wild pitch, then tapped home on a hard-hit grounder off the bat of the always-mashin’ McMillan.

Navarro doubled to center in the fourth, only to be stranded, while Darrington scored twice during their at-bats– without getting the ball out of the infield — and suddenly it was a nail-biter at 4-3.

But, no fear, no blinking, just going out and executing for the Wolves.

Fab frosh Teagan Calkins used a bit of alert base running to score in the fifth, before CHS tacked on two runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh to stretch the lead back out to 11-3.

Super sophomores Jada Heaton and Mia Farris both picked up two RBI’s during the surge, with Calkins coming back around to swat a two-run single past Darrington’s diving shortstop.

As important as the runs were, Coupeville’s pitching and defense also came up big in the moment, blanking the Loggers in the fifth and sixth.

Allie Lucero, who finished with 11 strikeouts, set down five consecutive Darrington hitters, while McMillan ended the sixth by tracking down a wayward pop fly over second base.

While the Loggers made one final push, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh, Calkins ended things.

Jumping out from behind home plate, she plucked a spinning ball off the dirt and fired it to Maya Lucero at first for out #21, sending her team home carrying yet another victory.

 

Thursday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — Two singles
Teagan Calkins — Two singles
Mia Farris — One double, one walk
Jada Heaton — One single
Allie Lucero — One walk
Maya Lucero — One double, two walks
Madison McMillan — One walk
Melanie Navarro — One single, one double, one walk
Sofia Peters — One walk

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Clickin’ the afternoon away

Posted in Baseball, Girls Tennis, Softball, Track, tagged , , , , , , , on April 26, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Vivian Farris springs into action. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Like raindrops on the prairie, photos continue to splash down.

Those seen above and below, which cover softball, tennis, baseball, and track, come to us courtesy wanderin’ camera clicker John Fisken.

To see everything he’s shot this spring, pop over to:

https://www.johnsphotos.net/

Wolf throwers Kai Wong (left) and Josh Upchurch (almost) hug it out.

Chase Anderson makes a perfect target.

CHS seniors (l to r) Allie Lucero, Gwen Gustafson, Sofia Peters, Melanie Navarro, and Maya Lucero catch a photo op with coach Kevin McGranahan.

Scott Hilborn deals.

Foreign exchange students Sara Omega (left) and Anna Annunziatio added high school track meets to their American experience.

Hayley Fiedler flicks a winner.

One Wolf team to beat them all.

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Bombs away for diamond sluggers

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , , on April 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Taylor Brotemarkle (left) and Madison McMillan have plenty to celebrate. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Your puny field cannot contain the mighty mashing of Madison McMillan!

The Coupeville High School sophomore blasted an opposite field grand slam home run Tuesday in Concrete, sending the ball screaming over the fence and halfway back to Whidbey Island.

McMillan’s mammoth tater was the biggest hit on a day when 10 Wolves combined to reach base 28 times in just four innings, propelling CHS to a 20-2 win.

The victory could have been by a much-larger margin if the Wolves hadn’t declined to take extra bases most times, while also leaving the bag early several times to give a young, rebuilding Concrete squad some precious outs.

Now 8-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 11-5 overall, Coupeville has won eight of its last nine and sits alone atop the conference standings.

Next up is a road trip to Darrington (5-2, 6-3) Thursday to face a Loggers team it beat 15-3 first time around, then Senior Night at home Saturday against La Conner (1-7, 1-13).

Coupeville didn’t fill up the bus for its trip to Concrete, with illness and an 8th grade field trip reducing the roster from 16 to 10.

But everyone who did make the trip contributed, with all 10 Wolves in uniform reaching base, including South Korean exchange student Layla Heo, who collected her first varsity hit.

Thanks to some strong defense by Concrete’s Sara Perry, who robbed Wolf leadoff hitter Teagan Calkins of an extra base hit, snagging a hot liner at third, CHS only picked up one run in the top of the first.

That quickly changed a frame later, as Coupeville rained down seven hits in the second — including a long triple for the madly galloping Calkins — pushing across a game-busting 11 runs.

The Wolves rapped out three doubles in the inning, one from Jada Heaton and two from Maya Lucero, seemingly lofting hits to every patch of grass not occupied by a Lion.

Sophomores (l to r) Brotemarkle, Jada Heaton, Mia Farris, and McMillan combined for seven hits Tuesday in Concrete.

Up 12-0 through two frames, with starting pitcher Allie Lucero whiffing four and retiring all six hitters she faced, Coupeville coasted in for the win.

Taylor Brotemarkle, normally a sweet-fielding infielder, moved into the pitcher’s circle for the final two innings and picked up four K’s of her own.

At the plate, the Wolves settled for a single run in the third, then put the game on ice with seven more in the fourth.

Calkins doubled during the final series of at-bats, Allie Lucero tripled, and McMillan rearranged the atoms in the softball with her bases-clearing bomb, a punctuation mark on a stellar, and sunny, afternoon.

 

Tuesday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — One single, one double, two walks
Teagan Calkins — One single, one double, one triple
Mia Farris — Three singles
Jada Heaton — One double, two walks
Layla Heo — One single
Allie Lucero — One single, one triple
Maya Lucero — One single, two doubles
Madison McMillan — One home run, two walks
Melanie Navarro — Two singles, one walk
Bailey Thule — Two walks

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Have bats, will mash

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , , on April 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Ask not for whom the bat tolls. It tolls for thee. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

“Today we put the league on notice! We are keeping the crown!!”

Coupeville High School softball coach Kevin McGranahan was feeling good Saturday, and why not.

Having travelled to Orcas Island to face a decent Vikings squad, the Wolves opened a can of unholy whup ass on their hosts, blowing them out 22-0 in a game mercy-ruled after three innings.

Led by out-of-the-park home runs from Mia Farris and Haylee Armstrong, CHS solidified its hold on first place in the Northwest 2B/1B League, jumping to 7-1 in conference play.

Now 10-5 overall, the Wolves have won seven of their last eight games.

Fueled by tasty noodles, Madison McMillan and Co. are on a winning tear. (Jennifer Marzocca photo)

Saturday, Coupeville dominated in every aspect of the game.

Senior hurler Gwen Gustafson struck out nine, not allowing her defense to get a single out on its own.

The Vikings did scratch out one hit and two walks, but that paled in comparison to Coupeville ringing up 16 base knocks and seven free passes.

Two of the biggest blows came from the sweet-swinging Farris, who clobbered an RBI triple and a grand slam home run — all in the first inning.

CHS rolled out to a 9-0 lead after one frame, tossed three more runs on the board in the second, then emphatically ended things with a 10-run burst in the third.

Armstrong, an 8th grader playing like a seasoned pro, joined Farris in the long ball club, belting a two-run shot that was still climbing as it cleared the fence in left center.

Powered by her mom’s flowers, 8th grader Haylee Armstrong smashed her first high school home run Saturday. (Michelle Armstrong photo)

 

Saturday stats:

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

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