Breaking out the big bats, the Coupeville fastpitch team defeated visiting Meridian 12-7 in the sub-district play-in game Thursday, May 13.

The win launched the Wolves into the double elimination portion of the sub-district tournament this Saturday, May 15, at Sedro-Woolley’s Janiki Fields. Coupeville will take on No. 1 seed Lynden Christian (11-7) at noon. Nooksack Valley will meet Friday Harbor in the other matchup at noon. The winners of the two games and the losers will pair up at 2 p.m. Three of the teams will move on to the tri-district.

In the win over Meridian, the Wolves out hit the Trojans 16-2 and thumped three doubles and a triple.

Coupeville pitcher Alexis Trumbull tossed the two-hitter, but was stung by six walks, two hit batters and five errors. She struck out nine.

The Wolves took control in the second inning when they jumped to a 4-1 lead. With two outs, Taylor Lawson and Roxy Piechowski singled. In the span of four pitches in a walk to Julie Huddleston, Meridian pitcher Julianna Magliano threw three wild pitches that enabled Lawson and Piechowski to move a base each time and score. An error off the bat of Taya Boonstra allowed Huddleston to score; Katie Smith singled in Huddleston.

The Wolves added three in the third. An error and doubles by Bessie Walstad, Lawson and Piechowski plated the three runs.

In the fourth, Meridian mixed a hit batter, two walks, an error and a two-run single to score three and cut the margin to 7-4.

The Wolves padded their lead with a three-run fifth. Lawson tripled, and Piechowski singled her home. With two outs, consecutive singles by Trumbull, Smith and Walstad added two more runs.

Meridian scored three in the sixth without a hit to make it 10-7.

Coupeville finished the scoring in its half of the inning. Grace LaPoint singled and stole second. Lawson drove her home with a single and eventually scored on a grounder from Piechowski.

Trumbull finished the deal by striking out the final two Trojan hitters in the seventh.

Lawson batted 4-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBI. Walstad was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Piechowski went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Smith was 3-for-4 with an RBI.

Coach Denny Zylstra said, “We played well with a short roster; probably played as well as we can.”