Sarah Wright collected three hits and two RBI while playing inspired ball behind the plate Saturday in a 6-5 Wolf win. (John Fisken photos)
When she wasn’t pitching, Katrina McGranahan also blasted a home run and knocked in three runs.
Veronica Crownover pulled off a defensive gem at first to aid the cause.
Power against power.
South Whidbey High School hurler Mackenzee Collins is a beast in the circle, and the junior fireballer whiffed 13 Coupeville hitters Saturday afternoon.
But, when the Wolves did get their bats on the ball, they turned her own power against Collins, riding epic blasts from Katrina McGranahan and Sarah Wright to capture a 6-5 win on a frigid opening day.
Overall, Coupeville rapped out eight hits, but none were bigger than a game-tying two-run home run from McGranahan and a go-ahead RBI triple from Wright.
Both blasts ended up in the deepest, darkest part of center field, out where the deer were cavorting pregame, and the only thing which kept both moonshots inside the fence was the stiff wind gusting across the prairie.
The duo combined to record five hits (Wright held a 3-2 edge) and five RBI (McGranahan won 3-2), but they also got some assistance at just the right moments from their teammates.
On a day where, two hours before the first pitch, it would have been safe to bet the game wouldn’t get played, things zipped along surprisingly smoothly.
After much sweat and toil from master groundskeeper Mike Lodell, the field stayed firm and just a trace muddy, the complete opposite of the school’s nearby grass parking lot.
Under the strain of rain and too many tires — the CHS baseball team, which shares the lot, was playing its second game in as many days — it became a roiling pit of mud, sending cars skidding, when they weren’t spinning in place.
But back on the well-preserved softball field, the Wolves were showing resiliency, twice bouncing back from deficits before claiming the lead for good.
Trailing 1-0 heading into the bottom of the first, Coupeville responded immediately, with lead-off hitter Lauren Rose lighting the fuse.
After drawing a walk, Mouse ran wild on the base-paths, eventually ending up on third after a steal and a passed ball. With her attention diverted a bit, Collins got tagged one-two by McGranahan and Wright.
It wouldn’t be the last time.
The Wolves #3 and #4 hitters socked back-to-back RBI singles, before Collins escaped by punching out the inning’s final two batters with wicked pitches.
South Whidbey put together a three-run rally in the top of the second to go back out in front 4-2, but after that McGranahan settled down in the pitcher’s circle and started matching her Falcon rival pitch-for-pitch.
She got some help, with Wolf first baseman Veronica Crownover plucking a low throw out of the dirt and shortstop Mikayla Elfrank denying her former Falcon mates by running down a dangerously drifting pop fly.
Up at the plate for a second time, again with Rose dancing on the base paths (perhaps in a bid to stay warm), McGranahan crushed the snot out of the ball in the bottom of the third.
Putting medal through the metal, she tore around the base-path, almost catching the quicksilver Rose, before emphatically stamping on home with a game-tying two-run home run a second before the throw was airmailed in from center field.
With the game knotted up, both hurlers bore down.
McGranahan got aid from center fielder Hope Lodell, who chased down two dangerous blows, leaning forward to snag one just before it would have hit the ground and skipped away.
Coupeville got a runner on here, a runner on there (a single from Wright, a walk by Robin Cedillo), then broke through again in the bottom of the fifth.
Joltin’ Jae LeVine led off the inning, obtaining a hit by dropping the ball into a two-inch target between the pitcher and first baseman. Flying pell-mell down the line, “Flash” lived up to her nickname, out-leaning the throw.
Falcon fans perked up on the next at-bat, as Collins got a little revenge by striking McGranahan out, but that just opened up the stage for Wright.
The force-of-nature sophomore catcher launched a rocket to straight away center field, plating LeVine with the go-ahead run while Wright flew into third, huge smile on her face.
The smile got even bigger a moment later, when Elfrank punched a ball between two Falcon infielders for an RBI single of her own.
Up 6-4 and looking to break things open, Coupeville was aggressive on the base-paths, forcing South Whidbey to make difficult throws.
Twice the Falcons did just that, though, gunning down Elfrank at third to end the fifth, then nailing Lodell at home to bring a close to the sixth.
South Whidbey shaved the lead back to 6-5 with a run in the sixth, but Lodell snuffed any further damage by running down a long fly.
Then, with the pressure cranked up, and the game-tying run at third with just one out in the seventh, the Wolves closed like champs.
McGranahan speared a liner for the second out, then went home to Wright, who fired the ball on a bead to Rose at third, catching a drifting Falcon to end the game on a decisive note.
As his team celebrated taking down their Island arch-rivals, CHS coach Kevin McGranahan appreciated how his team responded to early adversity.
“The girls hung in there and played well for our first outing,” he said. “This team once again showed their heart and found a way to win it.
“Now if Oak Harbor would play us, we could rule the Island.”
To see more photos from this game (purchases fund college scholarships for CHS student/athletes), pop over to:
http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/2017-Coupeville-Softball/20170318-vs-South-Whidbey/
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