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Archive for the ‘Baseball’ Category

Chelsea Prescott flings heat. (John Fisken photo)

Chelsea Prescott flings heat. (John Fisken photo)

Prescott models her All-Star uniform.

Prescott models her All-Star uniform. (Josie Prescott photo)

Chelsea Prescott is a diamond dandy.

Baseball or softball, doesn’t matter. Toss her a ball and a mitt and she’s at home.

Prescott, who will be a seventh grader at Coupeville Middle School in the fall, is currently part of Central Whidbey Little League’s 11/12 All-Star Majors baseball squad.

That team kicked off district tourney play with a win over Anacortes Saturday and advances to play North Whidbey next.

If things had gone as originally planned, though, Prescott wouldn’t have been on the squad.

After putting in two seasons of fall ball as a baseball player, she was planning to hop back to softball this summer.

But Central Whidbey was unable to field enough players — four girls ultimately traveled to South Whidbey to play — and Prescott’s options were limited.

“My goal was to play junior softball, but my mom, with her work schedule and my dad being deployed, going to South or North was not possible,” Prescott said. “It was a possibility to stick with baseball and I stayed with baseball because I wanted to be challenged.”

She had an immediate impact, toeing the rubber as a pitcher, while also pulling time at “short stop, third base, and, sometimes, outfield, when my coach needs an arm.”

Prescott enjoys pitching and hitting and is quick to assess the pros and cons of her game.

“My strengths are running,” she said. “I would like to work on pitching more and especially catching.”

An active athlete, Prescott also plays volleyball, basketball and soccer.

In the few moments in which she’s not competing as an athlete, she enjoys math, is in band and is a fan of romance, horror and comedy films.

Her support crew includes her family and local coaches, who have helped her shine since she was barely old enough to pick up a bat.

Prescott is quick to call them out for their support.

“My mom, dad, and coaches Kevin McGranahan and Ron Wright, for taking a chance on me being the only fourth grader on the team!”

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Smith (John Fisken photos)

  Hunter Smith: “The ball tried to get away. I didn’t let it. You’re welcome…” (John Fisken photos)

Joey Lippo

Joey Lippo, ever-patient, waiting for his pitch.

throw

Hunter Smith comes up firing.

CJ Smith

Like a hawk, CJ Smith waits to pounce on his prey.

Hunter

Hunter Smith fires BB’s.

They’re in disguise, but they’re still playing baseball.

Six Coupeville Wolves are wearing Falcon colors and logos this summer, joining South Whidbey for the American Legion baseball season.

Recent CHS grad Aaron Trumbull is being joined by seniors-to-be Cole Payne and CJ Smith and Wolf sophomores Hunter Smith, Nick Etzell and Joey Lippo.

Half of the Cow Town crew were in the lineup Wednesday, as South Whidbey played a doubleheader against Oak Harbor, while traveling photo man John Fisken was on the scene to catch things with his camera.

The photos above are courtesy him.

To see more (and possibly purchase some), pop over to:

https://www.shutterfly.com/progal/album.jsp?aid=768a5498cf3610345fb4

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Birthday boys CJ Smith (left) and Jerry Helm.

Birthday boys CJ Smith (left) and Jerry Helm.

One’s old enough to be the others dad … barely.

But while Jerry Helm and CJ Smith have an 18-year age gap, they share a lot in common, and not just a birthday.

One is a former Wolf star, the other a current one, and both have never been content with playing just one sport, or ever going half-speed.

Helm was a standout football, basketball and track athlete who also dabbled in baseball for a bit, while Smith has helped revive the “traditional” three-sport athlete at CHS.

After moving to Coupeville in the middle of his sophomore year, CJ, who will be a senior in the fall, has played football, basketball and baseball.

In the two previous years, not a single Wolf boy played all three traditional sports, with soccer, track and tennis luring away a number of athletes.

CJ, and younger brother Hunter, led the charge to change that during the school year that just ended, reviving memories of a time when it was common.

The comparisons between the two go deeper than just being multi-sport stars, however.

Both Jerry and CJ carry themselves with a quiet confidence, content to let their actions speak louder than their words.

That calmness and inner fire has led Helm through a meteoric rise in Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue and it allows Smith to very closely resemble outgoing Wolf star Aaron Curtin, another self-contained young man who prefers athletic success to scrambling to pose in pre-game photos.

I have a great deal of respect for how both of the birthday boys conduct themselves.

If you’re looking for sports role models, old school (well, not that old…) and new school, you can’t go wrong with Helm and Smith.

As they celebrate their joint cake day, united by the calendar, their success at CHS and their low-key style, we want to wish them both the best.

Happy birthday, gentlemen, and thank you for being class acts every day.

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Julian Welling (John Fisken phgoto)

Julian Welling is ready to make the same impact on the football field that he has already done on the baseball diamond. (John Fisken photos)

Welling hangs out at a Wolf basketball game with Katrina McGranahan (center) and Mckenzie Meyer.

Welling hangs out at a Wolf basketball game with Katrina McGranahan (center) and Mckenzie Meyer.

Julian Welling is ready for the spotlight.

Today he celebrates his 15th birthday (happy cake day, Jo Jo!).

Tomorrow, he returns to preparing for his sophomore year at Coupeville High School.

A two-sport athlete for the Wolves, Welling has already been a huge hit for the CHS baseball squad.

Scrappy in the field and at the plate, he started a number of games at third base last season, including the team’s playoff game, joining Hunter Smith as the leaders of an extremely promising group of freshman ballplayers.

And while baseball is his favorite (“It’s what I do!”) and has taken him the furthest so far — he’s been playing travel baseball since he was an eight-year-old in Florida — football is coming up fast.

Welling first stepped on the gridiron when he was five, eventually putting in four seasons before taking a brief break to focus on baseball.

Now, he’s doing both, and doing well at both.

In brief comments fired off from between workouts at a football camp the Wolf team is attending, Welling said he enjoyed playing defense (“Mostly, hitting is my favorite”) and wants to continue to work on fine-tuning his skill set.

“I would like to work on my blocking and speed,” Welling said. “I think my best ability is being able to read the line.”

He credits his parents for shaping him (thereby winning him crucial points at a time when they would be considering getting him birthday cake) and has a wide array of interests away from sports.

If he’s not playing baseball or football, Welling can be found hunkered down playing Halo, smacking the drums or watching funny movies.

Regardless of what he’s doing, the rising young star has a simple outlook at what’s to come.

“Over the next few years, I would like to be a better student and teammate,” Welling said.

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(John Fisken photos)

  The last thing the base runner saw was the Terminator T-1000 turn and lock on to him. After that, it was all over in a millisecond. (John Fisken photos)

"Oh lord, I'm not gonna be able to sit down for a week!!! But ... I am safe. Now, I'm just going to lie here and embrace the burning pain..."

  “Oh lord, I’m not gonna be able to sit down for a week!!! But … I am safe. Now, I’m just going to lie here and embrace the burning pain…”

swing low

Both the umpire and the catcher are mesmerized by the art of the bunt.

catcher

“You can either step back to the base, son, or I can embarrass you and your entire family by throwing you out. Your choice…”

coach

Two feet? The best coaches only need one to fungo, baby.

Photos, we got yer snappy photos right here.

Ignoring for a second that I was detained and couldn’t be there to cover the game in person, let us instead offer a round of applause to travelin’ photo man John Fisken.

He, for one, did show up Thursday and document the Warriors, a Central Whidbey Little League Majors baseball squad, in action.

Plus one for the Diet Coke man.

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