Chelsi Stevens rocks the chain and glasses after destroying Friday Harbor pitching. (Photo courtesy Kristi Stevens)
Every day, a different level.
That’s been the tale for the Coupeville High School softball squad, which has faced teams from 3A, 2A, 1A, and 2B, and beaten them all.
Wednesday afternoon the Wolves ignored a chilly prairie breeze, bashing the ball and getting high, hard heat from pitcher Adeline Maynes as they strolled to a 17-3 victory over visiting Friday Harbor in a game mercy-ruled after five innings.
The victory, coming in the conference opener, lifts CHS to 1-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 4-0 overall, with a rematch set for Thursday on Friday Harbor.
Wednesday’s tilt started as a pitcher’s duel, at least for the first three frames.
Then the tsunami hit.
Both Friday Harbor and Coupeville opened their halves of the first inning by getting their leadoff hitter aboard thanks to a base-knock.
Then both pitchers retired the next three batters, keeping things scoreless and (briefly) sort of tense.
Add a 1-2-3 top of the second from Maynes, who whiffed the side as part of an 11-strikeout performance, and runs were at a premium.
Then the dam broke.
Capri Anter and Emma Cushman walked in the bottom of the second, before 8th grader Cami Van Dyke smacked a hard-hit ball into the hole with two outs.
Streaking down the line, the Wolf young gun not only beat the throw, but rattled Friday Harbor’s defender enough that she zinged the ball under her first-baseman’s glove, allowing a second runner to scoot across home plate on the play.
Adeline Maynes (left) and Haylee Armstrong combined for four hits Wednesday afternoon. (Michelle Armstrong photo)
Given new life, Coupeville pounced, with Haylee Armstrong lashing an RBI triple to deep left field, skidding into the bag with a huge smile on her face as she pointed at her dad.
From there, the Wolves turned it into an eight-run explosion, with Sydney Van Dyke and Teagan Calkins walking, Chelsi Stevens mashing a three-run triple to center, and Anter and Ava Lucero smoking RBI singles back up the middle.
Anter’s hit was an especially explosive one, almost inflicting grievous bodily harm on the Friday Harbor pitcher as it came within an inch or two of putting a dent in the hurler’s face mask.
With the lead in hand, the Wolves continued to pour it on, plating three in the third and another six in the fourth.
The first of those two rallies featured a three-run inside-the-park home run from Calkins, as “The Red Dragon” played bash-the-ball-and-run-like-a-gazelle, and the senior catcher wasn’t done.
She came back around an inning later to launch a three-run triple to center, Calkin’s second blow part of a highlight reel package including Sydney Van Dyke ripping an RBI liner off a defender’s glove and Stevens and Anter bopping RBI lasers to left.
The only thing stopping the hit parade was CHS coach Aaron Lucero taking the foot off the gas pedal in the fourth, twice having runners leave early to give Friday Harbor outs.
Wednesday stats:
Capri Anter — Two singles, two walks
Haylee Armstrong — One single, one triple, one walk
Teagan Calkins — One single, one triple, one home run, one walk
Emma Cushman — Two walks
Ava Lucero — One single, one walk
Adeline Maynes — Two singles
Chelsi Stevens — One double, one triple
Cami Van Dyke — Two singles
Sydney Van Dyke — Two singles, two walks
