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In praise of year-round athletes

Posted in Baseball, Girls Tennis, Softball, Track, tagged CHS Wolves, iron men, iron women, Madison McMillan, Nick Guay, spring sports, three-sport athletes on March 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Jada Heaton (jumping), Mia Farris (12), and Skylar Parker (right) are all three-sport athletes. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

No rest for the truly dedicated.

A look at spring rosters shows that 22 Coupeville High School students — 10 girls and 12 boys — are finishing the job as three-sport athletes for the 2022-2023 school year.

At schools with small student bodies, having a strong showing in year-round athletes is huge, so it’s great to see so many Wolves complete the trifecta.

There are plenty of reasons why some CHS athletes choose to play just one or two sports, starting with the fact basketball is their only option during winter.

Don’t play God’s chosen sport? Can’t be a three-sport athlete in Cow Town.

Unless you make the move to wrestle or swim with another school during the snowy months, but that has been an infrequent occurrence.

Injuries, a need to concentrate on academics, home life requirements, or simply a desire to have a job or get your license — all reasons which sometimes come into play when sports-related decisions are made.

To each, their own choice.

But today we praise the 22 who made the commitment, in time and effort, to be an athlete for all seasons.

The blog is called Coupeville Sports, after all, and not Coupeville Teens Washing Dishes.

Anyways, those who gave all:

GIRLS:

Teagan Calkins (Volleyball, Basketball, Softball)
Mia Farris (Volleyball, Basketball, Softball)
Jada Heaton (Volleyball, Basketball, Softball)
Ryanne Knoblich (Volleyball, Basketball, Track)
Carolyn Lhamon (Soccer, Basketball, Track)
Katie Marti (Volleyball, Basketball, Track)
Madison McMillan (Volleyball, Basketball, Softball)
Brynn Parker (Soccer, Basketball, Tennis)
Skylar Parker (Soccer, Basketball, Tennis)
Lyla Stuurmans (Volleyball, Basketball, Track)

BOYS:

Chase Anderson (Football, Basketball, Baseball)
Dominic Coffman (Football, Basketball, Track)
Nick Guay (Soccer, Basketball, Track)
Zane Oldenstadt (Football, Basketball, Track)
Aiden O’Neill (Football, Basketball, Baseball)
Jack Porter (Football, Basketball, Baseball)
Johnny Porter (Football, Basketball, Baseball)
Landon Roberts (Cross Country, Basketball, Baseball)
Yohannon Sandles (Football, Basketball, Baseball)
Malachi Somes (Football, Basketball, Track)
Jonathan Valenzuela (Football, Basketball, Baseball)
Cole White (Soccer, Basketball, Baseball)

Aiden O’Neill is a man for all seasons. (Davin Houston photo)

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Wet weather washes out season openers

Posted in Baseball, Softball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, rain out, season opener, Softball on March 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville High School baseball coach Steve Hilborn is not traveling to Bellingham Monday afternoon. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Tradition, upheld.

It’s raining all across Washington state, as it’s prone to doing in March, and the liquid sunshine is already forcing schools to juggle planned spring sports games.

Coupeville High School was set to send its baseball and softball squads to Bellingham Monday to open the season with non-conference games against Meridian.

Instead, the splash-splash of raindrops will keep the wheels on the bus from going round and round.

The schools will look to reschedule at a later date, said Coupeville Athletic Director Willie Smith.

“I’ll think about it,” responded Mother Nature with a slight smirk.

UPDATE:

Games rescheduled for Thursday, Mar. 16.

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Lippo lashes, Owls sputter

Posted in Baseball, Wolves in college, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, doubleheader, Joey Lippo, University of Maine at Presque Isle on March 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Joey Lippo towers over the game. (Photo courtesy Connie Lippo)

He’s a one-man wrecking crew, but he could use a little help.

Coupeville High School grad Joey Lippo swung the bat with conviction Sunday, filling up the stat sheet, but it wasn’t enough to save the University of Maine at Presque Isle baseball team.

Lippo, kicking off a run of eight games in five days in Florida, racked up four hits, including a triple and an inside-the-park home run.

Toss in three RBI, and three runs scored, and the former Wolf had a solid day.

Unfortunately, Lippo’s heroics weren’t enough to save UMPI, which fell 18-9 and 19-2 to Colby-Sawyer College.

With the losses, the Owls sit at 0-4 on the young season, with doubleheaders set for Monday, Wednesday and Thursday before it’s back to less-sunny surroundings.

UMPI squares off with Utica University, the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and SUNY Poly during the remainder of their visit to the Sunshine State.

Lippo, a junior who plays baseball and golf for the Owls, leads his team in virtually every relevant offensive stat category, including being the only slugger currently hitting .300 or better.

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Wolfe adds to his college baseball resume

Posted in Baseball, Wolves in college, tagged baseball, Central Washington University, CHS Wolves, Hawthorne Wolfe, Western Washington University on March 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Hawthorne Wolfe surveys the skies during his time on the prairie. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

He’s an equal opportunity pitcher.

After making his first two college baseball appearances as a reliever, Coupeville grad Hawthorne Wolfe was tabbed to make his first start Saturday afternoon.

The former CHS ace tossed three scoreless innings for the Western Washington University club hardball squad, whiffing four Central Washington University hitters while keeping his ERA pristine.

While the Vikings eventually fell 6-5 after their bullpen failed to match Wolfe, it was the only loss for WWU, which claimed two of three for the second time this season.

Western, which clubbed Central 17-1 and 20-1 in the weekend’s other two games, sits at 4-2 overall, 2-1 in league play.

Wolfe, who leads Viking pitchers with three appearances on the mound, is 1-0 with a save, having struck out six across seven scoreless innings of work.

He’s scattered five hits and three walks, while plunking a rival batter just to keep everyone honest.

Along with his debut as a college starting pitcher, the former Northwest 2B/1B League MVP also got his first swings at the plate for the Vikings this past weekend.

Wolfe scored twice, picked up an RBI, and made off with his first college steal.

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“We want to be the team of details”

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, Peyton Caveness, Scott Hilborn, Spring Sports Preview on February 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolf junior Peyton Caveness is a key returning player for CHS baseball. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

They’re chasing that state tourney dream.

The Coupeville High School baseball team came within a play here, a play there of earning the 10th trip to the big dance in program history last spring.

But it wasn’t to be, as the Wolves, coming off of a regular-season Northwest 2B/1B League title, fell 3-2 to Friday Harbor in a winner-to-state, loser-out playoff game.

Jump forward a year, flip out coaches, with former assistant Steve Hilborn taking the reins after Will Thayer’s move to Vegas, and Coupeville is back on the chase.

The Wolves lost five players to graduation, including league MVP Hawthorne Wolfe and All-League picks Xavier Murdy and Cody Roberts.

But Steve Hilborn can still put together a rock-solid lineup which is anchored by All-League players Scott Hilborn and Jonathan Valenzuela and features a wealth of talented young stars.

Some of the names may be different, but the job remains the same.

“Simple, sweep Friday Harbor, win league, go to state,” was Steve Hilborn’s reply when asked about goals.

The schools, which split two regular-season games last spring, are set to play three times this year.

Game #1, on Friday Harbor, is Mar. 28, while the Wolverines travel to Coupeville Apr. 18. Things wrap up May 4 back on Friday Harbor for the regular-season finale.

While that three-game series will likely dictate who wins the league title, Steve Hilborn is not looking past anyone in the seven-team NWL.

“Friday Harbor is the obvious one – I don’t believe they lost too many seniors from last year,” he said.

“But also Mount Vernon Christian, and Orcas had some good young talent and might surprise some teams this year.”

Steve Hilborn expects pitching to be his team’s biggest strength, with seniors Scott Hilborn and Valenzuela teaming up with freshman Chase Anderson to form the core of the staff.

While Anderson is only a fab frosh, he already has extensive varsity experience, having been a starting infielder and pitching for the Wolves as an 8th grader.

“The Magic Man” was the backup QB for the Wolf varsity football team as a freshman, leading the team in the second half of its state playoff game, and was a key member of the CHS varsity boys’ basketball squad.

“I think our pitching will be solid with our three main starters,” Steve Hilborn said. “I don’t think it’s just nepotism, but Scott was a huge part of all aspects of our game last year and we’ll need him to anchor the pitching staff this year.

“I expect Jon and Chase to be our other two main starters, with a few other players carrying the remaining load.”

First-Team All-Conference player Scott Hilborn is back for his senior season.

The team’s biggest question mark is likely behind the plate, with the team having lost the always-steady Murdy.

“Catcher is going to be a huge void to fill with Xavier gone,” Steve Hilborn said.

“We are looking at Peyton (Caveness) and Jon for that spot with Johnny (Porter) in there as well.”

The Wolves would love to see their offense kick things into gear, taking some of the pressure off of their pitching staff. Not every game has to be a low-run thriller.

“When it comes to offense you never know who might surprise you,” Steve Hilborn said. “Cole (White) and Peyton came through with some clutch hits last year and we expect more of that this year.

“Little too early to tell, but historically we haven’t hit that consistently and we want to change that,” he added. “We want every at-bat to have a plan and an approach.

“We might still strike out in a good battle, but, if we follow our approach and don’t flail away at three bad pitches, it can still be a win.”

The first day of practice attracted a solid group of young players, though the Wolves are still interested in adding bodies. At the 2B level, that can include 8th graders.

“We have quite a few freshmen, several of which played as 8th graders last year,” Steve Hilborn said. “At the first practice we had three new faces — Jayme Carranza, Parker Fuller-Hewitt, and David Dominici.

“We would like a few more players to fill out two teams, and we would love some 8th graders if any are interested.”

However the roster breaks down, the Wolves and their new head coach aim to bring a smile to the faces of old-school fans.

“We want to be the team of details,” Steve Hilborn said. “To do the little things right that add up to runs at the plate, outs on defense, and eventually wins.”