Sophomore slugger Mollie Bailey swatted three hits Tuesday, as Coupeville High School softball demolished South Whidbey 18-1. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Nicole Laxton got robbed.
After a lifetime of playing black and blue for her softball sisters, frequently “wearing” pitches like a human ball magnet, the Coupeville High School senior got her revenge Tuesday afternoon.
Turning on a pitch with a stunning ferocity, Laxton crushed an out-of-the-park grand slam to deep left field and…
The umps are blind.
Like the sort of blind that makes Ray Charles seem like he had 20/20 vision.
Despite the ball clearing the fence on the fly, and not bouncing over as softball’s answer to Stevie Wonder ruled, Laxton’s career-best blast went from a bases-clearing tater to a two-run ground-rule double.
File an appeal! Take this to the Supreme Court!! Storm the WIAA headquarters and…
Oh, wait, even with the change, you say Coupeville still beat South Whidbey 18-1?
That the Wolves vanquished their Island arch-rivals for the fifth straight time, and haven’t lost to the Falcons since 2015, when Laxton was still in 8th grade?
That at 3-1 in league play, Coupeville sits alone atop the North Sound Conference after the first tour through their new foes?
Well, OK, fine, I guess we can let this one go. This one time.
Anyway, CHS coach Kevin McGranahan, one of many who saw the round-tripper clear the fence, still gave Laxton a game ball for hitting a homer, and her smile stretched from one end of the prairie to the other.
It was a smile worn by every player on the Coupeville roster, as the Wolves came out of spring break swinging from their heels and launching laser shots to every corner of the field.
Now 5-5 overall on the season, the Wolves sit a half game up on Cedar Park Christian and Granite Falls (both 2-1) in the race for a league title, while South Whidbey (1-2) and Sultan (0-3) need to play catch-up.
Everything worked for CHS Tuesday, from the pitching — Scout Smith scattered three hits across five innings and was never in danger — to the defense, where shortstop Chelsea Prescott was crafting a seasons-worth of web gems in just one afternoon.
“Chelsea played an awesome game, with a few great snags on hot ground balls,” McGranahan said.
She wasn’t the only one, as Wolf third-baseman Mollie Bailey pulled a ball off of her shoelaces while on the move, then lobbed it to Veronica Crownover at first to beat the Falcon hitter by a half-step.
Crownover was miss twinkle toes herself, nimbly pulling off a pair of unassisted force-plays at first on balls which skittered down the line.
But while the pitching was solid, the defense was often inspired, and the chatter from the dugout loud and frequent, this was a day for the offense to dazzle.
Coupeville launched 13 hits, with Smith, Bailey, and Laxton whacking doubles, Sarah Wright clobbering a triple, and Crownover launching a three-run home-run to left which soared high enough to catch a ride on a passing Navy jet.
On that one, even the blind ref knew it was out of the park.
The Wolves jumped on the Falcons for a quick three runs in the bottom of the first, and yet almost didn’t get a single one.
With Emma Mathusek dancing at second base and two outs, Wright slapped a bouncer to the third-baseman and the inning was 98.9% done.
Until it wasn’t, as the throw to first sailed wide, Mathusek streaked home, and Coupeville found itself with new life.
“I told you, I told you, never stop running! Never!!” bellowed CHS assistant coach Ron Wright, high-fiving himself with glee in the first base coach’s box as his daughter rolled her eyes ever so slightly.
Back-to-back RBI singles off the bats of Bailey and Crownover made the mistake really sting for South Whidbey, and once let loose, the Wolves couldn’t be stopped.
An RBI double from Smith and an RBI ground-out by Prescott tacked on two runs in the second, but it was the third inning when things really got hoppin’ in Cow Town.
With the wind rumbling across the prairie, even blowing South Whidbey pitcher Melody Wilkie off the rubber at one point, it was prime weather to light a fire using the sizzlin’ Wolf bats.
And they did, as 14 batters strode to the plate in the third, with eight of them eventually coming around to tap the plate.
Bailey, whose family has lived on the prairie since somewhere back around the time of the Crusades (give or take a year or two), started things off by lofting a tricky fly ball high into the swirling air.
Playing like she was working a pool table, stuffing money into her back pocket while fleecing out-of-town rubes, she banked the ball off a passing wind gust, and it crashed in for an artfully-dumped double.
Walks to Crownover and Mackenzie Davis juiced the bags, and then Laxton went yard. No matter what the ump says.
Not that the miscall heard round the prairie ultimately mattered, as it was the kind of joy ride where Laxton ended up coming back around to earn a bases-loaded walk in the same inning, stretching the lead out to 13-1.
Trying his best to keep the score reasonable by limiting how many bases his runners took, McGranahan was tripped up a bit by his big bashers.
With Smith and Prescott aboard after ripping fourth-inning singles, Wright cranked a grass-burner which sliced off part of the third-base bag as it shot down the left-field line.
With their catcher chugging hard into third, both runners had no choice but to go home.
A batter later, with Bailey punching a double to center, the sophomore slugger rolled into second only to discover Wright had stayed locked on third at her coach’s request.
That kept Wright, Laxton, and Bailey tied with three RBI apiece on the afternoon, drawing a brief “hey, now!” from Bailey, and then a grin.
Crownover, for her part, was having none of this, and went to the plate fully intent on collecting RBI’s by any means necessary.
Which meant, in this case, slapping a one-way ticket on the softball and sending it off to shop at the grocery store way up the road.
By the time the ball bounced back to Earth, the Wolf masher had her second home-run ball to add to the Crownover mantle this season, and a team-high four RBI.
Bailey (1B, 1B, 2B) and Smith (1B, 1B, 2B) led the hit parade, with Mathusek (1B, 1B), Crownover (1B, HR), Wright (3B), Laxton (“2B”), and Prescott (1B) all collecting base-knocks.
Davis and Izzy Wells both walked twice, while Coral Caveness, Audrianna Shaw, and Chloe Wheeler also saw action.
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