Jae LeVine, here scoring in an earlier game, played sparkling defense Wednesday. (John Fisken photos)
Madeline Roberts makes plays like this all game, every game.
Red hot, then ice cold.
That was the pattern the Coupeville High School softball squad followed Wednesday afternoon at Cedarcrest, jumping out to a quick lead, but unable to hold on to it in a narrow 4-2 loss.
Now 4-13 overall, 3-13 in Cascade Conference play, the Wolves dropped into a tie with Island rival South Whidbey in the battle for the 1A/2A league’s #1 playoff seed for 1A schools.
Coupeville holds the tiebreaker, having taken two of three from the Falcons, and both squads have two regular season games left to play.
The Wolves travel to Lakewood Friday to play a team they’ve beaten this year, then close out at Granite Falls against the top team in the league.
It looked like CHS might be on its way to its fifth win of the season when they came out guns blazin’ in the top of the first Wednesday.
Three straight hits — singles to left from Breeanna Messner and Hailey Hammer and a thunderous two-run double to left center off the bat of McKayla Bailey — got things jumping.
Madeline Strasburg followed with a hard-hit grounder that the Cedarcrest shortstop snagged but threw wildly on, putting runners at the corners.
Aiming for a big inning, Coupeville coach David King gave Strasburg the steal sign, only to see her gunned down on “a perfect throw.”
After that, much of the offense dried up, with just singles from Madeline Roberts and Hammer after that.
Strasburg came close to firing things up again when she launched a shot to left in the third, only to watch in frustration as the Cedarcrest outfielder laid out going down the line and made a spectacular catch several feet off the ground.
Coupeville went three up and three down the final three innings, killing any chance of a comeback.
The host Red Wolves got their runs with a surge of their own in the first, using four consecutive hits, including a pair of doubles, to plate three.
Cedarcrest tacked on an insurance run in the third, and then it was a scoreless pitcher’s duel the rest of the afternoon.
Bailey struck out five and didn’t walk a hitter, while the Wolves played spotless, often inspired defense behind her.
Coupeville catcher Messner nailed a runner trying to steal second, while all three outfielders (Haley Sherman, Strasburg and Monica Vidoni) pulled off gorgeous snags on tricky balls hit their way.
The infielders were just as active, with Jae LeVine making a “great backhanded grab” on a hot ball up the middle and Emily Licence teaming up with LeVine for a bang-bang force-out play at second after snagging a grounder.
While the record may not reflect it, the Wolves have rarely been blown out this season, fighting down to the final inning in most of their losses.
A little more consistency at the plate would go a long way to balancing things out.
“Offensively we are still trying to find a rhythm and consistency,” King said. “We have a good inning, then we cool off quickly and can’t get things going again.
“We are playing better on defense and McKayla with her pitching has kept us in games,” he added. “We are right there in our games; once we start having good at bats throughout a seven-inning game, these close games we aren’t winning will start putting us in the win column.”
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