Cole Payne (Shelli Trumbull photos)
Aaron Trumbull
The uniforms have changed, but the results are the same.
Coupeville High School sluggers Aaron Trumbull and Cole Payne are wearing South Whidbey uniforms this summer, as they moonlight with the Falcons for American Legion baseball, and they’ve already made an impact.
The duo are back with SWHS coach Tom Fallon and his players for the second season.
Last year Morgan Payne, Kurtis Smith and Aaron Curtin joined them, but this year’s legion squad is a younger version than last year.
“We had a senior-laden team last year,” Fallon said. “We’re a little younger, but as long as we’re in there, competing with the bigger squads, I’m happy.”
Many of the programs South Whidbey is facing have varsity vets at every position.
The Falcons are a mix of varsity and JV players, and numbers have fluctuated during a 3-5 start.
South Whidbey has 18 players on the roster, but many of the players, including Payne, are doing double duty with spring football practice.
In a loss to a powerful Mount Vernon squad, the Falcons only suited the minimum nine players.
Trumbull, who will be a senior at CHS in the fall, has played in seven of his team’s games, working both at first and on the mound.
He’s collected three hits, including a triple, and knocked in three runs.
Payne has been limited to just four games by football, but has ably bounced around wherever he’s needed.
Most of his playing time has come behind the plate, but the junior has also worked his mitt at second, short and third.
Two of Payne’s three hits have been doubles, and he’s tied with Trumbull with three RBI.
South Whidbey, which took a pair from Arlington to kick off the season and also nipped Bellingham in a one-run thriller, will get a work-out heading into this coming week, when the season picks up in intensity.
The Falcons are scheduled to play six games during the week.
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