Katrina McGranahan whacked a double, triple and home run while also tossing 11 strikeouts Monday in a win over Meridian. (John Fisken photo)
“We ended it early so we could go to Taco Time for dinner.”
Raining down pain on host Meridian Monday, the Coupeville High School softball squad made quick work of another opponent, leaving coach Kevin McGranahan smiling.
“The whole team fought from the beginning to the end,” he said. “Another solid win for the Wolves.”
By the time CHS was done pasting the ball — all nine starters had at least one hit, with Katrina McGranahan tallying a double, triple and home run — the Wolves had rolled to a 12-2 win called early thanks to the mercy rule.
The win, the fifth straight for Coupeville, lifts it to 12-1 on the season.
That matches the 2002 Wolf sluggers, who finished 3rd at state, for the best start through 13 games.
Facing their second straight foe from the always-dangerous Northwest Conference, Coupeville showed the same resolve (and big bats) which helped them thump Lynden Christian Saturday.
The Wolves got to Meridian’s starting pitcher in a hurry.
Lead-off hitter Lauren Rose swatted a single, then, two batters later, Katrina McGranahan jacked her fourth home run of the season, parking it deep over the fence in right-center.
A couple of walks, a Meridian error and a single off the bat of Hope Lodell plated two more runs before the inning was done, and the Wolves were off in style.
Coupeville added two in the third, then put together three-run rallies in both the fourth and sixth to ice the game.
Continuing her torrid pitching of late, McGranahan mowed down 10 of the first 11 batters she faced, allowing only one runner until the fourth inning.
Never in danger (Meridian scraped together its two runs in the sixth after trailing 12-0), she whiffed 11 and, when necessary, got a little prime-time help from her defense.
The very first batter singled, only to be gunned down trying to steal second by Wolf catcher Sarah Wright.
CHS had everything going for it — pitching, defense, and, as usual, high-powered offense.
All three of McGranahan’s hits were for extra bases, and she was only denied a chance to hit for the cycle when Meridian walked her the fourth time she strode to the plate.
Wright (a single and double) and Lodell (two singles) backed her up, while Rose, Jae LeVine, Mikayla Elfrank, Veronica Crownover, Tiffany Briscoe and Tamika Nastali all added a base-knock.
Freshman Scout Smith scored twice and had a pair of steals as a pinch-runner.
