Her fastball-flinging arm? Her hit-happy bat? Her fleet feet? All deadly weapons for fab frosh Haylee Armstrong. (Kim Brotemarkle photo)
They drove to Concrete, then walked to a win.
Collecting 20 free bases and 10 hits Friday, the Coupeville High School varsity softball squad crushed host Concrete 21-1 in a game mercy-ruled after four innings.
Now 3-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League action, 4-0 overall, the Wolves head home for a test Saturday, when they host a doubleheader against Onalaska.
First pitch is 1:00 PM, and CHS is holding its annual “Strike Out Cancer” gift basket fundraiser in conjunction with the twin-bill.
Friday’s fracas in Concrete was a classic example of a very good team trying its best not to embarrass a rebuilding program.
The Wolves could have won 100-1 if they had wanted but were efficient yet merciful.
Seven of Coupeville’s 12 outs came by having runners intentionally leave the base early, including all of their outs in the third and fourth inning.
Wolf coach Kevin McGranahan also got playing time for 15 different girls, with every one of them reaching base.
That included sophomore Danica Strong, heir to the throne, who crushed her first hit in a Wolf uniform in front of mom (and Cow Town sports legend) Danette Beckley.
Danica Strong and the woman who gave her all those good athletic genes. (Photo courtesy Danette Beckley)
Enjoying the sunshine and dazzling mountain views in Concrete, the Wolves got right to work Friday, putting 12 of their first 14 hitters aboard.
Starting pitcher Haylee Armstrong kick-started things by cracking a single down the left field line, then, after walks from Mia Farris and Taylor Brotemarkle, it was time for the Mad Masher to make her presence felt.
Twisting her bat like she was going to break it in half, Madison McMillan pointed to those far-off mountains and whispered, “Time to go home, lil’ softball.”
At which point she unloaded a mammoth shot to right, sending all her teammates scampering for home.
Mainly so they wouldn’t get run over by McMillan, who careened around the basepaths like a runaway freight train, tapping home as the ball finally came sailing in behind her.
Grandpa Gordon, doing his usual ace job on the books, credited her with a triple, saying she scored on the throw, instead of a grand slam homerun.
There may be a conversation in the McMillan house tonight…
Whether it was a tater or a really long triple, Madison’s moonball put the lead at 4-0 and that was just the beginning.
A whole lot of walks and a dropped third strike kept the basepaths busy, while Farris and Teagan Calkins rocketed RBI base hits to keep the Lion defenders jumpy and nervous.
The only thing which ended the top of the first was a Coupeville runner giving themselves up, a grace note of mercy in an 11-0 opening salvo.
If Concrete was hoping to respond in kind, that wasn’t happening.
Armstrong, stalking the pitcher’s circle and flinging liquid heat, ripped off a pair of strikeouts, while Taylor Brotemarkle made a sweet play on a chopper to second, snatching the ball up and alertly tagging a runner trying to sneak past her.
Taylor Brotemakle is her name, defense is her game. (Ryan Blouin photo)
If the Wolves have one weird little weakness, it seems to be the second inning.
They’ve done it before, and may do it again, and certainly did it Friday, going down in order in a scoreless frame after their first inning explosion.
Before promptly raining down more runs in every other inning.
CHS pushed across four runs in the top of the third, with Armstrong, Farris, and Jada Heaton smokin’ base knocks.
But McMillan, while getting on base, had a bit of a disappointment.
Hitting with the bags once again juiced, she pulled up one of her uniform sleeves, cause “suns out, guns out” and prepared to take another titanic swing.
But instead, as she stepped backwards to avoid a wayward pitch, the ball spun into her, softly hitting her leg and sending her down to first with a free pass.
The look on her face told the true story.
“Do I have to go? Mama wants to mash!!”
But McMillan honored the rules of the game, and McGranahan did some nimble coaching to keep his team from getting too far ahead and ending the game after the minimum three innings.
All three outs in the third were due to runners “leaving early” and at 15-0 that gave the teams another inning before the next mercy rule would go into effect.
Which was perfect, as it gave Coupeville a chance to run everyone through the lineup, rewarding the Wolves for their work in practice.
Strong led off the fourth with a walk, then came back around about 10 minutes later to punch an RBI single to straightaway centerfield, putting her in the hit club sisterhood.
Meanwhile, Capri Anter, Chelsi Stevens, Adeline Maynes, and Melanie Wolfe all eked out walks, and 8th grader Sydney Van Dyke rapped the latest of her RBI hits.
Flexin’ on fools. The Wolves have outscored opponents 75-10 through the first four games of the season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Concrete managed to avoid being held scoreless by scraping out a lone run in the bottom of the fourth, but Anter closed the game with solid work from the circle.
She finished with five strikeouts across two innings, while her cousin, Armstrong, had four K’s when she handed the ball over.
Calkins (1B, 2B), Farris (1B, 1B), and Armstrong (1B, 1B) paced the hit parade, with McMillan (3B), Heaton (1B), Van Dyke (1B), and Strong (1B) rounding out the attack.
Ava Lucero and Brotemarkle both walked three times, while McMillan and Calkins accepted two free passes.
Also getting good calls from the ump were (big breath) Wolfe, Maynes, Stevens, Anter, Strong, Bailey Thule, Mary Western, Heaton, Armstrong, and Farris.
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