CHS sophomore Chelsea Prescott smacked three hits, including a triple, and made a sensational defensive play Friday in a close loss to Lynden Christian. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
They filled up the highlight reel.
Three different Coupeville High School softball players pulled off sensational defensive plays Friday, but it wasn’t quite enough to topple perennial power Lynden Christian.
Despite web gems from Mollie Bailey, Mackenzie Davis, and Chelsea Prescott, the Wolves fell just short, dropping a 9-6 non-league decision on the road.
The loss evens Coupeville’s early-season record at 1-1, heading into a doubleheader Saturday at Oak Harbor High School.
The 1A Wolves face 2A Lakewood at 11 AM, then return to the field at 3 PM for a Island rivalry showdown with their 3A hosts.
Friday, CHS jumped on Lynden early, scraping together a run in the top of the first thanks to the fleet feet of Emma Mathusek and the hot bats of Prescott and Sarah Wright.
Mathusek got things started by ripping a shot to third base, then using her go-go wheels to make the Lync fielder come up with the ball too quickly.
The ball was juggled, the throw was low, and the Wolf junior shot across the bag a step ahead of the incoming orb, earning a big cheer from first-base coach Ron Wright.
Coupeville’s sluggers took over from that point, with Prescott rifling a single into center, before Wright whacked an RBI single to virtually the same spot on the field.
Lynden Christian’s hurler escaped, tossing back-to-back strikeouts after that, but some damage was done.
Wolf freshman hurler Izzy Wells started strongly in the bottom of the first, whiffing a pair of Lyncs, and getting the first of the day’s three web gems from her defense.
This time it was Bailey at third, who almost had her head taken off by a line-drive from Lynden’s lead-off hitter.
The ball came screaming down the line, but the ever-easy-going Bailey snapped her mitt in front of her face at the very last millisecond, snagging the frozen rope, then nonchalantly flipping the ball back to her pitcher.
While she didn’t seem overly-impressed with herself, the play made her coach jump to attention.
“Mollie caught a life-saving hard line, and then we had to restart her heart,” CHS coach Kevin McGranahan said with a small chuckle.
Despite the great snag, Lynden got on the board in the bottom of the first, thanks to a high looping ball that dropped into the gap behind short, plating the tying runner.
The game remained knotted at 1-1 until the bottom of the third, and part of that was due to the second Wolf web gem.
Lynden’s lead-off hitter in the second smoked a shot into right which had extra bases written all over it, but Davis was having none of those shenanigans.
Charging the ball, she snagged the rapidly-sinking liner an inch off the ground, her mitt mowing the grass as she kept moving forward.
To the amazement of everyone in attendance, the ball stayed in her mitt, Davis stayed on her feet, even while churning across the turf, and the Lync batter could do little more than throw her hands in the air in frustration and amazement as the field ump emphatically punched the air to signal an out.
The tie was finally broken thanks to the one bad inning Coupeville endured.
Lynden put together four hits, and took advantage of a few bobbled balls, to pile up five runs in the bottom of the third, threatening to blow the game open.
Prescott finally snuffed out the rally with a pair of strong defensive plays.
The first was the eye-opener, as the Wolf shortstop pulled in a throw from Mathusek after a long RBI double to center, then alertly whirled and lunged backwards, slapping the tag on the incoming Lync as she came around the base a step too far.
That heads-up play blunted the Lynden rally, and then Prescott gunned down the next hitter, going into the hole, then coming up with a laser to CHS first-baseman Veronica Crownover to end the inning.
Down 6-1 at that point, the Wolves gave up another run in the fourth inning, before launching a comeback rally in the top of the fifth.
Coupeville’s first six batters reached base, with four scoring, thanks to some timely hits and a rare Lynden brain freeze.
Mathusek and Prescott kicked things off with singles, before Wright smashed an RBI base-knock back up the middle.
The Lyncs got helpful on the next batter, when their shortstop straight up muffed a play on a blooper off of Bailey’s bat.
It looked like the fielder was going to pull in the ball while it was still airborne, freezing the Wolf runners to their bags.
When the Lync failed to hold on to the ball, that left everyone scrambling at the last second.
In the heat of the moment, Lynden, instead of getting the easy force at second base, which was three inches from where the ball landed, tried to gun down Prescott heading for third.
It didn’t work, as the Wolf sophomore stretched out her quads in a hurry, then lunged under the tag.
With Lynden suddenly flustered, Coupeville took advantage, striking with a quick one-two combo.
Crownover belted a ball off of the right fielder’s glove to plate a run, then Davis lashed a two-run single to get her dugout really jumping.
Back to within 7-5, with two runners on and no outs, the Wolves sent Lync fans into a panic.
Unfortunately, the audible prayers of the Lynden faithful were answered, as their squad escaped thanks to a bang-bang double-play and a strikeout.
The two teams exchanged runs from there, with the home sluggers notching a single run in both the fifth and sixth, while Coupeville got one more back in its half of the sixth.
That final Wolf run came courtesy of a two-out rally, with Prescott launching a moon shot to right field, then sliding under the tag for a triple.
A pitch later, Wright smashed another RBI single, skipping to second when the ball was bobbled.
Coupeville’s last best hope ended a few feet short of nirvana, however, as Bailey’s ensuing blast to left was tracked down and caught.
Despite a one-two-three top of the seventh, McGranahan came away pleased with much of what he saw from his team in a road game against a school which regularly advances to the state tourney.
“Well, little errors got us today,” he said. “It was still a good game; there were a lot of positives to take away.
“If we clean it up we will be fine,” McGranahan added. “Young team making young team errors. It is only game two of a long season. No need to panic.”
Wright paced Coupeville, collecting four singles and three RBI in four trips to the plate, while Prescott racked up a triple, two singles, and a walk.
Mathusek, Crownover, and Davis also had base-knocks, while Coral Caveness eked out a base on balls.
