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Archive for the ‘Baseball’ Category

Quiet bats sting hardball squad

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on May 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Jayden Little comes up firing. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The bats came up empty.

Three South Whidbey pitchers combined to toss a no-hitter Saturday in Langley, sending the Coupeville High School baseball squad tumbling to a 10-0 loss in a game mercy-ruled in the sixth inning.

The non-conference defeat drops the Wolves to 6-11 overall as they prep for their final regular season series.

CHS will play two next week against Northwest 2B/1B League leader Mount Vernon Christian, hitting the road to the mainland Tuesday before welcoming the Hurricanes to Cow Town Thursday.

The finale is Senior Night, when the Wolves will recognize Landon Roberts and Jesus Madrigal for their contributions to the program.

Saturday’s tilt between next door neighbors featured both teams using a three-man pitching rotation.

Wolf hurlers Camden Glover, Trent Thule (making his varsity mound debut), and Roberts combined for eight strikeouts, but Coupeville was stung by five errors in the field.

Meanwhile, Falcon pitchers Malachi Pierson, Sage Northup, and Grady Davis prevented CHS from collecting a single base knock, limiting the visitors to four walks while K’ing up 12 batters.

CHS coach Steve Hilborn didn’t have many runners arrive at third Saturday afternoon.

With South Whidbey playing error-free ball behind its pitching staff, the Wolves had limited runners and never got any of them close to scoring.

Coop Cooper got a free pass in the top of the first, Glover nabbed one in the sixth, and Coupeville put Carson Grove and Jayden Little aboard in the second on back-to-back walks.

But that was it for the Wolves, with 13 straight hitters being retired between the walks to Little and Glover.

South Whidbey, which improved to 9-8 with the win, chipped away at the plate all day, pushing three across in the first inning and another run in the second.

Two more runners tapped the plate in the fourth to push the lead out to 6-0, before the Falcons ended things prematurely with another four runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Tom Fallon’s hometown team racked up nine base hits, with Northup, Pierson, and Aiden Aburto Flores each smacking a double to lead the way.

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Little League bombers livin’ big

Posted in Baseball, Little League, tagged , , , , on May 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »

All hail your offensive king! (Photos courtesy Taylor Little)

They love the longball and winning.

The red-hot ‘n rolling Central Whidbey Little League Majors baseball team is off to a 6-0 start on the season after bombing Anacortes 21-1 Thursday night.

The free-wheeling, offensive-fireworks-delivering diamond crew get back at it with home games at Coupeville’s Rhododendron Park Tuesday, May 6, and Thursday, May 8.

Both games start at 6:00 PM.

Coached by Curtis Ashby, Nate Driscoll, and Jason Joiner, the team has a powerhouse roster:

Colton Ashby
John Driscoll
Logan Flowers
Xander Flowers
Gracen Joiner
Micah McCloskey
Jonah Meek
Adrian Mitchell
Braxten Ratcliff
Brady Sherman
Nico Strong
Cole Van Dyke
Burke Winger

Coupeville’s next juggernaut.

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Cooper flexes, Wolves stumble

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on May 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Coop Cooper smacked a home run Thursday on Orcas Island. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

All or nothing.

The Coupeville High School baseball squad only collected two hits Thursday on Orcas Island, but they were both big time shots.

Coop Cooper cranked a two-run home run over the fence in centerfield — the first out-of-the-park tater for the Wolves this year — while Landon Roberts missed going yard by about five feet, settling for a ground-rule double.

Unfortunately for the Wolves, there wasn’t enough other offense, and too many errors on defense, as they fell 12-2 in a game mercy-ruled in the bottom of the fifth.

The loss drops Coupeville to 5-5 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 6-10 overall.

Next up is a palate cleanser Saturday, when Steve Hilborn’s team travels to Langley to clash with South Whidbey in a non-conference tilt.

After that, the Wolves close the regular season with two against current league leader Mount Vernon Christian as they chase a playoff berth.

Riley Lawless awaits a throw in an earlier game.

Thursday’s game, coming on the heels of a razor-close loss to Orcas in Cow Town Tuesday, was a tense one for three-and-a-half innings.

The Vikings pushed a run across in the bottom of the first, after Roberts kicked off the game with his double, only to be stranded at third.

But the Wolves held tough, with freshman pitcher Carson Grove holding Orcas down, and that gave Cooper a chance to be a hero.

Leo Rodriguez was aboard thanks to a walk, when Coupeville made its move in the top of the third.

Cooper’s blast pushed the visitors ahead 2-1, though the Vikings knotted things back up at 2-2 in the bottom half of the frame.

Unfortunately for the Wolves, they went seven up and seven down after the home run, while having one really rough inning in the field.

Orcas exploded for eight runs in its half of the fourth, using a mix of base knocks and CHS errors, and effectively took control of things.

Coupeville finished with eight errors on the day, while the Vikings played error-free ball themselves.

From there, two more runs in the bottom of the fifth pushed the lead to 10 runs, and the mercy rule brought things to an early end.

Grove and Roberts combined to whiff six Orcas hitters.

 

Thursday stats:

Coop Cooper — One home run
Riley Lawless — One walk
Landon Roberts — One double
Leo Rodriguez — One walk

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Glover dazzles in narrow loss

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on April 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Camden Glover struck out 12 while pitching Tuesday and drove in both of Coupeville’s runs at the plate. (David Somes photo)

You can win the stat battle and still lose the game.

That cruel twist of fate was reinforced for the Coupeville High School baseball squad Tuesday, as the Wolves racked up more hits and less errors than visiting Orcas Island but still fell 4-2.

Despite a stellar effort on both the mound and at the plate from Camden Glover, one bad inning stung CHS as it dropped the first of two games with the Vikings.

Now 5-4 in Northwest 2B/1B League action, 6-9 overall, the Wolves get a chance at revenge Thursday, when they island-hop for the rematch.

Tuesday’s tilt, played under grey skies on the cool, breezy prairie, started in favor of Coupeville.

Steve Hilborn’s squad put together two of their four hits in the bottom of the first, with Landon Roberts and Carson Grove collecting back-to-back base knocks to kick things off.

Glover followed by crunching a sac fly to center field to plate Roberts and give the hometown nine the early advantage.

It didn’t hold up long, however.

Orcas only scored in one inning, but the Vikings did damage in the top of the second, plating all four of its runs.

A series of walks loaded the bases, only to have the Wolves cut down the lead runner on a play at the plate, firing up the local fans.

Then Orcas catcher Calder Jones struck, lashing a two-run double to left — one of only two hits the Vikings eked out against Glover.

Two more runs came around thanks to a couple of errors, before Coupeville slammed the door shut once again.

Glover was virtually lights out across the final five innings, racking up 12 strikeouts in the game, but the Wolf offense struggled to get back in the game.

CHS stranded its next three runners, before finally getting a run back in the bottom of the fifth.

Grove poked a two-out single, then zipped home when Glover crushed an RBI double, but the Wolves ran themselves out of the inning when a would-be steal came up empty.

One last chance came in the bottom of the seventh, thanks to Orcas and its hands of stone.

The Vikings botched grounders by Leo Rodriguez and Glover to bring the potential winning run to the plate but escaped thanks to a pressure-packed final strikeout.

Jesus Madrigal (22) and Landon Roberts (6) will be honored on Senior Night May 8. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Coupeville now hits the road for three straight, traveling to Orcas (May 1), South Whidbey (May 3), and Mount Vernon Christian (May 6), before wrapping the regular season at home May 8 against MVC.

 

Tuesday stats:

Coop Cooper — Two walks
Camden Glover — One double
Carson Grove — Two singles
Landon Roberts — One single

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Cold bats, hot bats

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on April 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Carson Grove delivered a strong all-around performance Saturday in a prairie doubleheader. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

It was a Jekyll and Hyde kind of day.

Playing a Saturday afternoon doubleheader under sunny prairie skies, the Coupeville High School baseball team emerged with a split against visiting Forks, with the Wolves saving all their offense for the nightcap.

From being no-hit in an 8-0 loss to the Spartans, CHS bounced back to rip eight base knocks in the finale en route to a more-satisfying 12-4 win.

With the split against a non-conference rival, the Wolves get to 6-8 on the season and have won six of their last eight after opening the season on a six-game losing skid.

How the day played out:

 

Game #1:

Wolf pitchers Coop Cooper (9) and Carson Grove (5) combined to tally 14 strikeouts in the opener, but Coupeville only got three runners on base, making life difficult.

Jayden Little walked, while Camden Glover and Trent Thule each reached on an error, but all three happened in different innings, and the mini rallies went nowhere.

Meanwhile, Forks took advantage of four CHS errors, plating three runners in the first, two more in the fifth, and a final three-run burst in the seventh.

Jesus Madrigal (left) and associates ramped up their offense in game #2.

 

Game #2:

A completely different experience, as Coupeville, playing as the road team in this one, jumped on the Spartans from the first pitch.

Landon Roberts eked out a leadoff walk, then came around to score on an RBI double off the bat of Grove, and suddenly the offense was clicking in a completely different manner.

The Wolves poured it on in the top of the first, sending six runners across the plate, with Glover, Thule, and Leo Rodriguez picking up RBIs before Roberts closed things with a sharply hit two-run single.

With Glover bringing the heat on the mound, racking up 10 K’s across four innings of work, Coupeville never gave the lead back and continued to add to its advantage.

Two runs in the third, then three more in the fourth — with Roberts stroking his second two-run hit of the game — and a final run on a Glover RBI double in the seventh padded the lead and brought a smile to Wolf coach Steve Hilborn’s face.

Grove and Roberts also did time on the hill, with the former whiffing a batter in a short appearance, while the latter struck out seven across 2.2 innings of relief work.

 

Up next:

Coupeville has three games on the schedule next week, starting with a two-game series with Northwest 2B/1B League rival Orcas Island.

The Wolves host the Vikings Tuesday, before island-hopping Thursday.

CHS wraps up the week with a non-conference rumble Saturday at South Whidbey.

 

Saturday stats:

Camden Glover — One single, one double
Carson Grove — One double
Riley Lawless — Three walks
Jayden Little — One walk
Jesus Madrigal — One single
Landon Roberts — Three singles, one walk
Leo Rodriguez — Two walks
Trent Thule — One single, one walk
Chris Zenz — Four walks

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