Sydney Van Dyke is a key part of a high-flying Wolf softball team. (Julie Wheat photo)
And then there were none.
The final two undefeated softball teams in 2B both clashed with rock-solid foes in doubleheader action Saturday, and both absorbed their first losses of the season in tense tussles.
Liberty (Spangle), previously 12-0, split a twin-bill with Freeman, while many miles away Coupeville knocked off host Forks 8-5 in extra innings in its opener, before falling 10-6 in the nightcap.
The split with an always-dangerous non-conference rival leaves the Wolves at 11-1 heading into a week when they return to Northwest 2B/1B League action.
As he looked back on a long day, CHS coach Aaron Lucero was philosophical about the results.
“Glad we played a team to push us,” he said. “It can be hard to adjust when we just roll over teams all the time. I had Forks on there for a double to do exactly that.
“I never get too interested in undefeated. I’m more obsessed with how we play day in, day out.”
That mentality paid off handsomely last year, when CHS went 18-1 in the regular season, followed by splitting four games at the state tourney.
While Saturday’s loss stings a bit, it gave a still very-young Wolf roster a chance to deal with hardship, starting with power-hitting second-baseman Capri Anter being sidelined after hurting her knee earlier in the week.
Allie Powers stepped in to play defense, and “made some very solid plays,” while fellow young guns Emma Leavitt and Emma Cushman handled the offensive duty.
Coupeville also shuffled its lineup in game two, with sophomore Ava Lucero, the future full-time catcher, sliding over from first to work behind the plate while senior backstop Teagan Calkins was sent out to ramble in center field.
And “The Red Dragon” went for quite a run once let free, sprinting from the left field line to the right field line at times to snag descending softballs.
Tack on shortstop Cami Van Dyke hurtling backward and extending to rob a Forks player of a potential hit, and Adeline Maynes pulling off web gems at both pitcher and second base, and the defense was often inspired.
How things played out:
Game 1:
Calkins lit the fuse in the top of the first, mashing a two-run home run over the left field fence, before Coupeville tacked on two more runs in the frame thanks to alert base-running.
With runners at the corner, Ava Lucero poked a single over the second-baseman’s head to send two runners careening for home, the second scoring when a Forks defender drilled a runner with a wayward throw.
Up 4-0, the Wolves looked like they might go off on another mercy-rule beat-down, but then the game took a turn into a pitcher’s duel between Coupeville hurler Adeline Maynes and her Forks counterpart, Chloe Gaydeski.
The Spartans got one run back in the second, but little else, while CHS stranded runners in scoring position in the second and fourth.
The fifth was slightly better, with Ava Lucero slapping an RBI single to right to make it 5-1, but Forks escaped a bases-loaded situation by nailing a runner at the plate to end the inning.
Taking advantage of the slight swing in momentum, the Spartans scored two runs in the fifth — after having two outs — before tying the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh on a one-out two-run home run from Bailey Johnson.
As the ball disappeared over the fence to the screams of the local fans, the Wolves faced their first true gut-check since their season-opening one-run win over 3A Oak Harbor. To their credit, they responded in style.
Maynes bore down, forced a popup to Cami Van Dyke, then whiffed a batter to send the game to extra innings, and the Wolf offense came alive in response.
Cami Van Dyke prepares to paint her masterpiece. (Jackie Saia photo)
Leading off the eighth, Leavitt and Cushman earned back-to-back walks, before the 8th grader who plays like a 15-year vet dropped an ice-cold sacrifice bunt to drive a stake through the heart of Forks Nation.
Cami Van Dyke, operating the bat like a surgeon, laid the ball down with precision, then ruffled the defense with her fleet feet, allowing Leavitt to come hurtling home with what would be the game-busting run.
But, since it was the top of the inning, and not the bottom, the play wasn’t a walk-off winner.
So, to give Maynes some extra help, the Wolves tacked on a pair of RBI base knocks from Sydney Van Dyke and Calkins just to make sure.
Back in front 8-5, Maynes closed the game by inducing a popup to Powers, before ripping off strikeouts #12 and #13.
Game 2:
Almost a complete reversal, as Forks, this time playing as the road team, tallied four runs in the top of the first.
That put Coupeville in a hole, and while the Wolves fought back time and again in the second game, they never were able to recover the lead.
Stevens smacked an RBI single to center in the second to cut the deficit to 4-1, while CHS hurler Haylee Armstrong was lights out in the second and third inning (with some defensive help from Maynes at second and Calkins running wild in the outfield).
Chelsi Stevens has been a hit machine. (Jackie Saia photo)
That set up several moments where Coupeville launched mini comebacks, almost got all the way there, but was blunted by Bailey Johnson, handling the pitching duties for Forks in game two.
The Wolves trimmed the lead to 4-3 in the third, Forks pushed it back to 5-3, then CHS pulled within 5-4 only to leave the bases loaded in the fourth.
When pinch-runner Olivia Martin beat the tag at home on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth, tying things up at 5-5, things were looking up.
But then they went South, with Forks mashing a two-run tater to reclaim the lead. And while a Calkins RBI single got Coupeville within 7-6, it once again left runners in scoring position.
That proved to be fatal, as the Spartans erupted for three runs in the top of the seventh, turning a one-run game into a four-run deficit for a Wolf team which finally ran out of steam.
While he would have preferred two wins, Aaron Lucero came away focusing on the positives.
Maynes, who came on in relief in game two, picked up another six strikeouts to give her 19 for the day, while Armstrong recorded three punch-outs.
All nine starters reached base, as well, with seven recording hits.
“We hit the ball well, even when we hit it right at their players,” Aaron Lucero said. “We did have some good moments, but what hurt us was not having the timely hits when we had runners.
“Overall, I like to say I never lost a game, I win or learn, and the players learned some lessons today. On to the next!”
Saturday stats:
Haylee Armstrong — Two singles, four walks
Teagan Calkins — Three singles, two doubles, one home run, one walk
Emma Cushman — One single, one walk
Emma Leavitt — Two walks
Ava Lucero — Three singles, one walk
Adeline Maynes — One walk
Chelsi Stevens — Five singles
Cami Van Dyke — One single, one walk
Sydney Van Dyke — Two singles, one double, one walk
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