Coupeville freshman Coral Caveness has provided strong defensive play at second base this weekend. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
If Lynden Christian was expecting an easy Saturday, that’s not what it got.
Facing a Coupeville High School softball team playing its third game in as many days, with all three games in different towns, the undefeated Lyncs barely escaped with their perfect record intact.
Storming back from six runs down, powered by the last three hitters in their lineup, the Wolves came as close as any team to toppling LC this season before falling 7-5.
The non-conference road loss drops Coupeville to 9-4, while Lynden Christian rises to 13-0.
While it wasn’t a win, the day was full of positives for CHS coach Kevin McGranahan, an old pro who knows a narrow loss to a top-notch team often means far more than just mashing another also-ran.
“Nothing to be ashamed of, ladies. That’s the fight I want to see!,” he told his players afterwards.
Lynden Christian is undefeated because they are highly-proficient and fundamentally sound.
Taking advantage of a few “early errors and ticky-tack mistakes,” the Lyncs built a 7-1 lead before the very-determined Wolves mounted a sustained comeback which forced LC to bring back its top pitcher and bear down big time at the end to escape.
Coupeville’s bats took a few innings to warm up, with the first six Wolves going down in order.
Hope Lodell finally broke though, leading off the third with a beautiful bunt that she dropped to the left of the plate with a precise flick of the wrist.
She had barely scampered across the bag at first when freshman Mollie Bailey followed with a sharply-slapped single past the pitcher’s backside, putting CHS into business for the first time.
And while Lynden escaped the inning fairly unscathed, with the Lync catcher gunning down Lodell by half a step at third on a steal attempt to blunt the rally, the Wolves were finally clicking.
Down 5-0 headed to the top of the fourth (LC got three in the first and two in the third, with both mini-runs aided by Wolf errors), Coupeville finally got on the board.
Katrina McGranahan grooved a pitch, lashing a lead-off triple off the wall in right, then Chelsea Prescott brought her home with a long sac fly.
While Lynden scraped out two more runs in the fourth, when an epic fly ball snuck barely under the glove of a sprawling Lodell in center, the Wolves were on the prowl.
Back-to-back-to-back singles from Lodell, Bailey and Emma Mathusek, Coupeville’s 7-8-9 hitters, kicked off the fifth, before Smith brought home a second run with a grounder to second.
With the lead cut to 7-3, Coupeville launched an unexpected rally in the sixth, getting things started with two outs and no one on board.
Veronica Crownover spanked a single over the shortstop’s head to spark another run of Wolf hits.
Lodell followed with her third base-knock of the day, a booming double to left-center, then Mackenzie Davis rifled an RBI single to right on the very next pitch.
Back-to-back walks to Mathusek and Smith loaded the bags, then forced home yet another run and Lyncs fans were openly sweating on a reasonably cool day.
But Lynden is undefeated for a reason, and it stared down into the abyss without blinking.
A big strikeout brought the sixth to an end, and, with their closer firing cannon balls from short range in the seventh, the Wolves went down 1-2-3, though the final two outs were both on hard-hit balls.
Lynden Christian’s defense was impeccable, however, with not a single bobbled ball, and that made life extra-tough for a Coupeville squad looking for a final miracle.
The Wolves finished with eight hits, and seven of those came from their 7-8-9 hitters.
Lodell (1B, 1B, 2B) led the way, while Crownover, Bailey, Davis and Mathusek added singles.
Katrina McGranahan tripled, Smith led the squad with two RBI and fab frosh Coral Caveness had a couple of big defensive plays at second.
While he was pleased with the comeback, Kevin McGranahan was also all smiles over the fact the bottom third of his hitting order proved so potent.
He knows Coupeville’s big mashers will be on fire virtually every game, but getting contributions top to bottom is key to the Wolves being explosive come playoff time.
“The bottom of our lineup is clicking well and did the most damage today,” he said. “Emma is really doing well in the nine-hole and learning that role is very important.”
JV falls:
Facing a Lynden squad heavy in seniors and varsity players pulling double duty, the Wolf young guns jumped out to an early lead, but couldn’t hold on.
The 14-3 loss was Coupeville’s first JV defeat, leaving them at 3-1.
Davis provided half the Wolf offense, smacking a pair of singles, while Caveness and Bailey also collected base-knocks.
Caveness put CHS on the board in the first, beating out an infield chopper, stealing second, zooming to third on a ground-out, then coming around to score on a passed ball.
Coupeville’s other two runs came home in the fourth, with Thora Iverson scoring on a Chelsea Prescott ground-out and Bailey unleashing an ultra-rare slide to get under a tag after streaking for home on a wild pitch.
Iverson also had a sensational running catch on a wildly-drifting pop-up, pulling the ball into the tip of her glove at the last second, and fans were treated to a dance-off between Bailey and Wright.
Lynden Christian plays music between innings and Coupeville’s catchers, who share an irrepressible nature that would have made Footloose-era Kevin Bacon proud, have never turned down a chance to bop to the beat … ever.
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