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Wolf baseball punches state ticket

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, bi-districts, CHS Wolves, Friday Harbor, Jonathan Valenzuela, state tournament on May 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville High School seniors Jonathan Valenzuela (left) and Scott Hilborn were nine-year-olds the last time Wolf baseball went to state. (Morgan White photo)

Party like it’s 2014.

Thrashing Friday Harbor 11-0 Saturday in Arlington in a game mercy-ruled after five innings, the Coupeville High School baseball squad continues to rack up honors.

With the victory, the Wolves, now 16-5 on the season, add the District 1/2 title to their Northwest 2B/1B League crown, while earning a trip to the big dance for the first time in nine seasons.

The last time a CHS hardball squad went to the state tourney, Willie Smith was still head coach, current assistant coach Morgan Payne was in the starting lineup, and Coupeville was nipped 2-1 by Rochester in a first-round loss.

This time around, the Wolves are one of 12 teams still alive in the hunt for the 2B crown.

They will learn their opening opponent and the location of the game Sunday when the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association seeding committee releases its bracket.

First round and quarterfinal games will be played May 20 at various sites, with the semifinals May 26 and the title game and 3rd/4th place game May 27.

The May 26 and 27 games are set for Johnson-O’Brien Stadium at Ephrata High School.

The first two rounds of state are single elimination, with the top four seeds earning a first-round bye.

To see the bracket — without teams in place yet — pop over to:

http://www.nw1a2bathletics.com/m2/tourn.php?act=vt&tid=3930

Wolf coach Steve Hilborn strolls off with the hardware. (Shannon Hamilton photo)

Coupeville baseball had to wait a bit longer than expected to earn its tenth trip to state, with bi-districts delayed thanks to Friday Harbor having issues with the state ferry system.

Once the Wolverines, the #2 seed from District 1, arrived in Arlington, they jumped all over District 2’s Northwest Christian (Lacey), running them off the field 16-0 in a loser-out game.

The day’s second game was also a blowout, but this time Friday Harbor was the one being battered senseless.

Coupeville hit the field hot and never relented, scoring in all four innings in which it sent batters to the plate.

The Wolves slapped three runs on the board in the first, netting all the runs starting pitcher Scott Hilborn would need.

Jonathan Valenzuela lashed a two-run double to center to get CHS going, then came around to score on a Friday Harbor wild pitch.

Hilborn, who struck out eight while limiting the Wolverines to just a pair of hits and a lone walk, was fairly flawless, while his defense removed one brief threat with a slickly turned double play.

From 3-0, Coupeville pushed its lead out to 7-0 through two, then made it 10-0 after three, and 11-0 coming out of the fourth frame.

The Wolves finished with 13 hits in four innings worth of at-bats, with seven different hitters racking up at least one base knock.

Chase Anderson drops a bunt for a hit. (Morgan White photo)

Aiden O’Neill and Peyton Caveness crunched RBI doubles in the second, then both came around later to swat RBI singles.

The last of O’Neill’s run-scoring hits plated courtesy runner Landon Roberts to close the scoring, before Hilborn ended the game with three straight strikeouts.

Coupeville’s stellar season has come courtesy of a young team, as seven of the 11 players sent into Saturday’s game by first-year CHS head coach Steve Hilborn are freshmen or sophomores.

Scott Hilborn and Valenzuela are the only seniors, while starters Chase Anderson, Coop Cooper, Camden Glover, and O’Neill are 9th graders.

Saturday stats:

Chase Anderson — Two singles
Peyton Caveness — Two singles, one double
Camden Glover — One walk
Scott Hilborn — Two singles
Aiden O’Neill — One single, one double
Jack Porter — One single
Johnny Porter — One walk
Jonathan Valenzuela — One single, one double, one walk
Cole White — One single

League champs. Bi-District champs. Ticket to the big dance punched. (Morgan White photo)

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Playoff fever roars to life

Posted in Baseball, Girls Tennis, Track, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, girls tennis, postseason, track and field on May 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

CHS net queen Djina Radenovic flicks a forehand. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The postseason is almost upon us.

The goal is to make it to the state championships, but first Coupeville High School spring sports athletes have to make it past districts.

Wolf baseball and track and field throw down this Saturday, May 13, while girls’ tennis players vie to punch their state ticket May 19.

Softball is the only CHS program not to have a shot at making the big dance, having been eliminated in the regular season league finale.

The outlook for Coupeville teams, and players, still in contention:

BASEBALL:

When:

Saturday, May 13

Where:

Lakewood High School (Arlington) — 17023 11th Ave NE

What:

Northwest Christian of Lacey (7-7) plays Friday Harbor (8-8) at noon in a loser-out game.

Winner returns to the field at 2:00 PM to face Coupeville (15-5) in a winner-to-state, loser-out game.

Cost:

Adult — $8
Children (5-12) — $6
Senior Citizen (62+) — $6
Students with ASB — $6

Tickets, which are good for both games, can be purchased with cash or through Go Fan at https://gofan.co/app/events/984412?schoolId=WA86277

Wolf baseball fans Sherry Bonacci (left) and Pam Pease cheer on their team.

GIRLS TENNIS:

When:

Friday, May 19

Where:

Amy Yee Tennis Center (Seattle) — 2000 Martin Luther King Junior Way S.

What:

Coupeville, Friday Harbor, and Three Rivers Christian (Longview) each send two singles players and two doubles teams.

Top two seeds receive first round bye, and tourney is single elimination.

Play begins at 9:30 AM.

One singles player and one doubles team advance to state championships.

Cost:

Free

Jordan Ford passes on pole vault wisdom to a next gen star.

TRACK AND FIELD:

When:

Saturday, May 13

Where:

Mickey Clark Field in Coupeville (6 S. Main Street – behind Coupeville Elementary)

What:

One location, two meets, with 2B vs. 2B and 1B vs. 1B.

Nine 1B schools and four 2B schools — Coupeville, Friday Harbor, La Conner, and Northwest Christian (Lacey) — compete.

For 2B athletes, top finisher in each event Saturday advances to state.

If you don’t win a title, you can also punch your ticket if you hit pre-set state meet qualifying times or throwing distances during the district meet.

Cost:

Adult — $8
Children (5-12) — $6
Senior Citizen (62+) — $6
Students with ASB — $6

Cash or Go Fan at:

https://gofan.co/app/events/973923?schoolId=WA86277

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Hawk flies to postseason

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, Hawthorne Wolfe, playoffs, Western Washington University on May 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Hawthorne Wolfe, during his younger days. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Off to the playoffs he goes.

Coupeville grad Hawthorne Wolfe and the Western Washington University club baseball squad capped the regular season this past weekend with a three-game sweep of Portland State University.

Rolling to 16-9, 3-0, and 17-3 victories, the Vikings stretch their win streak to six games and get to 19-9 on the season.

Next up is a trip to Nampa, Idaho May 12-14, where WWU joins Oregon, Utah State, and Boise State in the double-elimination Northern Pacific Regional Tournament.

The winner claims one of eight tickets to the National Club Baseball Association Division 1 World Series, held May 26-June 2 in Illinois.

A decade ago, another Coupeville alumni, Jordan Wilcox, hit .313 across four games for WWU at the 2013 World Series.

Seeded #7 in an eight-team field, that edition of the Vikings surprised folks, finishing fourth at the season-ending tourney.

Wolfe, a freshman at Western, scored four runs, eked out three walks, smacked a pair of hits, and made off with a stolen base this weekend while facing off with Portland State.

On the season, the former CHS star has worked primarily as a pitcher, making 10 appearances — most of any WWU hurler — with four starts.

He has racked up 22 strikeouts while on the bump, putting Wolfe second-best among Viking pitchers.

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Hardball squad rallies, earns league title

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, Friday Harbor, Jonathan Valenzuela, late rally, league title on May 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Steve Hilborn loves it when a plan comes together. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They earned it.

On their second long road trip in as many days, the Coupeville High School varsity baseball squad rallied from behind twice Thursday to upend host Friday Harbor in a high-scoring, high-tension affair.

In the end, the Wolves headed back to the ferry carrying an 11-8 win and a share of the Northwest 2B/1B League title.

Steve Hilborn’s crew wraps the regular season at 13-1 in conference action, matching the record put up by Mount Vernon Christian.

The Wolves and Hurricanes split their two-game season series but go in opposite directions for the playoffs.

MVC opens the 1B district tourney this Saturday, while Coupeville, now 15-5 overall, is off until May 13.

That’s when the 2B playoffs go down at Lakewood High School in Arlington.

Northwest Christian (Lacey) and Friday Harbor face off in a loser-out game at noon that day, with the victor squaring off with top-seeded Coupeville at 2:00 (or thereabouts) in a loser-out, winner-to-state clash.

Chase Anderson and the Wolves dive into playoff action May 13. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The week-plus gap between the regular season finale and postseason opener gives the Wolves some time to rest and add up all the stats they threw down against Friday Harbor.

Coupeville rapped out 12 hits Thursday, with eight different batters garnering at least one base knock apiece.

Friday Harbor, by contrast, collected eight hits, but none after the fourth inning, as Wolf relief pitcher Jonathan Valenzuela tossed 3.2 innings of no-hit ball to get the win.

The senior hurler came on in support of freshman Chase Anderson, and promptly ended most of the Wolverines hopes and dreams, whiffing five and retiring the final seven hitters he faced.

The game was a classic back-and-forth affair, the kind which can drive coaches to inhale Tums.

Coupeville had the early advantage, building a 4-2 lead with the game headed to the bottom of the fourth inning.

Scott Hilborn tapped home to open the scoring in the top of the first, taking advantage of a wild pitch, before Valenzuela came around in the second to deliver a two-run double to center field.

Tack on an RBI double off of Anderson’s bat, and a couple of nice defensive plays from Hilborn behind the plate, and the Wolves were looking good.

Then things got sticky for a bit, as Friday Harbor put together five straight hits in the bottom of the fourth to reclaim the lead at 7-4.

That was where Valenzuela ambled in to pitch, promptly closing the inning by striking out the first guy to challenge him, before inducing a groundout.

CHS jumped right back on their hosts, scoring three in the top of the fifth, but Friday Harbor scratched out a run in the bottom of the frame to go back in front 8-7.

The Wolves got consecutive hits from Peyton Caveness, Cole White, Aiden O’Neill, and Scott Hilborn to launch their first comeback, and the bats stayed hot for the visitors.

Fab frosh Camden Glover smoked an RBI single to left in the sixth to bring the game to 8-8, then it was time for Cole White to grab the white-hot spotlight.

Riley’s big brother laced a game-busting two-run single to center to put Coupeville on top for good, before the Wolves added an insurance run thanks to one of Friday Harbor’s five errors.

Jonathan Valenzuela deals. (Morgan White photo)

That set up Valenzuela to close out the game, and help his team match MVC, which shattered Orcas Island 11-1 earlier in the day in their own finale.

Throwing heat and smiling as the Wolverine hitters went down in flames, he wrote another chapter in a senior year which has included multiple big moments.

Valenzuela played key roles for football and baseball teams which won league titles, while also banking in a nearly-halfcourt buzzer-beater in basketball which made all of La Conner sob salty tears.

Thursday stats:

Chase Anderson — One double
Peyton Caveness — Two singles
Coop Cooper — One walk
Camden Glover — One single
Scott Hilborn — One single, one double, one walk
Aiden O’Neill — One single
Jack Porter — One single, one double, one walk
Jonathan Valenzuela — One double, one walk
Cole White — Two singles

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Turks trip up Wolves

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, road trip, Scott Hilborn, Sultan on May 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Chase Anderson flies around the bases. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

First it was a home game. Then it was off the schedule. And, finally, it became a road trip.

By the time the dust settled, the Coupeville High School varsity baseball squad found itself in Sultan Wednesday, where it absorbed a rare loss.

Despite having runners on base in every inning, the Wolves had trouble getting them all the way around the bags, falling 8-2 to the Turks.

The non-conference loss, only Coupeville’s second defeat in its last 12 games, drops it to 14-5 heading into the regular season finale Thursday afternoon.

That game is also on the road, with the Wolves traveling to Friday Harbor for a Northwest 2B/1B League showdown.

Win or lose against the Wolverines, CHS is the #1 seed for the 2B District 1/2 playoffs, which go down Saturday, May 13 at Lakewood High School in Arlington.

Northwest Christian (Lacey) and Friday Harbor face off in a loser-out game at noon that day, with the victor squaring off with Coupeville at 2:00 (or thereabouts) in a loser-out, winner-to-state clash.

The bout with Sultan was originally intended to be played Monday on Whidbey Island but was bounced from the schedule as the Turks scrambled to complete their league schedule.

With a little tinkering from the AD’s, however, the game was revived, with the Wolf hardball heroes sharing a bus with Coupeville’s track and field team, which was also listening to the wheels go round and round Wednesday afternoon.

Once in Sultan, CHS baseball jumped on Sultan, with leadoff hitter Scott Hilborn thumping a double.

Unfortunately for the Wolves, that was where they started to spin their wheels, following the two-bagger with three consecutive strikeouts to end the top of the first without a run.

That was a trend which stung Coupeville all game, as the Turks continually dodged dangerous situations to emerge mostly unscathed.

CHS batters hit into three double plays, with two of those coming after the Wolves started the inning with two runners aboard and no outs on the scoreboard.

Coupeville did push a runner across in the top of the third to knot things up at 1-1, thanks to Hilborn and his speed demon feet.

The spry senior lashed a two-out single, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, then zipped home on a passed ball.

Sultan responded quickly, however, and fairly brutally, ringing up seven unanswered runs to blow the game wide open.

A couple of hits, and several Wolf errors, allowed the Turks to plate four runs in the bottom of the third, while five straight Sultan base knocks in the fourth tacked on three more tallies.

Trailing 8-1, Coupeville scratched out a run in the fifth, with Peyton Caveness walking and coming around to score on an error, but that was it for the Wolves.

Jonathan Valenzuela led off the sixth with a single, followed by Camden Glover wearing a pitch, but a double play sucked the life out of the rally.

An inning later, down to their final at-bats, the Wolves put two more aboard, with Caveness walking and Hilborn singling, but a pop up ended the game.

On the mound, Hilborn struck out five through 5+ innings of work, while Valenzuela came on late to retire both of the hitters he faced.

Three of Coupeville’s five losses have come to bigger schools, with the Wolves bowing to 1A rivals Meridian, South Whidbey, and Sultan, in addition to defeats to 2B Forks and 1B Mount Vernon Christian.

The six-run loss to the Turks is the most lopsided defeat of an otherwise stellar season for the Wolves.

Wednesday stats:

Peyton Caveness — Two walks
Camden Glover — One single, one walk
Scott Hilborn — Two singles, one double
Jack Porter — One single
Jonathan Valenzuela — Two singles