Coupeville Sports

Jacob Burke volleys Wednesday during Coupeville’s tennis match against visiting Bear Creek. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Even bothered by a shoulder injury, Mason Grove drops in another winner.

In a battle of animals, or at least animal mascots, the smaller, feistier one carried the day Wednesday afternoon.

Sweeping singles, and picking up a key win at #2 doubles, the Coupeville High School boys tennis squad slipped past visiting Bear Creek 3-2.

The victory, proving Wolves can topple Grizzlies, lifts CHS to 2-2 on the season.

It also confirms Coupeville, a small public school suddenly jammed into the ultra-ritzy Emerald City League for tennis, has no plans to back down from its new private school rivals.

Other than Island mate South Whidbey, which is also along for the ride, Coupeville has little history with the remaining ECL schools, all big-city, big-bucks, big-brains institutions.

That means almost every match, at least the first time through the schedule, will feature the Wolves feeling out their new foes, while also playing to win.

CHS coach Ken Stange, who has seen a little bit of everything during his time mentoring Wolf tennis players, came away pleased with what he witnessed.

Especially from the guys at the top of the lineup.

“I can’t say enough about (singles players) Jakobi (Baumann) and Drake (Borden),” Stange said. “They were both showing the perfect combination of controlled aggression and patience.

“They were relentless.”

Coupeville clinched the match with a win at #2 doubles, which featured an injured Wolf and an enterprising one.

Mason Grove took a nasty fall in warm-ups before the previous match, landing awkwardly on his shoulder, and was expected to be day-to-day.

Wednesday that translated into “I’m playing today.”

“Mason, playing with one arm, was a model of excellence,” Stange said. “He dialed it down quite a bit, which paid off big time.”

Grove’s partner, first-year player James Wood, was on service in the second set, down 5-4, when he pulled off something even his wily veteran coach had never witnessed.

“Big Game James was lights out at times, and he even did something I’ve never seen in my 27 seasons in Coupeville,” Stange said.

Wood blasted a serve that nailed the Bear Creek player at the net, inflicting not only a potential bruise, but winning the point in unexpected fashion.

“The ball was nowhere close to being in, but the rules state that if the ball hits a player before it hits the ground, the player who got hit loses the point,” Stange said with a chuckle. “Good stuff!”

Complete Wednesday results:

Varsity:

1st Singles — Jakobi Baumann won 6-3, 6-3

2nd Singles — Drake Borden won 6-3, 6-4

1st Doubles — Zach Ginnings/Jacob Burke lost 7-5, 7-5

2nd Doubles — Mason Grove/James Wood won 6-3, 7-6(7-3)

3rd Doubles — Jaschon Baumann/Tiger Johnson lost 6-1, 6-4

JV:

4th Doubles — Koby Schreiber/Andrew Aparicio lost 7-6(7-3)

5th Doubles — Harris Sinclair/Thane Peterson lost 6-4, 6-3

To see more photos from Wednesday’s action, pop over to:

https://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/Coupeville-Tennis-2018-2019/BT-2018-09-19-vs-Bear-Creek/