Wolves (back, l to r) Veronica Crownover, Nicole Laxton and (front) Mackenzie Davis, wait out a rain storm Friday at the district softball tourney in Lacey. (Kelly Crownover photo)
The rain might have been an omen.
Fresh off of beating Vashon Island in the district playoff opener Friday, the Coupeville High School softball team found itself beset by liquid sunshine.
And, while the umbrellas were finally put away and the Wolves were allowed to take the turf in Lacey, all the hits had been washed out of their bats.
After raining down base-knocks against the Pirates, Coupeville was one-hit by Bellevue Christian and fell 14-1 in the District 3 title game.
The Wolves can still punch their ticket to state, though, and all it will take is to beat a familiar foe.
Olympic League rival Klahowya, which Coupeville has beaten six straight times over the past two years, survived a loser’s out brawl with Vashon.
After winning 12-1, the Eagles will clash with the Wolves 1 PM Saturday and the stakes are simple.
Win, and you go to state (Coupeville’s last visit was in 2014, Klahowya’s in 2004).
Lose, and you hang up your uniform and prepare for your team banquet.
The two teams have similar records, with the Wolves sitting at 12-8 and the Eagles at 11-7, but their rivalry has been largely one-sided this season.
Coupeville swept to a league title by beating KSS 15-1, 9-4 and 12-7.
The Wolves have outscored the Eagles 60-22 over the past two seasons, winning all six of their clashes.
To keep that streak alive, and punch a ticket to Richland, CHS needs to hit more like it did in game one Friday, and less like it did on a wet, slick turf field in game two.
Coupeville’s only base-knock against BC came in the bottom of the second, when freshman third-baseman Chelsea Prescott launched a lead-off triple down the right-field line.
The ball curved over first base, hung in the air for a second, then bit ground just inside the chalk and skipped to the fence while Prescott sailed into third standing up.
She promptly came home on the next pitch, when the ball got away from the Bellevue catcher, but, as quickly as the Wolves launched their mini-rally, it was over.
BC scored in four of five innings, chipping away for two in the first, one in the second and another two in the third.
Coupeville’s best defensive stand came in the fourth, when Katrina McGranahan cut down the lead-off hitter on a come-backer, then ended the inning with back-to-back K’s.
The fifth inning, by contrast, was a killer, as the Vikings exploded for nine runs to turn a fairly close 5-1 game into a blow-out.
Other than Prescott’s hit, CHS only got three runners (McGranahan, Hope Lodell and Lauren Rose) aboard, all thanks to walks.
