The weather was bad and the result the same for the Coupeville High School softball team as the Wolves lost 10-0 and 11-0 in a pair of five-inning games against Archbishop Murphy Tuesday, April 8, in Everett.
In the opener, Coupeville’s first two batters, Maddi Roberts and Bree Messner, reached on infield hits. That would be it for the Wolves’ offense; Wildcat pitcher Baylee Robertson held Coupeville hitless the rest of the way.
Coupeville pitcher McKayla Bailey matched Robertson zero-for-zero until the bottom of the fourth inning.
As the rain started to fall, so did Archbishop Murphy’s hits. Bailey limited the Wildcats to one hit entering the fourth, then Murphy used four singles, an error and a walk to push across five runs.
Wolf outfielder Haley Sherman put an end to the rally by cutting down a runner at the plate with a perfect throw.
Archbishop Murphy (4-2, 5-2) continued its assault in the fifth, bunching four hits, one a double, and an error to score five more.
The second game, played on a very sloppy field, was much the same for the Coupeville offense. Emily Coulter singled in the third for the only hit.
Archbishop Murphy started the game the way it ended the first, continuing its trend of five-run innings. Gemma Miller’s two-run home run highlighted the inning.
The Wildcats scored at least one run in each of the next three innings to pull away.
Emily Licence made her pitching debut for Coupeville in the third inning; Madi Strasburg also made her first appearance as catcher.
“For her (Licence) first time out there in the conditions we played in, she did a very good job,” said co-coach David King.
License gave up three runs on only two hits and finished the inning with her first career strikeout, which came with the bases loaded.
Strasburg “looked like a natural” behind the plate, King said, and made a nice catch on a pop up and a diving effort on another.
In regard to the Coupeville offense in the double-header loss, King called Robertson “one of the best we have seen all season.”
“That said,” he added, “we need to do a better job of hitting, especially our middle of the lineup. We are striking out too much and not getting good swings on the balls we are hitting.”
Coupeville (2-5) plays a nonleague game at Meridian (1-5) at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 10.