Coupeville misses state berth with 10-inning loss / Softball

Maybe they just ran out of gas.

The Coupeville High School softball team crammed four games — two which went for extra innings — into just over 24 hours at the district tournament at Tacoma’s Sprinker Recreational Center and fell one run and one win short of a trip to the state tournament.

The Wolves’ season ended with a 7-6 loss in 10 innings to Bellevue Christian Saturday, May 20, in the game for second place and the final state berth.

Coupeville opened the tournament Friday with a 10-9, nine-inning thriller over Vashon Island in a loser-out game to earn a spot in the double-elimination portion of the tournament.

Later that day, the Wolves lost 9-3 to Bellevue Christian, the Nisqually League champion.

Coupeville bounced back Saturday morning with an 8-3 win over Seattle Christian, setting up its winner-to-state game with Bellevue Christian, which lost 10-7 to Chimacum in the championship game.

“In the end we fell a run short of a trip to state, but the team left everything on the field and has absolutely nothing to hang their heads about,” Coupeville coach Kevin McGranahan said. “We played our best and the district knows that Coupeville is here and ready to assume the throne.”

Coupeville will lose only two starters, Tiffany Briscoe and Jae LeVine, to graduation. The Wolves finished with a 19-5 recording, and all five losses came at the hands of two teams, Chimacum and Bellevue Christian.

Coupeville 10, Vashon Island 9 (9 innings)

The Wolves beat the Pirates 13-5 in a non-league game earlier this year, and when Coupeville scored five runs in the fifth inning to go up 7-1 at district, it looked like another easy win for the Wolves.

Vashon Island, however, didn’t fold. The Pirates scored three runs in the sixth and three in the seventh to push the game to extra innings.

When Vashon (7-10) scored twice in the top of the ninth, it was Coupeville’s turn to come back.

(Per softball rules, each team starts with a runner on second base from the ninth inning on.)

With Katrina McGranahan on second base, Sarah Wright singled and Mikayla Elfrank walked to load the bases. After a pop-out, Hope Lodell ripped a two-run single to tie the game. Then Briscoe and Tamika Nastali worked for full-count walks, the second forcing in the winning run.

For the game, Lauren Rose had a single and double and Lodell singled twice. Wright, Veronica Crownover and Nastali all added singles.

Elfrank walked three times. In all, the Wolves received 11 free passes, including three with the bases loaded in the five-run fifth.

Bellevue Christian 9, Coupeville 3

The Vikings broke open a 4-3 game with four runs in the fifth inning.

Down 3-0, Coupeville scored three times in the third inning to tie the game.

Lodell started the inning with a bunt base hit, then Briscoe walked. After a strikeout, Rose added another bunt single to load the bases. Lodell scored on a passed ball, then McGranahan ripped a two-run single.

The Wolves threatened in each of the next two innings but couldn’t push across another run.

The only other hit Coupeville recorded in the game was a single by Lodell in the fourth.

Coupeville 8, Seattle Christian 3

Again the Wolves found themselves down 3-0 after two innings, and, again, Coupeville rallied in the third.

This time the Wolves plated five runs to take the lead for good. Briscoe was hit by a pitch, then Nastali, Rose and LeVine hit consecutive singles. An error off the bat of Wright completed the scoring.

In the sixth, Lodell reached on an error and scored on Rose’s base hit.

Coupeville put an exclamation point on the win when McGranahan and Elfrank launched solo home runs in the top of the seventh.

McGranahan led the offense with a single and home run, and Rose and Nastali each collected two base hits.

Elfrank added her round-tripper, and LeVine and Wright each singled.

McGranahan, who pitched all 33 innings in the tournament, blanked the Warriors (9-8) over the final five innings.

Bellevue Christian 7, Coupeville 6 (10 innings)

The game started with a blast, make that two.

The Vikings’ Genna Walker clubbed a two-run home run in the top of the first inning. Wright answered for Coupeville with her own two-run shot with Rose (who singled) aboard to even the game in the bottom half of the inning.

The Wolves tacked on three more runs in the second and then wouldn’t score again until the 10th.

In the second, Crownover walked and Lodell and Nastali bunted for base hits in front of an error to record the three-spot.

Coupeville had a runner on in six of the following innings but couldn’t get a clutch hit. Meanwhile, BC (17-2) clawed back into the game with single runs in the third, fifth and seventh innings to tie the game.

The run in the seventh came from Walker, who stroked another home run, this one with two outs and the season on the line.

Walker continued to haunt the Wolves with an RBI double in the 10th; she later scored on a base hit.

Coupeville fought back. With one out, McGranahan singled in Rose, who started the inning at second. Wright followed with a base hit, then a passed ball allowed the runners to move up to second and third, but the rally died with a strike out and ground out.

For the game, Wright had three singles and a home run, Lodell had two singles and Rose, McGranahan, Briscoe and Nastali had one base hit each.In the end we fell a fun short of a trip to state but the team left everything on the field and has absolutely nothing to hang their head about. We played our best and the district knows that coupeville is here and ready to assume the thrown.