Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, Britnie Korzan, CHS Wolves, cute Coupeville kids, Kayla Lawson, polls on April 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »
“I win the internet!” (Shelli Trumbull photo)
“No, I do!!” (Kristi Korzan photo)
Oh, it’s on, the great Coupeville Cute Kid Photo War.
In one corner, the young son of former Wolf Kayla Lawson, therefore part of the Sherman clan, ready to play ball.
In the other corner, the young daughter of former Wolf Britnie Korzan, rulin’ the tulip fields.
We’re going Highlander style here. There can only be one!
Unless you say there can be two!!
Voting has ended!! Thanks for voting!
Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, JV, Willie Smith on April 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Jonathan Thurston, ever-ready on defense. (Shelli Trumbull photo)
Breaking news — few coaches can be as artfully sarcastic as the ol’ ball coach himself, Willie Smith.
The longtime Coupeville High School baseball coach is the master of the quick retort, followed by a huge grin, so when I emailed him about the Wolf JV baseball game played Thursday at Cedarcrest, I should have expected what I got back.
My question: Any scintillating news?
His response: Well, I’ve lost some weight, so that’s pretty exciting…
Nice.
Later, he admitted Coupeville took an 11-1 loss, but there were bright spots as the Wolves faced off with the biggest 2A squad in the league.
“They (Cedarcrest) just hit the ball,” Smith said. “We didn’t make many mistakes, our pitchers threw strikes and didn’t walk kids, which is always a plus.”
Jonathan Thurston, Clay Reilly, Cole Payne and Ethan Marx all rapped out singles while Jimmy Myers “hit the ball hard.”
And, to cap things off, since the Wolf JV baseball squad traveled down to Duvall with the CHS track team, “We got to wait for two hours after the completion of our game and watch the track team compete, so all in all, a pretty productive day!”
I can see his sarcastic smile stretching a foot wide as he wrote the last words. Classic Willie Smith, ladies and gentlemen.
Still the master, after all these years.
Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, extra innings, huge win on April 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Wolf catcher Jake Tumblin (possibly) snags a nap between pitches. (John Fisken photo)
David backhanded Goliath.
Two days after losing a one-run game in extra innings, the Coupeville High School baseball squad returned the favor to Cedarcrest, dumping the host Red Wolves 6-5 in nine innings Wednesday.
It was a win for small teams everywhere, as CHS is the smallest 1A school in the state (225 students in grades 9-11) and Cedarcrest the largest 2A school (691 students) in the 1A/2A Cascade Conference.
The victory snapped a four-game losing skid, moved Coupeville back into a tie with South Whidbey as the top 1A team in league play (the Wolves own the tiebreaker) and, after three straight shutout losses, brightened CHS coach Willie Smith’s mood considerably.
“We scored our first run on a double play ball,” Smith said. “It wasn’t the greatest way to score, but we haven’t scored a lot lately, so it was nice to have someone over at third to talk to besides myself for a change!”
Aaron Curtin took the mound for the Wolves and blunted nearly every charge Cedarcrest tried to make. He got double plays to end the first two innings and helped carry Coupeville to the lead.
After three and a half games of offensive futility against Archbishop Thomas Murphy and Cedarcrest, CHS finally got the bats going in the top of the fifth.
And they did it in unusual fashion, staging a two-out, no-one-on-base rally.
Ben Etzell walked and stole second, then was plated by a booming double off of the bat of Wade Schaef to get things going. Morgan Payne and Aaron Trumbull followed with RBI singles to open a 4-1 advantage.
After Cedarcrest chipped away the lead, Coupeville reclaimed it in the seventh, again starting with no one on and two down. Trumbull singled, then scampered home on a triple from Kurtis Smith.
Not ready to give up, the hosts staged their own rally in the bottom of the seventh, scoring once to tie things up.
Curtin saved the day, however, gunning down what would have been the winning run with a laser from left to catcher Jake Tumblin, nailing the runner by a good ten feet.
Mimicking the team’s game Monday, when Cedarcrest won 1-0, the visitors again scratched out a run in the top of the ninth to claim the victory.
This time, it was Coupeville’s chance to play hero, as Payne singled, stole second and scored when Cedarcrest muffed a Trumbull grounder to first.
Curtin’s successor on the mound — sophomore CJ Smith, who tossed 3+ “ice in his veins” innings of relief — shut down the Red Wolves in order in the bottom of the ninth to seal the deal.
Etzell put the final stamp on the day, getting the last out on a sensational play where he went deep in the hole to snag the ball.
After a week-plus of offensive struggle, nearly the entire CHS lineup clicked Wednesday. Schaef, Payne, Trumbull and Kurtis Smith each had two hits.
Defensively, the Wolves were nearly flawless, gunning down runners at the plate, turning double plays, making smart choices (Trumbull nailed a runner headed into second) and going the extra step to make the play.
“A great effort, great team win, and a great way to rebound after Monday’s heart-breaker,” Willie Smith said.
The Wolves, now 4-5 overall, 3-5 in league play, wrap their three-game set with Cedarcrest Friday at home. First pitch is 4 PM.
Posted in Baseball, Fashionable Fans, Softball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, fans, Softball on April 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »
“I know they’re all watching you. It’s what fans do.” (John Fisken photos)
CHS tennis stars Micky LeVine (left) and Sydney Aparicio — it takes a lot to impress them.
Wolf football/basketball coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh is a frequent (and vocal) baseball supporter.
Alumni alert #1 — it’s former volleyball and basketball player Katie Kiel.
Freshman baseball stud Clay Reilly knows where the camera is at all times.
Alumni alert #2 — former Wolf basketball teammates Drew Chan (left) and Caleb Valko.
Not all the action happens on the field.
That’s why travelin’ photo man John Fisken sometimes lets the camera slide around the other way and capture the folks in the cheap seats.
A mix of current and former Wolf athletes from other sports, parents and die-hard CHS fans, it’s a who’s-who of famous faces.
To see more (and some actual action shots from Monday’s Coupeville vs. Cedarcrest baseball duel) head over to the link below.
Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, Ben Etzell, Brad Miller, CHS Wolves, Ray Cook, strikeout records on April 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Ben Etzell whiffed 15 Cedarcrest hitters Monday, one of the better performances in CHS history. (John Fisken photo)
Impressive, but not a school record.
When Coupeville High School senior Ben Etzell whiffed 15 Cedarcrest batters Monday, it was the most K’s racked up by a Wolf pitcher in several years.
But do a little digging (mainly talking to the right people, since CHS doesn’t have extensive baseball records) and you find some even more impressive numbers.
The king of the mound (as far as we know) is Ray Cook, who carried Coupeville to a district title in 1976 as a junior.
In the final, he set down an astounding 21 batters over 13 innings, winning the game and sending the Wolves to state, where they lost 3-1 to Brewster in the quarterfinals.
I don’t know what’s more impressive — the 21 strikeouts or the fact he pitched all 13 innings, one inning shy of two complete high school games.
Cook was a strikeout fiend, according to Bill Jarrell. He set down 17 over seven innings in another game and whiffed 16 while tossing a perfect game in yet another appearance.
In more recent days, Brad Miller twice topped Etzell’s still-impressive work, according to CHS coach Willie Smith.
Miller gunned down 19 Sultan hitters in 1995, a year after he whiffed 18 Turks. He also recorded 14 K’s against Granite Falls in ’94.
The other Big, Bad Brad — the imposing Brad Haslam — set down 14 against Quilcene in 1990, then teamed with Frank Marti and Todd Brown to whiff 15 Winlock hitters in a 1991 regional game.
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