CHS softball coaches Kevin McGranahan (left) and Ron Wright run players through practice drills. (Photos by JohnPhotos.net)
Mollie Bailey is one of nine returning players from a team which came a win shy of advancing to state.
Third time’s the charm.
At least that’s the hope for the Coupeville High School softball squad, which has fallen a single win shy of the state tourney two years running.
And, while the Wolves will miss a trio of graduated All-Conference players in Hope Lodell, Lauren Rose, and Katrina McGranahan, the roster is loaded with experience.
Seniors Sarah Wright, Veronica Crownover, and Nicole Laxton top a lineup with brings back nine letter winners.
Joining them are juniors Scout Smith, Emma Mathusek, and Mackenzie Davis, as well as sophomores Coral Caveness, Mollie Bailey and Chelsea Prescott.
Having that kind of experience, and having it so precisely balanced between the classes, is huge.
“Returning nine of 12 varsity players will be key to our run this season,” said Coupeville coach Kevin McGranahan.
“My goals for this season are that the team comes together as a fast-pitch family and trusts in the process,” he added. “If we can do that, we should have no problem competing for a league title and going to districts.
“Sky is the limit for this little team that could.”
Rounding out the varsity roster will be junior Chloe Wheeler, coming off a strong JV season, and freshman Izzy Wells.
The Wolves need to replace Lodell in center field, Rose at shortstop, and, maybe most importantly, Katrina McGranahan in the pitcher’s circle.
Smith was Coupeville’s #2 pitcher last season, while Prescott and Wright also saw time flingin’ heat. Wells arrives at the high school level after being a top hurler in little league.
As the pitching situation firms up, the Wolves will be a force to reckon with when they’re up to bat.
Wright and Crownover, who anchor the team at catcher and first base, respectively, can mash with any diamond duo, Prescott combines power and speed, and the rest of their teammates have shown discipline and skill at the plate.
“Strengths will be our speed and ability to push the opposing defense,” Kevin McGranahan said. “Also our mental toughness will get us through the inevitable bad days.
“Things to work on will be just gelling as a team and our communication on the field.”
Coupeville is coming off a league title in a depleted Olympic League, after narrowly missing the crown a year before against a conference at full force.
The past two seasons the Wolves played in a winner-to-state game, but came up a single strike shy of upsetting Bellevue Christian in 2017, then were stung by Klahowya’s bottom-of-the-order hitters in 2018.
Now, CHS is part of the new North Sound Conference, which pits them against Cedar Park Christian, Sultan, Granite Falls, and South Whidbey.
King’s doesn’t field a softball team, so the Wolves will play 12 league games, clashing three times with each conference foe.
South Whidbey has advanced to state in back-to-back seasons, and might appear to be the league favorites, except…
The Falcons lost all-universe pitcher Mackenzee Collins to graduation, and, even with her flingin’ heat, Coupeville crushed the Falcons 12-0 and 10-0 in non-conference games last season.
With a 6-5 win in 2017 and a 4-1 victory in 2016, CHS has won four straight against SWHS under Kevin McGranahan.
Seniors Crownover, Wright, and Laxton have never lost to their Island rivals, and you have to go back to the regular-season finale in 2015, during Deanna Rafferty’s one season of coaching, to find the last time the Falcons beat the Wolf sluggers.
For Kevin McGranahan, though, it doesn’t matter which team is in the other dugout.
He’s been trying (unsuccessfully) to get Whidbey’s third team, 3A Oak Harbor, on the schedule, and looks forward to match-ups with 1A bruisers like Forks and Lynden Christian.
“Teams that stand in our way … well this is a tough question, as you know we will play anyone, anytime, anywhere … unlike our friends to the North, who keep ducking us year after year.
“I think this year we will not take any of our league opponents lightly; never should take anyone lightly,” McGranahan added. “This year in the new league we need to feel it out and put a choke hold on it early.”
Having four league rivals, and 12 conference games, after making do with just arch-rival Klahowya last season after Chimacum and Port Townsend suspended their programs, is just a bonus.
“I like the idea of being in the new league,” McGranahan said. “It gives us a real chance to earn a league title, not that we didn’t last year, but this year we have a better league schedule and not just three games for the title.
“Also the district tournament is A LOT closer!”
Coupeville kicks things off with a home game against non-league foe Friday Harbor Mar. 12, and currently has a 19-game regular season schedule.
After ending March with a four-game road trip, the Wolves get to close with seven of their last 11 games on their own field.
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