“Run … if you dare!!” (Jackie Saia photo)
Sweet diamond history was made Monday afternoon.
Playing with precision both at the plate and in the field, the Coupeville High School softball squad demolished host Orcas Island 11-0 in a game mercy-ruled after five innings.
And, while the Wolves still have 20% of the regular season left to play, Monday’s victory means they’ve already achieved two major goals.
Now 9-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 15-1 overall — which ties them for the most wins by a 2B school — the Smash Sisters clinched the latest in a string of league titles, while also punching their ticket to the state tourney.
First up is the league finale Wednesday, a rematch with Orcas on the Coupeville prairie, with catcher Teagan Calkins hailed on Senior Night.
Then, non-conference road rumbles with Klahowya, South Whidbey, and East Jefferson.
After that the Wolves head to districts May 14 at the Skagit Valley Playfields, a three-team tango where they’ll be the #1 seed and play the survivor of an opening game for the tourney title.
Since District 1 gets two tickets to state this season, Coupeville is therefore guaranteed a return trip to the big dance, win or lose.
It’s the fifth time a Wolf softball squad has qualified for state, and the first time CHS has accomplished the feat in back-to-back seasons, having split four games at the season-ending championships last year.
Zariyah Allen loves to hit lasers. (Jackie Saia photo)
While some of the pathway has been cleared, don’t expect Aaron Lucero’s diamond dazzlers to back off between now and state, however.
The Wolves, a young team which starts more 8th graders than seniors (2-1), handles its business like a well-oiled machine.
That was evident again Monday, as CHS completely shut the Orcas offense down.
Adeline Maynes started in the pitcher’s circle and retired 12 of the 13 hitters she faced, seven via strikeouts, before Haylee Armstrong came on to fling heat in the fifth, picking up one more K for herself.
When the Vikings did make contact with the ball, the Wolf defense was on point, with infielders Sydney Van Dyke, Allie Powers, Ava Lucero, and Cami Van Dyke all making smooth plays to send Orcas hitters trudging back to the bench.
Coupeville, a team of hit-happy assassins who rip the ball to all fields, started a bit slowly Monday after the long ferry trip, plating just a run in the first and none in the second.
Haylee Armstrong prepares to feast. (Julie Wheat photo)
The opening run came courtesy a booming ground-rule double from Armstrong, followed by an RBI single to left from Calkins, but Orcas hung tough in the early going.
That didn’t last, however, as the Wolves got revved up, slapping three more runs on the board in the third, six in the fourth, and a finally tally in the top of the fifth.
The second run was a straight-up repeat of the first one, with Armstrong crunching a double and Calkins mashing a run-scoring single.
After her second base knock, the “The Red Dragon” motored home on a wild pitch, before Ava Lucero swatted an RBI groundout to make it 4-0.
Orcas finally cracked for good in the fourth, with Zariyah Allen and Armstrong walking, before the heart of the order rained down run-scoring pain on the Vikings.
Cami Van Dyke zipped an RBI single to center, Calkins brought another run home with a sac fly, then the Wolves went wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am.
Consecutive smashes off the bats of Chelsi Stevens, Sydney Van Dyke, Ava Lucero, and Maynes stretched the advantage out to 10-0, signaling CHS was on its way to enforcing the mercy rule for the 12th time in 16 games.
The cherry on top of the run-scoring sundae arrived in the fifth as Stevens torched the Orcas hurler for yet another RBI single, this one landing deep in right field, as the Wolves have now outscored their foes 255-33.
Monday stats:
Zariyah Allen — One single, one walk
Haylee Armstrong — One single, two doubles, one walk
Teagan Calkins — Two singles
Ava Lucero — Two singles
Adeline Maynes — One single
Chelsi Stevens — Two singles
Cami Van Dyke — One single
Sydney Van Dyke — One double, one walk
