Sun’s out, guns out in Yakima, giving Danica Strong and friends a chance to rep their coach. (Photo courtesy Aaron Lucero)
The Wolves made every moment count.
Playing seemingly from sunup to sundown in Yakima, the Coupeville High School softball team put together a rock-solid run Friday and Saturday at the 2B state tourney.
By the time they were done, the Wolves had split four games, survived two loser-out contests, wrapped one rumble under the lights at nearly midnight, and put a cap on an impressive 20-3 season.
The fourth CHS softball squad to make it to the big dance, the 2025 edition had the second-longest run of any of those teams, right behind the 2002 Wolves, who won four of five at state en route to claiming a 3rd place trophy.
The Yakima experience began with a 13-0 loss to River View, followed by 18-11 and 12-6 wins over Colfax and Raymond-South Bend, respectively, before ending early on day #2 with a 10-0 defeat to Northwest Christian (Colbert).
Chloe Marzocca is ready to rumble on the East side. (Jennifer Heaton photo)
It was the final run for Wolf seniors Mia Farris, Madison McMillan, Taylor Brotemarkle, Chloe Marzocca, and Jada Heaton, who led CHS to 64 diamond wins over the past four seasons.
While the loss of the veterans will sting, Coupeville can return its entire pitching staff, as Adeline Maynes is only a freshman and cousins Haylee Armstrong and Capri Anter are sophomores.
Catcher Teagan Calkins is a junior, while first baseman Ava Lucero and second baseman Sydney Van Dyke are also fab frosh.
Add in a strong bench currently anchored by junior Danica Strong and freshman Chelsi Stevens, and Aaron Lucero will likely have a solid base to build on when he heads into his second spring as CHS head coach.
After making the jaunt from Whidbey to Eastern Washington Thursday, the Wolves were on their way to the Gateway Sports Complex by 8:15 AM Friday morning.
They wouldn’t see their hotel again for quite some time.
Playing three games in a day, with start times eventually falling 2.5 hours behind schedule, Coupeville was the last winner off the diamond Friday, eliminating Raymond-South Bend at 11:53 PM.
How long had their day been?
River View, the team they lost to in the opener, picked up back-to-back losses and was sent packing long BEFORE the Wolves even made it back to the hotel.
Coupeville (barely) beat the sprinklers Friday night. (Brad Sherman photo)
Then, in typical tourney fashion, Coupeville, the last winner off the field on Friday, had to head back to the diamond by a little after 7 AM Saturday to play in the day’s first game at 9:00.
That was where the gas finally ran out for the Wolves, but not before they impressed their coach.
“First game was a “get the jitters out.” Second game was better against a solid, well coached Colfax team. Third game was the jewel,” Aaron Lucero said.
“The final game we just couldn’t put it together. It happens.
“There are so many accolades from the team this weekend.”
Lucero praised his squad top to bottom, while noting McMillan blasting a “couple of bombs” which cleared the fence, Calkins playing “like a beast while catching every inning,” and the duo of Maynes and Armstrong coming up big in the pitcher’s circle.
“Adeline kept hitters off balance as she does and Haylee came in every game in relief and threw gas,” he said.
Then there was team sparkplug Jada Heaton, who ripped a nasty foul ball off of her own chin, but stayed in the game, not wanting to abandon her teammates.
She eventually had a trip to the ER and will be dealing with a chipped tooth and badly swollen jaw, cementing her already legendary status among Wolf Nation fans.
“Special year with a special group of incredibly strong young women,” Lucero said.
How state played out:
Game #1 — River View
Facing off with a rival which likely deserved higher than a #10 seed after outscoring foes 400-84 across its first 25 games, the Wolves struggled to get their own bats going.
Singles from McMillan and Stevens were the only CHS base knocks, while Coupeville only had two runners aboard in the same inning once — in the bottom of the sixth.
River View never put together a huge inning of its own but slapped four runs on the board in the second, third, and sixth to stretch things out.
Chelsi Stevens digs in during the state tourney. (Kristi Stevens photo)
Game #2 — Colfax
The bats came alive in Coupeville’s first loser-out game, with eight different Wolves collecting a hit.
The contest actually was close, and CHS was trailing, heading into the bottom of the fourth.
McMillan led off the second with the first of her two out-of-the-park dingers, but Colfax was holding on to a 4-1 lead when things took a huge change of direction.
Erupting for 10 runs in their half of the fourth, the Wolves were sparked by Calkins, Farris, and Van Dyke, who each rapped out a pair of hits in the frame.
Coupeville’s first seven hitters in the inning picked up base knocks, then, after an RBI groundout from Anter, the next five also had a hit.
Colfax, a frequent visitor to the state tourney, wasn’t going down easy, however, cutting the deficit from 11-4 to 11-8.
So, the Wolves promptly went off again, pushing seven more runs across in the bottom of the fifth.
Brotemarkle smashed her second double of the game to fuel the second rally, and the Wolves were still alive.
The Wolves wait for their next victim to arrive. (Christina Baker photo)
Game #3 — Raymond-South Bend
This was one of the biggest shockers of the tourney, at least if you listen to podcasters who love to go on and on about how great District #4 is, while never knowing how to pronounce or spell the word Coupeville.
Raymond-South Bend, led by Emma Glazier, who has committed to play D-1 softball for UNLV, won the “District of Death,” knocking off high-powered Pe Ell-Willapa Valley in that tourney finale.
RSB was seeded #4 for state and seemed destined to bring home some hardware.
Until it all fell apart in a Friday night fizzle.
Nipped 8-7 by #12 Toledo in the quarterfinals, RSB crashed into the loser’s bracket, and had about 1.3 seconds to prepare for Coupeville, which had been waiting patiently.
A game planned to start at 8:00 PM went off at more like 10:30, and the Wolves jumped on their vaunted foes.
McMillan struck again in the top of the first, pounding a two-run homer that scored Calkins, and CHS never trailed in the game.
The Wolves almost had a second home run, but Farris was denied when Glazier proved her future D-1 credentials by crashing over the outfield fence to rob “Mia the Magnificent” of a state tourney tater.
Three runs in the third, set up by a series of walks and a big-time hit from fab frosh Van Dyke staked Maynes to a 5-1 lead.
While RSB sliced the lead back to 5-3, Coupeville closed with a cold fury.
The Wolves pushed four runs across in the fifth, mixing hits and walks at a steady clip, then sealed the deal with a three-run sixth capped by a two-run single off the bat of Ava Lucero.
The District 4 champs scraped out three runs of their own in their final at-bats, but Coupeville wasn’t having it, slamming the door shut and sending RSB to the sidelines, the eighth team to be knocked out of a 16-team tourney.
Game #4 — Northwest Christian (Colbert)
Armstrong rapped out a pair of hits, but Coupeville couldn’t get a rally going in what would prove to be its finale.
The Wolves had runners aboard in six of seven innings, but each time it was just one batter who reached.
Northwest Christian scored three times in the top of the first, twice more in the second, then coasted along for the win.
Which was not a mercy-rule affair, as NWC didn’t get the lead out to 10 runs until it plated four in the top of the seventh.
Coupeville’s last base runner of the season was Van Dyke, courtesy of one of her five hits, as the Wolves racked up 34 hits and 17 walks in their visit to state.
They’ll be back. (Photo courtesy Aaron Lucero)
State stats:
Capri Anter — Two singles, three walks
Haylee Armstrong — Four singles, one walk
Taylor Brotemarkle — One single, two doubles, two walks
Teagan Calkins — Five singles, one double, two walks
Mia Farris — Four singles, three walks
Jada Heaton — One single
Ava Lucero — Three singles, one walk
Madison McMillan — Two singles, one double, two home runs, four walks
Chelsi Stevens — One single, one walk
Sydney Van Dyke — Five singles
