Fending off a bumpy start, the Coupeville varsity fastpitch team turned on its cruise control for an easy 13-4 victory over the South Whidbey junior varsity on Friday afternoon.

“In the beginning they jumped on us, we made a lot of mistakes early, but we overcame the mistakes and the kids responded well,” CHS coach Jim Wheat said.

Trailing the 3A Falcons 2-0 after the top of the first, the Wolves made their move in the bottom half of the inning.

With runners on second and third, Coupeville number-five hitter Stacey Farmer worked her way to a full count. After fouling off a couple of pitches, the senior finally got one she liked and drilled the ball over the left fielder’s head 205 feet all the way to the fence.

“That was a very large hit, a very large hit,” Wheat said.

The long shot scored Jessica Graham and Heather Davis and allowed Farmer to coast all the way around the bases for an in-the-park home run.

CHS allowed South Whidbey to tie the game on two more occasions in the top of the third and fourth, but never trailed again.

Tied 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth, the Wolves broke the game open, sending 12 batters to the plate.

Graham started an eight-run inning with a two RBI single. Bases loaded walks from Davis and Farmer and RBI groundouts from Annie Larson and Elena Caldwell were also key in the large inning.

“It was just patience — they waited for one they could really put out there,” Wheat said.

Farmer ended the game going 2-for-2 with two walks and six RBI. Graham also had a big day, going 2-for-4 with two RBI.

Davis pitched a complete five innings before the game was called to the 10-run rule. She had seven strikeouts and only allowed one walk, one hit and one earned run.

Coupeville split a significant doubleheader with Orcas Island on Saturday, losing game one 4-0 and winning game two 3-1.

CHS struggled to get its offense moving in game one, getting only just hit.

Game two was different for the Wolves, who struck early. They picked up one run in each of the first three innings, one on a RBI single from Farmer, one a fielders choice from Jessica Hester and one on a fielder’s choice from Kayla Smith.

“The split was very important as far as the playoffs go,” Wheat said.

The Wolves sat in third place in the Northwest A division at 3-4 in league and 4-5 overall as of yesterday afternoon. They need to at least finish in third to force a one-game playoff to get into the league playoffs.

CHS has five league games left and hosts first-place Concrete (5-0) at 4 p.m., Friday, May 6.