Melia Welling whacked a two-run single Wednesday, collecting her first varsity RBIs in an 11-0 win. (John Fisken photos)
Scout Smith guns down another hitter.
Emma Mathusek (left) and Sarah Wright have a mid-game chat.
It’s a tricky dance.
The Coupeville High School softball squad is rolling like it hasn’t since the glory days of 2002, and Port Townsend hasn’t won a game in three seasons.
Showing compassion, while also making sure to get the win, Wolf coach Kevin McGranahan leaned heavily on his JV players Wednesday, and they responded, drilling the RedHawks 11-0 in a game called after five innings.
The win lifts Coupeville to 4-1 in Olympic League play, 13-1 overall headed into a Friday showdown at Chimacum.
The Cowboys (4-1, 6-3), the only team to beat the Wolves this season, were upset 8-4 by Klahowya Wednesday, dropping them into a first-place tie with CHS.
The last time Port Townsend won a varsity softball game was April 28, 2014, with Wednesday’s defeat the 47th straight the program has endured.
Coupeville opened with just three regular varsity starters on the field, to give its younger players a guiding hand, and pulled the trio by the third inning.
While starting pitcher Katrina McGranahan set Port Townsend down quickly in the first two innings, whiffing four, freshman Scout Smith soon took over and was just as dominating.
She struck out five, while getting strong backup from first-baseman Kyla Briscoe.
Working smoothly in the field, Briscoe twice pulled off unassisted force outs at first off of tricky ground balls, while also alertly ignoring her coach on another play and spinning to nail the lead runner going into second.
As the ball smacked into Mikayla Elfrank’s glove, Kevin McGranahan, who was calling for Briscoe to take the sure out at first, sat back down, grin on his face and nodded.
“OK, works for me.”
When she wasn’t making use of her glove, Briscoe swung a big bat, closing the game with a two-run double.
The Wolves chipped away at the RedHawks, scoring in every inning while not running up the score.
CHS plated one in the first, then added two runs each in the second, third and fourth before finishing the afternoon with four runs in the fifth.
Along with Briscoe’s blast, the other big hit came off of the bat of freshman Melia Welling, who golfed a two-run single into straight away center to stake Coupeville to a 3-0 lead.
Many of the Wolf runs came off of wild pitches and passed balls, but CHS picked up three of its four hits in the final inning.
After Tamika Nastali was plunked on the ankle, Emma Mathusek and Smith delivered crisp singles to set up Briscoe’s final blow.
Nicole Lester and Mackenzie Davis also started, with Davis bouncing from the outfield to catcher after Sarah Wright departed early.
To see more photos from this game, pop over to:
http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/2017-Coupeville-Softball/20170426-vs-Pt-Townsend/
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