Sophomore sluggers Madison McMillan (left) and Jada Heaton have helped carry Coupeville to a 12-5 record. (Jennifer Heaton photo)
They never flinched.
Locked in a low-scoring rumble for a bit Thursday in Darrington, the Coupeville High School varsity softball squad could have panicked when the host Loggers cut their deficit to a single run.
Instead, the Wolves ripped off seven unanswered runs, threw down back-to-back scoreless innings on defense, and rolled to their ninth win in their last 10 games.
Eventually exiting with an 11-5 win, Coupeville gets to 9-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 12-5 overall.
Now the Wolves head home for Senior Night Saturday — played at 1:00 PM in the afternoon — then close the season on the road.
After facing off Saturday with La Conner (2-7, 2-13), CHS travels to Friday Harbor (7-1, 10-4) Thursday, May 4, before playing a non-conference game May 12 at South Whidbey.
The Friday Harbor clash will determine the NWL champs, and which team earns District 1’s lone playoff berth for 2B schools.
Thursday’s rumble with 1B Darrington, while having no effect on playoff positioning for the Wolves, was still a solid test for Kevin McGranahan’s squad.
“We had to earn this one today; took us awhile to get the bats going,” Coupeville’s coach said.
“The girls stayed the course, and eventually we got some clutch hits to plate some runs and pull away enough to get the W.”
The Loggers, who sit in third place in the conference, hung tough, trailing just 4-3 after four innings.
Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the first, with Wolf hurler Allie Lucero striking out the side, before Coupeville pushed three runners across in the top of the second.
Walks to Madison McMillan and Allie Lucero primed the well, with Maya Lucero crunching a two-run double to left to get the scoreboard operator working.
Melanie Navarro laced an RBI single over the shortstop’s head to make it 3-0 — one of three times the senior slugger reached base — before Darrington escaped.
Melanie Navarro has swung a big bat for the Wolves. (Jackie Saia photo)
The Loggers scraped together their own run in the bottom half of the inning, capitalizing on a bunt which burrowed deep into the dirt in fair territory, but CHS immediately matched the score.
Taylor Brotemarkle singled, went to second on an error, coasted into third on a wild pitch, then tapped home on a hard-hit grounder off the bat of the always-mashin’ McMillan.
Navarro doubled to center in the fourth, only to be stranded, while Darrington scored twice during their at-bats– without getting the ball out of the infield — and suddenly it was a nail-biter at 4-3.
But, no fear, no blinking, just going out and executing for the Wolves.
Fab frosh Teagan Calkins used a bit of alert base running to score in the fifth, before CHS tacked on two runs in the sixth and four more in the seventh to stretch the lead back out to 11-3.
Super sophomores Jada Heaton and Mia Farris both picked up two RBI’s during the surge, with Calkins coming back around to swat a two-run single past Darrington’s diving shortstop.
As important as the runs were, Coupeville’s pitching and defense also came up big in the moment, blanking the Loggers in the fifth and sixth.
Allie Lucero, who finished with 11 strikeouts, set down five consecutive Darrington hitters, while McMillan ended the sixth by tracking down a wayward pop fly over second base.
While the Loggers made one final push, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh, Calkins ended things.
Jumping out from behind home plate, she plucked a spinning ball off the dirt and fired it to Maya Lucero at first for out #21, sending her team home carrying yet another victory.
Thursday stats:
Taylor Brotemarkle — Two singles
Teagan Calkins — Two singles
Mia Farris — One double, one walk
Jada Heaton — One single
Allie Lucero — One walk
Maya Lucero — One double, two walks
Madison McMillan — One walk
Melanie Navarro — One single, one double, one walk
Sofia Peters — One walk
Coupeville Sports 