Softball scorebook keeper extraordinaire Gordon McMillan (right) was one of those honored Saturday during Coupeville’s Strike Out Cancer event. (Photo courtesy Aaron Lucero)
They played for themselves, and they played for their loved ones.
Most of all, they played to make a statement, and they made it a loud one.
This edition of the Coupeville High School softball squad is the real deal.
Sweeping a pair of games from visiting Forks Saturday, the Wolves survived their biggest test of the season yet, while pushing their record to a sizzlin’ 13-1 and counting.
With their only loss a one-run affair against a 3A school, the Wolves can sting you with their bats, their gloves, and their pitching arms.
Plus, their brains and resilience, as they have proven to be a team of players that pulls each other up, makes the smart play time and again, and is clicking on all cylinders.
How Saturday played out, as Aaron Lucero’s squad won 5-2 and 6-2 while raising money and honoring fighters during the Wolves annual Strike Out Cancer Day:
Game #1:
Forks has won eight games at the 2B state tourney across the past three seasons, earning a second-place trophy in 2023 and a third-place hunk o’ metal in 2022.
Suffice it to say, the Spartans are a brand name.
Plus, they boast Ron Bagby’s niece, one Chloe Gaydeski, who is a ton of trouble for opposing teams as both a pitcher and hitter.
As a freshman, she pitched Forks to the state title game, where it fell to Adna.
As a junior, she stepped into the circle in Coupeville Saturday and squared off with Coupeville fab frosh Adeline Maynes.
And on this day, Maynes proved to be the main attraction.
Whiffing 12 Spartans while holding the visitors scoreless until the seventh and final inning, Coupeville’s second-year ace was lights out.
Maynes set down eight of the first nine hitters she faced via the punchout, with only Gaydeski walking in the top of the first, and she proved to be as gritty as they come.
Forks loaded the bags in the third, thanks to its first hit of the day and two walks, only to see Coupeville’s ace escape by inducing an infield pop-up, then scoot to her left to snag the ball out of the air.
Maynes got some defensive help as well, with third-baseman Madison McMillan making a sensational throw to gun down a would-be bunter in the fourth.
The biggest defensive gem came in the fifth, however.
With a runner at first, Forks lofted a double to center field, with Wolf outfielders Mia Farris and Jada Heaton crashing into each other as they both made a play on the ball.
Cue the smarts, as Heaton recovered the ball, pegged a flawless strike to Sydney Van Dyke, then hopped in glee as the strong-armed second baseman whipped the ball to catcher Teagan Calkins to nail the runner headed home.
“The Red Dragon” had herself a day behind the plate, not only making that run-saving tag, but also springing up twice to snatch popped-up bunts out of the air.
“I am The Red Dragon, and you will fear my roar!” (Bailey Thule photo)
While Maynes (and her defense) were lighting up the prairie, Gaydeski and crew matched her until the bottom of the fourth.
Coupeville got a Van Dyke double in the second and a Maynes single in the third but couldn’t break the scoreless tie.
Until lightning struck twice.
Calkins laced a laser to right field for a one-out single in the fourth, followed by McMillan bringing the pain to the Spartans by crushing the stuffing out of the ball.
Her majestic, game-changing two run home run soared into the all-blue prairie skies, cleared the fence in right-center, and came back to Earth somewhere down around the ferry dock.
Not content to cling to just a 2-0 lead, the Wolves pushed three more runs across in the sixth to get the lead out to where they could weather Forks two-run rally in the seventh.
Farris laced a standup triple, then skipped home with run #3 when the throw back in sailed wide of the bag, before McMillan cracked another big hit, this one an RBI double.
While Forks did get on the board in the final frame, the Spartans also struck out three more times, with Maynes ending the game by rearing back and firing BB’s that the hitters couldn’t locate.
Game #2:
Maynes and Gaydeski handed the ball off to other pitchers to start things off, though both aces ended up returning as relievers.
For Coupeville, sophomore Haylee Armstrong, pitching on mom Michelle’s birthday, was electric, setting down 11 Spartans on strikes across 4.2 innings.
The Wolves supported their hurler by exploding for five tallies in the bottom of the third, scoring all of the runs before they had a single out.
Farris launched a two-run triple to right-center, before later beating a throw home by sliding under the tag on a delayed double steal, while Capri Anter put together an epic at-bat.
The Wolf sophomore fouled off 767 pitches (give or take one or two) during her trip to the plate, before pulling out a crucial walk to kick-start the rally.
The teams swapped runs in the fifth, with Farris singling, stealing second, taking third on a passed ball, then scooting home on a wild pitch, again narrowly beating the tag.
With the game, and the doubleheader sweep, up for grabs, the Wolves clamped down big time in the seventh.
Anter, ambling around in left field, robbed Forks of an extra-base hit, before Maynes closed the day with her fifth strikeout in relief, and 17th of the day.
Adeline Maynes dreams of strikeouts. (Bailey Thule photo)
What’s next:
Coupeville wraps up its Northwest 2B/1B League slate with a pair of games next week against Orcas Island.
The Wolves host the Vikings Tuesday, then ride the ferry Thursday.
After that comes a trip to Langley Friday for a non-conference clash with next-door neighbor South Whidbey.
Saturday stats:
Capri Anter — One walk
Taylor Brotemarkle — One single
Teagan Calkins — Two singles, one double, one walk
Mia Farris — One single, two triples
Ava Lucero — One single
Adeline Maynes — Two singles
Madison McMillan — One double, one home run
Chelsi Stevens — One walk
Sydney Van Dyke — One double
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