On a day when the Coupeville softball defense struggled at Granite Falls, freshman Audrianna Shaw had one of her team’s two web gems. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
One game does not a knockout make.
The Coupeville High School softball squad absorbed a rough loss Tuesday, falling 23-11 in an error-riddled game at Granite Falls, and, for the moment, fall out of first place in the North Sound Conference.
But, before anyone panics, it’s good to remember we’re less than a third of the way through the regular season schedule, and there are still 10 league games left to play.
As of Tuesday night the Wolf sluggers sit at 1-1 in conference action, 3-3 overall, a game back of Granite (2-0, 5-3), while Sultan (0-0, 0-2), Cedar Park Christian (0-1, 2-1), and South Whidbey (0-1, 2-3) round out the standings.
But, it’s also Mar. 26, and the regular season doesn’t end until May 7, so nothing is decided.
Coupeville and Granite will face twice more, with the Wolves hitting the road Apr. 17 and then welcoming the Tigers to Cow Town May 1.
Round one went to the wrong team – if you’re a CHS fan – but that’s all it was, round one.
“So, they hit as advertised,” said a philosophical Coupeville coach Kevin McGranahan.
“They aren’t unbeatable, but we have to play error-free ball,” he added. “We had a lot of errors, mainly in the outfield, and they took full advantage of them.”
While miscues — dropped balls, bad throws, and base-running mistakes — seriously hurt the Wolves, they did some damage at the plate, and with the exception of one awful inning, played the Tigers even.
Literally.
Toss out the third inning, and the game was 11-11, something which greatly encourages McGranahan.
“I am happy with how we hit against them and competed to the last out,” he said. “They are a good hitting team; we just need to clean up the errors.”
Facing a Granite team which had scored a ton of runs (126 in their first seven games), but also given up way too many (97), Coupeville started strongly.
Drawing a wide-ranging assortment of walks, then peppering the Tiger defense with well-placed hits, the Wolves tossed three runs on the board in the first inning, then duplicated the feat in the second.
The opening frame began with consecutive walks to Scout Smith, Emma Mathusek, and Chelsea Prescott, with Smith being plunked.
Coupeville’s cerebral lead-off hitter charged home with the game’s first run after a wayward pitch skipped wide of the Granite catcher’s glove, before Sarah Wright plated Mathusek off of a ground-out.
Sophomore second-baseman Mollie Bailey capped the first inning fireworks by smashing an RBI single to left, the first of two such hits she would have on the day.
Granite wasn’t going anywhere, scoring three of its own in the bottom of the first, thanks to the first of many Wolf errors and a nimbly-executed double steal.
But freshman hurler Izzy Wells ended the inning with a strikeout, the second of seven she would chuck across four innings of work, and Coupeville’s bats immediately responded.
Walks to Smith and Mathusek set the stage, before the Wolves hammered three-straight two-out RBI base-knocks.
The big blows came off the bats of Wright, Bailey, and Veronica Crownover, the first two being singles and the third being a mammoth double to deep center.
Coupeville fell a footstep short of a fourth run, however, as Bailey, following Wright home, was gunned down at the plate by a dead-eye throw.
The bottom of the second gave a taste of the trouble which was coming, as Coupeville had a chance to get away free, yet stumbled into letting Granite put up five runs.
Fighting a harsh sun which was right in their eyes for most of the game, the Wolf outfielders struggled to track fly balls, and precious outs transformed into game-changing hits as the ball evaded gloves at a terrifying rate.
Still, Wells closed the inning by whiffing back-to-back Tigers, her pitches zinging a sweet song as they nestled into Wright’s glove behind the plate.
Down just 8-6, Coupeville seemed primed to make the game a brawl from start to finish.
And then the third inning broke their hearts.
There is little positive to say about the frame, top or bottom, so we’ll make this quick.
The Wolves went down 1-2-3, then the Tigers most assuredly did not.
Instead, Granite, given life by CHS errors, beat the stuffing out of the ball during a 16-batter, 12-run inning which local fans enjoyed immensely.
It was an inning which went on seemingly for a week, and contained one single play which McGranahan and Co. will remember fondly.
It came on the seventh batter of the inning, when a Granite hitter tried to drop a bunt in for a hit.
Charging from third base, booster rockets firing in her shoes, Wolf third-baseman Chelsea Prescott went airborne and, body stretched as far as she could go, pulled in the rapidly-falling orb.
The sophomore sensation also, against all odds, held on to the ball, even after pancaking into the infield dirt, sending a jolt through her rib cage and causing her legs to whip in directions they weren’t originally intended to go.
It was a flat-out brilliant play, one of the best I’ve witnessed on a softball diamond, a testament to Prescott’s athleticism and competitive fire.
And it was also the only thing to go right in the inning.
The Wolves didn’t back down, though, putting up two runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth, but a 20-6 deficit was daunting and the Tigers kept the hammer down.
CHS freshman Audrianna Shaw, inserted into right field, provided her team’s second-best defensive play, running down and snagging a long blast to rob Granite of at least one extra-base hit.
In the end, the Wolves racked up 11 hits and collected nine walks, with Wright (three singles), Crownover (1B, 2B), Mathusek (two singles), and Bailey (two singles) leading the way at the plate.
Prescott and Wells both collected singles, while Smith walked three times.
