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Posts Tagged ‘Taylor Brotemarkle’

Win big, win with class

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on April 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolf sluggers (l to r) Madison McMillan, Mia Farris, and Jada Heaton combined to reach base six times in Saturday’s home finale. (Jennifer Heaton photo)

Love and success for everyone.

Coupeville’s younger players paid emotional tributes to their senior leaders Saturday, while the generations came together to cruise to another big softball victory on the prairie.

Playing at home for the final time this spring — and FINALLY getting decent weather — the Wolves romped to a 17-2 win over visiting La Conner, while trying not to embarrass a Braves program working hard to build for the future.

Coupeville exits the weekend sitting at 10-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 13-5 overall, having won 10 of its last 11 games.

The Wolves travel to Friday Harbor next Thursday, May 4, with the winner claiming the one playoff berth offered to 2B teams in District 1, then close the regular season May 12 with a non-conference road rumble at South Whidbey.

La Conner’s softball team is a work in progress, and their players are hard-working and scrappy.

But they are still well off the pace set by Coupeville, which was demonstrated once again Saturday afternoon.

With all five of its 12th graders in the starting lineup on Senior Night, the Wolves put all 11 hitters on base in the first inning but settled for a 6-0 lead.

Teagan Calkins and Taylor Brotemarkle swatted home runs to left, with the second of those taters also scoring Mia Farris, but CHS accounted for all three outs in the inning by having runners intentionally leave base early.

Coupeville pushed seven more runs across in the second frame, with Farris and Brotemarkle crunching two-run base knocks, and the (polite) rout was on.

CHS coach Kevin McGranahan got field action for all 16 players on his roster, with 15 reaching base, and pulled the strings perfectly to keep the game going until the teams had played five innings.

The Wolves notched a lone run in the third to make it 14-0, gave back two tallies in the fourth, then closed things out with three more scores in their half of the inning.

Coupeville seniors unite on the prairie, with the batter, the player in the on-deck circle, and everyone on base being grizzled vets. (Katrina McGranahan photo)

The game marked the home swan song for Wolf seniors Sofia Peters, Allie Lucero, Gwen Gustafson, Melanie Navarro, and Maya Lucero.

That group lost their freshman season when spring sports were cancelled for Covid, then only played 12 games as sophomores due to ongoing pandemic restrictions.

But they hung tough, continued to work, and have played vital roles as the Wolves have gone 41-8 during their time in the program.

And they aren’t done yet.

 

Saturday stats:

Haylee Armstrong — One single
Taylor Brotemarkle — One double, one home run, one walk
Teagan Calkins — One single, one home run, one walk
Mia Farris — One single, two walks
Gwen Gustafson — One single, two walks
Jada Heaton — One walk
Layla Heo — One walk
Allie Lucero — Three walks
Maya Lucero — One single, one walk
Chloe Marzocca — Two walks
Madison McMillan — One single, one walk
Melanie Navarro — One single, two walks
Sofia Peters — Three walks
Bailey Thule — One walk
Melanie Wolfe — One walk

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Bombs away for diamond sluggers

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , , on April 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Taylor Brotemarkle (left) and Madison McMillan have plenty to celebrate. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Your puny field cannot contain the mighty mashing of Madison McMillan!

The Coupeville High School sophomore blasted an opposite field grand slam home run Tuesday in Concrete, sending the ball screaming over the fence and halfway back to Whidbey Island.

McMillan’s mammoth tater was the biggest hit on a day when 10 Wolves combined to reach base 28 times in just four innings, propelling CHS to a 20-2 win.

The victory could have been by a much-larger margin if the Wolves hadn’t declined to take extra bases most times, while also leaving the bag early several times to give a young, rebuilding Concrete squad some precious outs.

Now 8-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 11-5 overall, Coupeville has won eight of its last nine and sits alone atop the conference standings.

Next up is a road trip to Darrington (5-2, 6-3) Thursday to face a Loggers team it beat 15-3 first time around, then Senior Night at home Saturday against La Conner (1-7, 1-13).

Coupeville didn’t fill up the bus for its trip to Concrete, with illness and an 8th grade field trip reducing the roster from 16 to 10.

But everyone who did make the trip contributed, with all 10 Wolves in uniform reaching base, including South Korean exchange student Layla Heo, who collected her first varsity hit.

Thanks to some strong defense by Concrete’s Sara Perry, who robbed Wolf leadoff hitter Teagan Calkins of an extra base hit, snagging a hot liner at third, CHS only picked up one run in the top of the first.

That quickly changed a frame later, as Coupeville rained down seven hits in the second — including a long triple for the madly galloping Calkins — pushing across a game-busting 11 runs.

The Wolves rapped out three doubles in the inning, one from Jada Heaton and two from Maya Lucero, seemingly lofting hits to every patch of grass not occupied by a Lion.

Sophomores (l to r) Brotemarkle, Jada Heaton, Mia Farris, and McMillan combined for seven hits Tuesday in Concrete.

Up 12-0 through two frames, with starting pitcher Allie Lucero whiffing four and retiring all six hitters she faced, Coupeville coasted in for the win.

Taylor Brotemarkle, normally a sweet-fielding infielder, moved into the pitcher’s circle for the final two innings and picked up four K’s of her own.

At the plate, the Wolves settled for a single run in the third, then put the game on ice with seven more in the fourth.

Calkins doubled during the final series of at-bats, Allie Lucero tripled, and McMillan rearranged the atoms in the softball with her bases-clearing bomb, a punctuation mark on a stellar, and sunny, afternoon.

 

Tuesday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — One single, one double, two walks
Teagan Calkins — One single, one double, one triple
Mia Farris — Three singles
Jada Heaton — One double, two walks
Layla Heo — One single
Allie Lucero — One single, one triple
Maya Lucero — One single, two doubles
Madison McMillan — One home run, two walks
Melanie Navarro — Two singles, one walk
Bailey Thule — Two walks

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Sluggers of today, and tomorrow, unite

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on April 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville High School sophomore Taylor Brotemarkle (left) works with little league slugger Chelsi Stevens. (Katrina McGranahan photos)

One generation teaching the next.

That was what went down Thursday, as the current Coupeville High School softball players took time out from their own season to pass on wisdom to their little league counterparts.

The high school stars developed the plan and ran the two-and-a-half-hour clinic, working with the younger players on defense, hitting, sliding, and team bonding.

“The gym was loud and everyone had a good time and hopefully learned something,” said CHS softball coach Kevin McGranahan.

Madison McMillan passes on hitting wisdom to Adeline Maynes.

“It is always a proud coach moment when your team wants to give back and help the younger girls who one day will be taking their place on the big stage,” McGranahan added.

“We need to keep the close connection to the Central Whidbey Little League, as that is the future for CHS softball. Good job ladies, well done!!”

The present, and future, of Wolf softball.

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Epic trek, sweet split

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , , on April 15, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The Wolves feast. (Kim Brotemarkle photo)

Diamond coach Kevin McGranahan wants to take his Coupeville High School softball team back to the state tourney.

The Wolves were last there in 2019, playing three games in one day against elite competition and holding their own in the spotlight.

Then came the pandemic, wiping out any chance of returning to the big dance in 2020 — no games were even played that spring.

Now, as 2023 unfolds, with this year’s seniors the girls who were denied a season as freshmen, McGranahan and Co. continue to build back towards the big goal.

A two-day, two-game, 320-mile round trip to Onalaska this weekend is proof of that.

Wanting to play the kind of teams the Wolves might meet at state, CHS set up a Saturday doubleheader with the Loggers.

The mission – a team-building trip in which players, coaches, and family members left Whidbey Island Friday, ended on a high note as McGranahan’s squad earned a split at Onalaska.

The Wolves fell 5-1 against a top-caliber pitcher in the opener, then unleashed holy heck with their bats in the nightcap, rolling to a 23-9 victory in a game mercy-ruled after six innings.

The split lifts Coupeville to 8-5 heading into its biggest game of the season, when Friday Harbor travels to Whidbey Tuesday, April 18 for a clash with huge playoff implications.

Win, and CHS will have split its first two games with the Wolverines, after a tough 13-12 road loss at the end of March.

That would set up a winner-take-all clash when the Wolves travel to Friday Harbor May 4, with the victor claiming the lone playoff spot up for grabs among the 2B schools in the Northwest 2B/1B League.

For now, though, the Wolves can bask in the glow of their most-recent trip.

After arriving in Tumwater (where, side note, I attended school from grades 6-12), Coupeville watched the T-Birds play Rochester, then put in some practice time.

“The Tumwater coaches were nice enough to let us use their practice field,” McGranahan said. “A class act.”

Starting the day right. (Katrina McGranahan photo)

The Wolves also found time for a team dinner, a celebration of Wolf Mom Kim Brotemarkle’s “25th birthday” and an early morning visit to Dutch Bros Coffee for “the morning pick-me-up.”

Once on the field, Coupeville faced off with an Onalaska squad which McGranahan hailed as “a great group of girls and coaches, who were very good hosts.”

 

Game #1:

CHS wanted a major challenge, and they found it in Logger sophomore hurler Lisa Liddell.

“Their ace pitcher was exactly what I was looking for,” McGranahan said. “Hard throwing with good command – something we don’t see in our league.

“She held us in check; we had some good hits but couldn’t sustain rallies. But good for our girls to see that type of pitching.”

Coupeville pitcher Allie Lucero was on target as well, whiffing seven Loggers and never letting her foes put together any big surges.

Onalaska put up a run in the first, two more in the third, and one each in the fourth and fifth, with the Wolves scratching out their tally in the top of the sixth.

Taylor Brotemarkle bashed a leadoff double, then came flying home to score on a groundout RBI off the bat of Madison McMillan, before Liddell shut things back down.

 

Game #2:

Let the bodies hit the floor, and the bats hit the ball.

With a different Onalaska pitcher in the circle, Coupeville unleashed, pounding out 27 hits, including nine which went for extra bases.

The Wolves put nine runs on the scoreboard in the top of the first, effectively ending the game right there, then built a 14-2 lead coming out of the top of the third.

The Loggers managed to prevent the 10-run mercy rule from being enforced after the fifth inning, having trimmed the margin to 15-6, but that just set CHS off again.

With Teagan Calkins and Mia Farris both picking up two base knocks in the sixth frame, the Wolves sent eight more runners zipping across the plate.

Everyone chipped in, but senior Gwen Gustafson was especially efficient in the nightcap, with all four of her hits resulting in RBI’s.

Wolf 8th grader Haylee Armstrong enjoys a breakfast of champions before the doubleheader. (Michelle Armstrong photo)

Whichever team emerges from District 1, whether it’s Coupeville or Friday Harbor, that squad plays a team from District 4 — where Onalaska hails from — in a loser-out, winner-to-state playoff game.

Having made their epic trek this weekend, and played solidly, the Wolves are ready for whatever awaits them, McGranahan said.

“Our girls now know that we can beat teams in District 4,” he said. “We can have some confidence if we have to come down here again.”

 

Saturday stats:

Haylee Armstrong — Two walks
Taylor Brotemarkle — One single, three doubles
Teagan Calkins — Five singles, one double
Mia Farris — One single, three doubles, one triple
Gwen Gustafson — Four singles, one double
Jada Heaton — Three singles, one walk
Allie Lucero — Two triples, one walk
Maya Lucero — Three singles, one double, one walk
Madison McMillan— Three singles
Melanie Navarro — One walk
Sofia Peters — One single

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Tough foe, lousy weather, lessons learned

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on April 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Freshman catcher Teagan Calkins smacked two hits Thursday, while also playing strong defense behind the plate. (Jackie Saia photo)

Iron sharpens iron.

So, you play a strong non-conference schedule and the on-field battles with good teams will help you hone your own skills.

But it also means you may take some losses along the way, especially if your team is stocked full of younger players still finding their way.

Such is the case for this year’s edition of the Coupeville High School varsity softball squad, which played an 8th grader, a freshman, and five sophomores Thursday against visiting Cedar Park Christian-Bothell.

And while the Wolves also had five seniors in the lineup, that group lost a season-and-a-half to the pandemic at the start of their high school run.

It makes for an interesting science experiment for CHS coach Kevin McGranahan, who saw his team make some very good plays Thursday, and some far less noteworthy ones.

By the time the nearly three-hour game, full of prairie wind and rain, was done, Coupeville absorbed a 15-5 loss.

But the non-conference defeat, which drops the Wolves to 4-4 on the season, didn’t become a blowout until the latter stages and went the full seven innings.

Cedar Park was only ahead 4-1 entering the top of the fifth but broke through for another 11 runs across the final three frames.

A series of Wolf errors, mixed with balls which rode the gusty winds to find holes in the defense, hurt late, but Coupeville never gave up.

Mia Farris and Haylee Armstrong, patrolling the outfield while trying to stay upright in the wind, both tracked down hard-hit balls and made solid catches while on the run.

Equally adept at reading the swirling gusts was freshman catcher Teagan Calkins, who twice fired off her face mask and sprinted to the backstop to snatch foul balls out of the air for crucial outs.

Combining defense with grit, Wolf relief pitcher Gwen Gustafson — shortly after being drilled in the leg with a hot liner back up the middle — flung herself forward to spear a bunt attempt which went airborne instead of to the ground.

To go along with its often-inspired defense, Coupeville racked up five hits and 14 walks, with Madison McMillan and Taylor Brotemarkle being plunked by wayward fastballs.

The Wolves had runners aboard every inning but came up just short of breaking things wide open.

Sometimes it was CPC making strong defensive plays — picking a straying runner off of third or turning a double play on a wicked Farris liner which was two inches away from being an extra-base hit.

Other times, it was Coupeville stopping itself, as the Wolf hitters went chasing after pitches out of the strike zone.

“Don’t help her out!” McGranahan cautioned his sluggers, but some bad pitches proved to be too enticing, and CHS ended every inning with runners still aboard.

Farris tapped home with Coupeville’s first run in the bottom of the third by getting creative.

The sophomore sensation walked, stole second by a mile, then scooted to third on a passed ball and sailed home on a wild pitch.

The Wolves picked up a run in the fifth, with Maya Lucero lashing a two-out RBI single that plated Calkins, then scored two more in the sixth.

Starting that mini rally with two outs and no one on base, CHS picked up a single from Calkins and a walk from Brotemarkle, before McMillan crunched a two-run double to center.

Coupeville’s final run came in the seventh, with Farris punching an RBI single into a gap, sending Jada Heaton hustling home.

The Wolves have a chance to get right back in a winning groove with a Northwest 2B/1B League clash Saturday against winless Concrete.

Originally scheduled to be a road game, it’s been moved to Coupeville, which has a slightly better weather forecast that day.

First pitch is 1 PM.

 

Thursday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — Two walks
Teagan Calkins — Two singles, one walk
Mia Farris — One single, one walk
Jada Heaton — Three walks
Allie Lucero — Three walks
Maya Lucero — One single, two walks
Madison McMillan — One double, one walk
Melanie Navarro — One walk

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