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Knoblich had Wright mentor!!

Posted in Baseball, Boys Basketball, Football, tagged Aaron Wright, baseball, Basketball, CHS Wolves, football, Gavin Knoblich on June 22, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Gavin Knoblich, well-dressed man about town. (Photos courtesy Mariah Knoblich)

“Hey, mom! Mom! MOM! Mom mommy mom mom mom!”

Aaron Wright no longer anchors the line for the Coupeville High School football squad, but his impact lingers long after he hung up the uniform.

As Gavin Knoblich prepares for his freshman year at CHS, one which will kick off with him taking his own place on the gridiron, Wright’s words and actions spur him on.

“Aaron, he set an example for me to push myself to be like,” Knoblich said. “He taught me how to do more than go through the motions.”

A strong player at the middle school level, Knoblich intends to be a three-sport athlete for the Wolves, playing football, basketball and baseball.

While he enjoys all three, spring will herald the return of his favorite pastime.

“Baseball (is my favorite), because it’s the first sport I took seriously,” Knoblich said. “And I found I had some athletic ability.”

He wants to make an impact right out of the gate (“I want to have a chance to be starting JV in any of my sports”), but knows there’s always room for growth.

“I enjoy the accomplishment of learning,” he said. “I like the time I spend with my friends working on something fun together.”

Knoblich loves to be in the thick of things, and fire up his teammates.

While that’s a huge plus, he also realizes he needs to know when to go loud and proud, and when to dial it back and keep a calm head.

“I’m always trying to think ahead. I’m always trying to be positive for my teammates,” he said. “My weakness is my composure – my inner voice in the back of my head.”

Helping him find his center is mom Mariah, who has a huge impact on his day-to-day life.

“My mom, she is always there to calm me,” Knoblich said. “She gets me where I need to go, and she always smiles for me.”

Whether it’s camping and hunting with his dad Clint or hanging out at the beach and riding dirt bikes with friends, he has a reliable support group.

Along with his mother, his grandparents step up big to help anchor things.

“My Grammy and Poppy. They make things so easy by always helping my mom,” Knoblich said. “Getting me places when my mom can’t, and they always have awesome dinners for us.”

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They put the electric in electrifying!!

Posted in Baseball, Boys Basketball, Happy birthday, tagged baseball, Basketball, CHS Wolves, Happy birthday, Matt Hilborn, Risen Johnson, Showtime on June 20, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Birthday buddies Matt Hilborn (left) and Risen Johnson put in work. (John Fisken photos)

They are big reward athletes.

Risen Johnson and Matt Hilborn, who share a birthday today, are both guys who dance on the line between huge success and huge failure, but, more often than not, pull it off for the win.

Hilborn, who just wrapped his freshman baseball season at Coupeville High School by being tabbed as an All-League selection, compiled some astounding plays at third base for the Wolves.

Quick to charge the ball, quick to believe he could make any throw, even when the throw was going to have be a laser launched while Hilborn’s body twisted in mid-air, he had some slick glove moves.

Like most younger players, he had his ups and his downs, but when he was up he showed you just what rival coaches appreciated so much.

A key part of the first Coupeville baseball squad to win a league title in 25 years, Hilborn, who is also a rising star on the gridiron, has a bright future for the red and black.

Johnson, by contrast, just wrapped his run at CHS, graduating with the Class of 2016 a few weeks back.

Before he went, he gave us two electrifying seasons on the basketball hardwood, pulling off moves that few, if any, Wolves have ever been able to accomplish.

A point-scoring machine (and an underrated defender), Johnson could pull up and nail the jumper over outstretched arms.

But more often than not, he preferred to get his buckets by employing a heapin’ helpin’ of Showtime.

Ripping down court, slicing ‘n dicing backpedaling defenders, gliding through the air and somehow getting the ball to drop off the backboard when he threw it up through a maze of arms at the last second, he was flat-out fun to watch.

A soft-spoken fashion plate off the court, Risen always played with great joy, and the only downside is we didn’t get a full four years from him.

Maybe he’ll grow a beard and sneak back into school disguised as a foreign exchange student…

Except one whirlin’, twirlin’, eyeball-poppin’ display of mad hoops skills and everyone would know the truth. Oh well.

For now, we’ll just thank Risen for making the last two years a regular thrill show and wish him and Matt a happy joint cake day.

May your birthdays be as exciting as your style of play.

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Diamond dandies bow out!!

Posted in Baseball, Little League, Softball, tagged barbecue, baseball, Central Whidbey Little League, season finale, Softball on June 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Souvenir ball in hand, the fastest base stealer in town zings by, almost too fast for the camera to catch. (Renae Mulholland photos)

Velvet-voiced PA man Moose Moran lets loose with his best Vin Scully impression.

Softball mom Suzan Georges commands the grill.

Savina Wells, sporting the day’s most memorable outfit, picks up her game ball. (Paula Peters photo)

Photos within photos. Karen Carlson’s snappy camera work was on display to be appreciated by all. (Mulholland photos)

Shenanigans. Undoubtedly, shenanigans.

Yellow Jackets (l to r) Sofia Peters, Gwen Gustafson and Maddie Georges celebrate an impressive season. (Peters photo)

Another successful season in the books.

While All-Star play still looms ahead for some teams, Central Whidbey Little League put an official bow on the 2016 campaign with a barbecue Saturday at Rhododendron Park.

Mementos were handed out, players, coaches and volunteers were honored and hot dogs were grilled in massive quantities.

In between the mustard and the game balls, a slew of CWLL moms snapped pics, some of which are seen above.

Thanks to all, those who provided photos this year, and those who sent me scores and updates.

I appreciate it.

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Inspired by family, Wells flies high!!

Posted in Baseball, Boys Basketball, Football, tagged Basketball, CHS Wolves, Daddy's Home, rap music, Ulrik Wells on June 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Ulrik Wells slices to the hoop during a middle school basketball game. (John Fisken photo)

Being an athlete on Whidbey Island means spending a fair amount of time on buses and ferries.

Which is fine by Ulrik Wells.

Ask him what he enjoys most about being an athlete and he gets right to the point.

“You get out of school early to go and play a game,” Wells said.

Of course, there are other benefits, as well.

“Plus, it is fun and being an athlete teaches you to have a hard work ethic,” he added.

Wells, who will be a freshman at Coupeville High School in the fall, plans to be a true three-sport man, playing football, basketball and baseball.

He has the height for hoops, some size for the gridiron and is currently playing on a Babe Ruth baseball squad out of Oak Harbor.

If he had to make a choice, though, the hardwood wins the battle for his heart.

“I like basketball because it has a lot of action,” Wells said.

When he’s not playing one of his sports, he can usually be found listening to rap, watching favorite movies like “Daddy’s Home” with Will Ferrell or out and about on a skateboard.

“You can keep getting better and better at it and I have been doing it for about four years now,” Wells said.

He strives for top marks in both the classroom and in the arena, and that work ethic is one of his calling cards.

“My strength is that I work really hard at what I do to get better at the position I play,” Wells said. “I want to get good grades, and to do good at every sport I play.”

As he adapts to a higher level of competition, he knows he will always have his family, including athletic younger sisters Izzy and Savina, to lean on, in good times and bad.

“Mostly my parents because they motivate me to do what I love and they showed me what God can do for me.”

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I’ll throw it, but you can’t hit it!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged Babe Ruth baseball, baseball, Daniel Olson, Ephrata, Gavin Knoblich, Ulrik Wells on June 18, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Daniel Olson, seen here last spring, has been on point for the Oak Harbor Babe Ruth baseball squad. (John Fisken photo)

The Gunslinger rules the land.

Daniel Olson (my former “manager” at David’s DVD Den) is one of several Coupeville athletes traveling up-Island this spring to play with Oak Harbor’s Babe Ruth baseball squad.

Ulrik Wells and Gavin Knoblich, who will be freshmen at CHS in the fall, are also on the team, while Olson, bound for 8th grade at CMS, is dazzling on the mound.

Firing BB’s from the hill, Olson torched Mount Vernon in his most recent game, tossing a three-hitter in a 15-3 romp.

He whiffed six, including taking down the side in order on just 13 pitches in the second inning.

Knoblich made a running shoestring catch in the same game, stranding two runners, as Oak Harbor avenged a one-run loss against the same squad two days earlier.

Oak Harbor is wrapping up its regular season and then heads off to the postseason, where a state champ will be crowned July 13 in Ephrata.

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