Opposing teams, beware, Coupeville catcher Sarah Wright is coming to kill all your softball dreams. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Hit ’em hard, hit ’em fast, and bury ’em a mile deep.
Delivering an emphatic message to the rest of the league, the Coupeville High School softball squad delivered a knockout punch Thursday in its North Sound Conference opener.
Powered by a first inning three-run home run off the bat of senior catcher Sarah Wright, a cannon shot which sailed over the center field fence and was last seen taking out a passing 747, the Wolves decimated visiting Cedar Park Christian 13-2.
The five-inning win, called early thanks to the mercy rule, lifts CHS to 1-0 in league play, 3-2 overall.
It also gives the Wolves a huge shot of confidence as they prepare for a week-long, four-game road trip.
Coupeville hits Granite Falls next Tuesday, Mar. 26, then swings by Sultan Mar. 28, before wrapping things with a doubleheader Mar. 30 in which it’ll face Fife and Forks.
The first two are league games, the second two non-conference tilts offering a chance to dance with some heavy hitters.
All the big bats Thursday belonged to the Wolves, who jumped on Cedar Park early, then never let up, ringing up runs in each of the four innings in which they came to the plate.
With freshman hurler Izzy Wells in fine form, flinging seven strikeouts while surrendering just three hits, everything was clicking for Coupeville.
“So, good start to league play,” said CHS coach Kevin McGranahan. “We took control from the first at-bat and never looked back.
“Izzy controlled the hitters and we just played a good solid softball game.”
The tone of the game was set in the first inning, a frame in which Wright wrote a perfect script both in the field and at the plate.
She closed the top of the inning by popping up from behind home and unleashing a wicked shot into the glove of Wolf third-baseman Chelsea Prescott, who slapped the tag on an Eagle who had leaned the wrong way at the wrong time.
Sparked by the defensive gem, Coupeville came out swinging in its half of the inning.
Lead-off hitter Scout Smith lashed a scorcher across the infield which crawled up the CPC second baseman’s glove and shot off to frolic in wide open spaces.
Two passed balls later, she was camped out at third, to be shortly followed by Prescott earning a walk and strolling down to first.
At that point the Cedar Park pitcher stepped back and let a gush of air out of her lungs, her shoulders sagging.
Course, she could have just waited a nanosecond, because Wright would have knocked all the air out of her lungs free of charge.
Launching the ball away from that strange thing hanging in the sky (we were later told it was the sun, but this is spring, and the sun never shines during spring sports…), the senior slugger had all day to stroll the base-paths.
If the ball ever landed, and that is still in question, it most likely hit somewhere up around Ebey Bowl, took a hard bounce or two, then landed in front of a startled cow.
The game went on for another hour or so, but it effectively ended the moment Wright’s home run left the park.
From there it was a romp, as the Wolves stretched the lead out to 8-0, gave back two runs just to make the appearance of playing fair, then slapped on another five-spot to close the afternoon.
Coupeville plated four runs in the second, after getting runners on base the old-fashioned way, thanks to Nicole Laxton being plunked for the 11,798th time in her career, Wells reaching on an error, and Smith walking.
With the bags juiced, Emma Mathusek whistled a two-run double into the deepest, darkest part of left field, a resounding shot which had inside-the-park grand slam written on it until the ball skidded under the fence.
That forced the ump to signal a ground-rule double, sending Smith back to third and forcing Mathusek, flying around second, to come to a skidding stop, followed by a few hops back to the bag, where she perched, epic grin washing across her face.
Smith made it home a moment later, anyway, alertly darting in on a passed ball, while Mathusek tapped home when Wright ripped a hot shot off the third-baseman’s glove.
Three straight singles, coming off the bats of Laxton, Wells, and Smith, delivered the lone run in the third inning, before CHS sent nine batters to the plate during a five-run fourth.
Chloe Wheeler came off the bench to eke out a bases-loaded walk to pick up an RBI, followed by Coral Caveness smoking an RBI single into an impossibly-small gap between Cedar Park’s second-baseman and first-bagger.
Not to be outdone, Wells roped a two-run single which skidded down the third-base line, frantically hugging fair territory all the way.
The game’s final run is the kind which brings a smile to a coach’s face, as two of his players stayed alert and took advantage of opportunity, instead of being lulled to sleep by a big lead.
When a third strike made a run for freedom, skidding off the CPC catcher’s mitt and heading out for a stroll, the batter, Smith, took off like she was running the 100 at the Olympics.
Hurrying to make the play, the Eagles failed twice.
The throw was late to first, with Smith bending away from the tag, while Caveness broke for home once the ball was launched and scampered home to score.
That left Ms. Unflappable to close out the game from the pitcher’s circle, and Wells exited in style, ripping off back-to-back swinging strikeouts, before inducing a tepid game-ending grounder to Prescott.
JV gets some work:
A day after bonking Concrete’s varsity, the Wolf JV got to play a quick three-inning scrimmage with Cedar Park, which used a mix of varsity and JV players.
While CPC was up 8-5 when the game was called, it doesn’t go down as an official loss since it wasn’t a complete game.
Wolf sisters Heidi and Abby Meyers, who held down second and short, were the stars of the scrimmage, gobbling up everything that came their way.
Also of note was the season debut of Marenna Rebischke-Smith, returning to hold down first-base after recovering from a broken leg she suffered during winter cheer season.
Coupeville generated all its scoring in the bottom of the first, and might have gotten more if JV games didn’t have a restrictive five runs per inning rule.
The Wolves sent 10 runners to the plate, with lead-off hitter Lily Leedy kicking things off with a walk, then ending them with a two-out RBI single.
In between, CHS got base-knocks from both Meyers sisters, with Heidi belting a stand-up double, Morgan Stevens, and Mollie Bailey.
Audrianna Shaw, who had Coupeville’s only base-hit in the final two innings, walked in the first, as did Ivy Leedy, though she got her base thanks to being nailed by a wayward pitch.
Which, in honor of ball-magnet Laxton, is known as “getting Nicoled.”
To see pics from Thursday’s games, pop over to:
https://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/Coupeville-Softball-2018-2019/SB-2019-03-21-vs-CPC/
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