March | 2014 | Coupeville Sports

Archive for March, 2014

Can’t beat us (if we can’t play)!!

Posted in Softball, tagged CHS Wolves, rainout, Softball on March 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Wolf catcher Breeanna Messner longs for the sound of an ump saying two words — “Play ball!” (John Fisken photos)

Madeline Roberts unleashes a laser throw while playing in the hole at shortstop.

Hailey Hammer stretches to haul in a throw at first. The rain-outs have given the junior power hitter a chance to continue recovering from an ankle injury.

At this rate, they’re going to play every single day, without fail, in the last weeks of the season.

The sporadic rain falling on Washington state timed it perfectly again Tuesday, knocking the Coupeville High School softball team out of commission before the Wolves could come close to touching the field.

This time it was a trip to Sultan, and Coupeville (sporting a shiny 1-0 record) was turned back 10 minutes after departing the ferry.

The Wolves and Turks will try and make-up the game Wednesday.

It’s the third game CHS has lost to weather.

The season opener at Port Townsend was called off after that school’s infield went underwater, and no one seems to know if the non-conference game will be made up.

Then came a rain-out of a trip to Everett to play Archbishop Thomas Murphy. That game will be made up April 8 as part of a road doubleheader … unless it’s still raining.

The on-again, off-again weather has hurt the softball squad worse than all of the other Coupeville squads combined, as tennis (4), baseball (4, counting a JV game), track (2) and boys’ soccer (2 with Tuesday night’s home game against Cedarcrest) all having played more than once.

The lone time the Wolf softballers actually got to swing away, they bashed league and Island rival South Whidbey, leaving them tied for second in the Cascade Conference with Sultan (1-0 in league, 2-0 overall), a half game behind Granite Falls (2-0, 2-1).

After the (hoped for) make-up game at Sultan Wednesday, Coupeville’s next three games are scheduled for home.

Cedarcrest comes in Thursday, Mar. 27, followed by Lakewood (Mar. 31) and Granite Falls (April 2).

Read Full Post »

No Newmans? No problem!!

Posted in Girls Tennis, tagged CHS Wolves, Island rivals, tennis on March 25, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Ana Luvera, seen here in an earlier match, teamed with Sydney Autio at #3 doubles Monday. (John Fisken photo)

The South Whidbey tennis dynasty rolls along.

Even with the loss of its best players — 1A state meet runner-up Hayley Newman graduated and younger sister Carlie transferred to Cascade — the Falcons are still loaded.

Showcasing its depth and dominance, South Whidbey bageled visiting Coupeville 5-0 Monday, though the Wolves did bounce back to win two of three JV matches.

“It was a difficult day for the Wolf netters,” CHS coach Ken Stange said. “There wasn’t even that much competition out there. Most of the matches were blowouts.”

He split his Player of the Match honors between doubles players Samantha Martin and Sydney Aparicio, the only varsity Wolves to win more than two games in any one set.

“Sam and Syd are playing at #1 doubles, which is a difficult spot,” Stange said. “After getting pasted in the first set, they fought hard in the second. They didn’t come out on top, but they didn’t give up.

“It’s quite easy to throw in the towel after getting bageled, but my #1 duo scratched and clawed,” he added. “That’s one of the reasons I respect them.”

Coupeville, now 2-2 on the season, hosts Lakewood 3:30 PM Wednesday.

Complete results:

Varsity:

1st Singles — Allie Hanigan lost to Amelia Weeks 6-0, 6-1

2nd Singles — Jacki Ginnings lost to Isla Dubendorf 6-2, 6-0

1st Doubles — Samantha Martin/Sydney Aparicio lost to Brea Ganger/Tess Radisch 6-0, 7-5

2nd Doubles — McKenzie Bailey/Wynter Thorne lost to Katrina Layton/Colleen Groce 6-2, 6-0

3rd Doubles — Sydney Autio/Ana Luvera lost to Kendra Warwick/Bayley Gochanour 6-2, 6-2

JV:

4th Doubles — Haleigh Deasy/Maureen Rice beat McKenna/Taylor 6-3

5th Doubles — Valen Trujillo/Bree Daigneault beat Lexi/Annie 6-2

6th Doubles — Jazmine Franklin/Aura Corredor lost to Margaret/Taylor

Read Full Post »

Know her name! It’s Maddie Big Time!!

Posted in A freakin' American hero, Girls Basketball, Happy birthday, Softball, Volleyball, tagged CHS Wolves, Happy birthday, Maddie Big Time, Madeline Strasburg, PicMonkey collage on March 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Madeline Strasburg, AKA Maddie Big Time. (Photos by Shelli Trumbull/John Fisken/Linda Hammer)

Madeline Strasburg gets visibly annoyed at times when she’s playing.

And that’s a good thing, because when she does, the Coupeville High School junior, who celebrates her 17th birthday today, generally responds by unleashing a butt-whuppin’ on the rival team that has just irritated her.

If she loses the basketball on one play, or gets a foul called on her by a blind ref, she slams down the court like a whirlwind the next and rams the ball right down the throat of the defense.

Twice last season, in back-to-back games that were two weeks apart thanks to winter break, she pulled off the same dazzling play from the very same place on the court — virtual mirror images reflecting Strasburg fully earning the nickname Maddie Big Time.

In both games, she capped the third quarter by stealing the ball, whirling around and draining LONG three-point bombs off the glass, shots that dropped through the twine a mere fraction of a second before the horn sounded.

Then, both times, she spun around, hands slapping her thighs like a gunslinger putting away their six-shooters.

Rival fans and coaches cried softly those days, while Maddie Big Time permitted a small smile to grace her lips.

Even then, it was the smile of a stone cold killer.

CHS has some very talented athletes, but Strasburg is a rarity.

At a time when everyone has been raised to be overly reverent and deferential to the players on the opposing teams, she’s a bit of a throw back.

Volleyball, basketball, softball. Pick a sport. She is here to kick your butt.

That’s a beautiful thing to see.

Read Full Post »

Islanders run unbeaten streak to eight!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, GU18 Whidbey Islanders, tagged Alyssa Cross, GU18 Whidbey Islanders, Sean LeVine, Soccer on March 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Jacki Ginnings, seen here in an earlier game, and her teammates on the Whidbey Islanders GU18 soccer squad haven’t lost in eight games. (John Fisken photo)

It was a tie, but it felt almost like a win.

Keeping its unbeaten streak alive at eight games, the Whidbey Islanders GU18 select soccer squad battled to a 1-1 draw with visiting Pacific Sound United of Everett Sunday.

The tie kept the Islanders (8-2-1) in first place heading into their season finale Saturday, Mar. 29 — a rematch with the United on their home turf.

Going into Sunday’s match, Islander coach Sean LeVine expected a battle, and that’s what he got.

“We expected this was one of the tougher teams in the league and we were right,” he said. “This team was faster than many of the teams we’ve played this season, and they also had some height.

“First half, we had to absorb too much of their possession on our half, but we improved second half,” LeVine added. “However, both halves we definitely looked like the more dangerous team on the attack. We had several near misses and shots by multiple players and they only had three shots on goal.”

After a scoreless first half, Alyssa Cross broke through for the Islanders in the second half.

Coming from her left defender spot, she popped a ball 40 yards (“A great shot!!”) and watched in delight as it went up and over the United goalie, who had been straying too far from her net.

Pushing hard, Everett finally got the equalizer in the game’s final moments.

“Their big bruiser of a striker beat our defense, but only to the end line well wide of goal,” LeVine said. “However, the girl put a cross in that went over our keeper’s hands and just barely hit the inside of the far post and into the net.

“It was an impossible angle, was probably meant to be a cross,” he added. “If the wind had been blowing just right, it wouldn’t have snuck in, but it did.”

Even with the fluke of a late score, LeVine came away pleased with his team’s performance, and he singled out Cross for extra credit, naming her the player of the game.

“Despite being sick this week and injured for much of the season, Alyssa gave us another 90 minutes of solid defense, shutting down any attack from their right and taking a yellow card for a good hard body check,” he said. “Despite the referee trying to get in her head, she played her game and did not back down.”

Read Full Post »

Bombs away! Wolf JV romps to big win!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, Ethan Marx, Gabe Wynn, Mariano Rivera on March 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

CJ Smith, about to take off for another stolen base. (Shelli Trumbull photos)

Ethan Marx cleared the bases with a three-run single in the first Saturday.

Cole Payne slams the door shut on the Falcons.

It was over quick.

The Coupeville High School JV baseball squad came out swinging the big sticks Saturday morning, pounding away for seven runs in the first two innings on its way to an 8-5 win over visiting South Whidbey.

The home game, coming on a cold, crisp, thankfully non-windy day on the prairie, was the first of the season for the young Wolves, and the first JV baseball game in several seasons for CHS.

With a pack of freshmen having turned out this year, Coupeville coach Willie Smith has two squads for the first time in the last four seasons.

And, with all of the varsity players on hand to offer frequent and vocal encouragement to their younger counterparts, the continued growth of the CHS program took another big step forward.

The offensive attack was on-point from the first batter for the Wolves, as sophomore Cole Payne thumped a lead-off double to straight-away center field.

After a passed ball moved Payne to third, he skipped home on an RBI single from CJ Smith, who promptly stole second himself. Walks to Kyle Bodamer and Clay Reilly juiced the bags, and then the runs really started coming.

Gabe Wynn slapped an RBI single up the middle to give Coupeville a 2-1 lead, then fellow frosh Ethan Marx unloaded with a shot down the right field line, clearing the bases.

The third guy coming home, Wynn hit the ground hard, sliding around a sweeping tag from the Falcon catcher and smacking his hand emphatically on the plate with his team’s fifth run.

The Wolves added two more in the second, when junior Korban Korzan crunched an RBI double, then later scored on a passed ball. Wynn capped the scoring in the fourth with an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

With CHS not having a full nine-man JV roster, Korzan and fellow junior Aaron Trumbull came down from the varsity to get brief stints in on the mound. The duo combined with freshman Jonathan Thurston and Payne to share mound time.

Payne, channeling his inner Mariano Rivera, slammed the door shut in the seventh. With the bases loaded, he recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat and earn the save.

The game marked the high school debut of Wynn, Thurston, Reilly, Marx, Jimmy Myers and Aiden Crimmins.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »