Veronica Crownover cranked a home run to the deepest, darkest part of center field Saturday in a 9-4 win. (John Fisken photo)
History will not repeat itself.
Coming off its first loss this season, the Coupeville High School softball squad took the field Saturday looking for a bit of redemption.
The Wolves, who returned virtually their entire roster from last year, remember how they started 6-1, then went into a horrible 3-10 free-fall after Spring Break.
This year, having absorbed a tough loss to Chimacum Wednesday that snapped a seven-game win streak, CHS wanted an immediate bounce back.
And they found it.
Erupting for seven runs in the fourth inning, then capping things off an inning later with a home-run to straightaway center off the bat of Veronica Crownover, the Wolves rallied to drill visiting Friday Harbor 9-4.
The non-conference win lifts Coupeville to 8-1, a show of softball dominance not seen since the 2002 squad which finished 3rd at state.
While this year’s team still has a lot of work ahead of them if they want to reach the heights achieved by Sarah Mouw, Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby and Co., they possess similar traits.
They hit with power, they play often-inspired defense and they have a steady hurler in the pitcher’s circle who drives the engine.
For the 2017 Wolves, that’s junior hurler Katrina McGranahan, who whiffed nine batters — including the final three in the game.
Friday Harbor didn’t get to her until the third inning, when they used their first two hits of the afternoon to plate a pair, opening a brief 3-1 lead.
The visitors notched their first run in the opening inning, using a walk, two stolen bases and a passed ball to somehow put the game’s first run on the (non-existent) scoreboard.
Coupeville responded right away in the bottom of the first, as Lauren Rose led off with an infield single (she dropped it right between the pitcher and first-baseman), then came around to score two batters later.
Driving her home was McGranahan, who pasted an RBI single back up the middle.
Friday Harbor escaped with no more damage, however, as their slick-fielding shortstop gunned McGranahan down at home two batters later.
With the offense sputtering just a tad in the early going, the Wolves got a huge psychological boost on defense in the top of the fourth, and you could feel the entire flow of the game change in an instant.
Trailing 3-1 with a runner at second and no one out, McGranahan got the batter to shank a foul ball skyward.
The softball was spinning quickly and headed for no-man’s land, but the CHS pitcher shot to her left, and, running full-tilt towards the visitors dugout, speared the ball out of the air even while having her glove twisted awkwardly to the side.
Not only did it count for an out, but it sent an electric shock through the Wolves and their fans, who were out in full force.
McGranahan escaped the inning untouched, whiffing the next hitter before coaxing a ground-out to third-baseman Lauren Rose to end things.
Pumped up, Coupeville’s players pounded enthusiastically on each other as they charged off the field, and the good vibes immediately surged through the Wolf bats.
The fourth inning was a classic example of what this team can do when it gets in a groove at the plate, with a few wrinkles tossed in.
Wolf shortstop Mikayla Elfrank achieved a bit of prairie immortality, hitting a moving car with a foul ball (on the fly, not the bounce, so even more impressive).
Not content to just be a trivia answer, she promptly mashed the next pitch way, way down the left field line for a stand-up triple, plating Scout Smith, who was running for Sarah Wright after she reached on an error to lead off the inning.
Elfrank then pulled off her third consecutive moment of awesomeness, breaking for home on a hard grounder by Crownover and sliding under the tag at the very last millisecond to tie the game.
After that, the dam broke.
OK, deep breath and…
Hope Lodell popped a seeing-eye single into left, Tamika Nastali beat out a bunt, Rose cranked a two-run single to center, Jae LeVine bopped an RBI single, Wright scorched a single, Friday Harbor’s pitcher slumped in the circle, her coach got pissed at the ump and winner, winner, chicken dinner.
Up 8-3 after an 11-batter inning, Coupeville was making the whole prairie rock ‘n roll, and the day’s most impressive feat was still ahead.
Well, maybe second-most impressive, cause Elfrank plunking a ball off a moving pickup truck, causing the passenger to scream, is pretty dang hard to top.
But Crownover made a solid bid to do just that.
Striding to the plate to lead off the bottom of the fifth, the tall, hard-hitting Wolf sophomore betrayed little emotion, which probably scared the crud out of the Friday Harbor pitcher.
If so, she was right to be worried.
Swinging with a vengeance, Crownover left a permanent dent on the face of the softball, sending it on a line over the very deepest part of the center field fence.
Her proud papa, Darren, may never stop hyperventilating.
Luckily, much-calmer mom Kelly was present to grab him and keep him from jumping off the top row of bleachers during his celebration.
The moon shot was one of 11 hits on the day for the Wolves, who were led by LeVine’s three singles.
Rose and Crownover each had a pair of base-knocks, Elfrank added her three-bagger and CHS got singles from McGranahan, Wright and Lodell.
All of Coupeville’s starters reached base, with Tiffany Briscoe eking out a walk and Nastali reaching on an error.
Robin Cedillo came off the bench to get an at-bat and play right field, while both Kyla Briscoe and Smith scored as pinch runners.
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