Friday afternoon’s league-opener against Friday Harbor contained good and bad news for the Coupeville fastpitch team.
On a positive note, three girls who were absent from the Wolves’ first three non-league games were eligible to play. Among those three were starters Staci Farmer and Brook Croghan.
“This was the first time I’ve had all of the girls together,” head coach Toni Crebbin said.
Unfortunately for the Wolves, the bad news outweighed the good, as Coupeville fell behind early and dropped its first Northwest A contest, 11-4.
The Wolves’ early struggles were possibly a result of the full group not having played in real game situations the first two weeks of the season.
On the first play of the game the Wolverines got their lead-off hitter on via an error on a dropped pop up. A hit batter, followed by a triple gave Friday Harbor a 2-0 advantage. The Wolverines followed with an RBI single and then scored two more on a groundball between first and second just beyond the reach of the secondbaseman, Croghan.
Croghan, who started in centerfield all of last year, was forced at the last minute to move to second base when starter Beth Mouw decided to not play softball this year.
“Brook has never played second base,” Crebbin said. “We brought her in because she knows the game—it won’t take long before she gets the hang of it.”
Although the Wolves struggled with their defense in the first inning, Crebbin takes nothing away from the Friday Harbor bats.
“They are just very aggressive at the plate,” she said. “They didn’t look at very many strikes.”
By the top of the fourth, the hot-hitting Wolverines built an 8-0 advantage behind 11 hits.
Despite the large deficit, Coupeville didn’t give in. The Wolves began to chip away behind some hot hitting of their own. Senior Angel Black led the way, picking up an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth and the bottom of the fifth, while scoring another run on a wildpitch. The scores helped CHS pull within 8-3 in the fifth, but they would get no closer.
Farmer was also a large part of the offensive production, going 3-for-4 in her first game.
“It was nice to have her out there,” Crebbin said. “You know she’s going to be solid out there, offensively and defensively.”
Erika Percich led Friday Harbor at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double, triple and home run, along with 4 RBI.
The Wolves (0-1, 1-3) played at home against Orcas Island yesterday and get their second and third chances against Friday Harbor in a double-header Saturday, April 10 on the road.
Friday Harbor 520 101 2—11 18 5
Coupeville 000 210 1— 4 10 3
Kelsey and Chevalier. Davis and Black. WP–Kelsey. LP–Davis (1-3). 2B–Chevalier (FH), Percich (FH), Croghan (C). 3B–Chevalier (FH), Percich (FH). HR–Percich (FH). Records–Friday Harbor 1-0 in league, 2-1 overall. Coupeville 0-1, 1-3.
