The prairie looked nothing like this Tuesday, but Cami Van Dyke and Co. win in any weather. (Grant Van Dyke photo)
Hits are overrated.
Limited to just three base knocks Tuesday, the Coupeville High School softball team remained undefeated, using 15 walks and a top-tier pitching performance from Adeline Maynes to KO visiting La Conner 10-0.
The win, mercy-ruled after five innings, lifts the Wolves to 5-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 9-0 overall, and keeps them as one of just two squads in 2B who haven’t tasted defeat this spring.
Aaron Lucero’s squad, which came within a two-out error in the fifth of seeing Maynes toss a perfect game, hits the road Thursday for a rematch at La Conner, before playing a non-conference doubleheader in Forks Saturday afternoon.
Back from Spring Break, the Wolves were greeted by a chilly prairie which rudely kicked up the cold wind.
If the weather was less than appealing, the one thing fully warmed up was the pitching arm of Maynes, as the sophomore hurler whiffed 13 Braves, while inducing a pair of groundouts to Cami Van Dyke.
The shortstop, an 8th grader who plays like a grizzled vet, made a very-strong play on the first of those two fielding chances, knocking down a hot grounder, then firing a laser to Ava Lucero for the out.
La Conner only got one runner aboard on this day, and it wasn’t until the 15th Braves batter, who beat a throw to first on a play where the ball got juggled and squirted free.
No biggie, as Maynes promptly chucked three strikes past the next hitter, ending the game the way she started it, throwing heat and essentially playing catch with backstop Teagan Calkins.
The Wolves, a hit-first team, didn’t get their first base knock until Ava Lucero dumped a truly gorgeous bunt single down the third-base line in the third inning.
At that point, CHS was up 2-0, having eked out a run in the first and another in the second using patience at the plate and opportunistic running on the basepaths.
Maynes forced home the only run she would need, drawing a bases-loaded walk to put CHS on the board, before Haylee Armstrong scooted home on a wild pitch an inning later.
Cue the third, which, while not a huge explosion, still put the game on ice.
Ava Lucero’s bunt single followed walks to Capri Anter (who got drilled by a wayward pitch) and Maynes, and once the bags were juiced, the Wolves went to work.
A combination of La Conner wild pitches, passed balls, and mental mistakes allowed CHS to plate three, with Anter and pinch-runner Olivia Martin nimbly avoiding tags at home, before Coupeville used its biggest hit of the day to break things open.
The blow came off the bat of Calkins, with “The Red Dragon” lashing a two-run double to left, one of the few times a hitter was able to out-muscle the wind, which was steadily gusting in across home plate, kicking up infield dirt every two seconds.
Coupeville pushed the lead out to 10-0 in the fourth, with a dirt-covered Anter careening home on a wild pitch, followed by Sydney Van Dyke crushing a two-run single off the fielder’s glove in left.
Tuesday stats:
Capri Anter — Two walks
Haylee Armstrong — Three walks
Teagan Calkins — One double, one walk
Emma Cushman — One walk
Ava Lucero — One single
Adeline Maynes — Two walks
Chelsi Stevens — One walk
Cami Van Dyke — Two walks
Sydney Van Dyke — One single, three walks
Emma Cushman waits for her pitch. (Jackie Saia photo)
