Coupeville Sports

  Central Whidbey sluggers (l to r) Kyle Rockwell, Joey Lippo and Ty Eck hope for a quick rebound after a tough loss. (Joe Lippo photo)

Contributed by Joe Lippo.

Central Whidbey and Sedro-Woolley faced off in Sedro Woolley today in Game 7 of the District 11 All Stars tournament in a battle of the last two undefeated teams in the tournament.

Upon arriving, we were informed that South Skagit and South Whidbey had been eliminated from the tournament and that Anacortes and North Whidbey would be on the other field playing another elimination game.

Oak Harbor survived and will get a rematch with Coupeville Friday.

Up to this point, Sedro Woolley had not played a complete game, having ten-runned the last two teams they faced. The Coupeville boys had come back from a combined 12 runs to win their games.

Julian Welling started on the mound and lasted two innings, with the team giving up 10 runs. A Sedro Woolley player even hit a home run (solo), and the Central Whidbey team could not seem to get it together.

But wait… Doesn’t it seem like we have been here before?

Jake Pease replaced Welling, and it seemed like things started coming together as the Sedro Woolley bats suddenly were more or less silenced.

But it was not to be.

After the bottom of the second, only five runs were scored, 3 of them by the Central Whidbey squad. There were, however, some excellent moments throughout the game, despite the 12-3 loss:

Pease went yard for the first time in his career, smashing the stitches off the ball to deep right center for a solo homer.

Even though the score was 12-1 at this point, the whole team came out to meet him at home plate. Later, proud mom Pam Pease was presented with the actual ball by the tournament director.

Kyle Rockwell snared a line drive shot down the third base line that was traveling roughly the speed of a highly classified Area 51 spy plane. The crack of the bat and the smack of the ball hitting the pocket of Rockwell’s glove were no more than a half-second apart.

Bryce Payne made a fantastic running catch in center field, staring into the sun.

Joey Lippo knocked down another supersonic shot to third and fired to Shane Losey for the out at first base, with Losey making a great dig to snare the long throw.

Nick Etzell snared a bouncer on the backhand and flipped to Losey to end an inning.

If this squad could figure out a way to play the first two innings like they play the last four, they would have no trouble with any team in the league.

A word on the long ball: The number of kids on this team that are capable of sending baseballs into the seats (as it were) has climbed to an astronomical FIVE.

In addition to Pease, we have Rockwell, Lippo, Ty Eck and Welling that have hit one out.

That isn’t to say that there aren’t more coming. This author has seen Matt Hillborn, Etzell and Payne hit the fence on the fly, only inches from going out of the park. As these kids get bigger, there will only be more.

I foresee a very good Coupeville squad for the future!

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Kyle Rockwell leads off first during an earlier game. (Joan Payne photo)

This story is contributed by Joe Lippo.

Game Two of the District 11 Little League Majors tournament, held Tuesday night, was a real nail biter.

Ty Eck started the game on the mound for Coupeville and was promptly credited with a slew of walks and passed balls, resulting in four South Whidbey runs.

He was having an off day (and so, it seemed, was everyone else). Even though he held South Whidbey to two runs in the second, he was replaced with Bryce Payne to start the third inning.

In the interim, the Central team was having a little difficulty finding its stride.

There were errors, batters were striking out looking, and outfielders were dropping balls. At least one ball went through the legs of an infielder. Payne gave up two more runs with a little “help” from his fielders.

It didn’t look good at all for the boys from the middle of the Island as the score was run up to a discouraging 8-0 by the top of the third inning.

Then Payne dug down, found a little extra and got the team out of the inning, bringing Central Whidbey back to the plate.

They didn’t exactly dash out onto the field. If this were a movie, the slow, sad music would be playing, and the fans would be heading for the exits.

It was 8-0. That’s EIGHT to NOTHING. As in, they had eight runs and … well, you get it.

BUT…

Remember what I said yesterday? About how this particular Central Whidbey team has the innate ability to interpret the scoreboard however they want? Or just seemingly ignore it altogether?

Monday they were down 4-0 and came back to win 10-4. That was obviously not enough of a challenge for the Coupeville boys…

So, just like yesterday, don’t stop reading. Trust me, if you’re a Coupeville sports fan, you WANT to read the rest of this. Really.

Julian Welling and Joey Lippo paced the dugout, trying to keep the team’s heads up, reminding them to stay hydrated and keep it simple.

The coaches sent signals and exhorted the team to stick to the basics, relax, and for God’s sake use two hands to catch the ball.

The bottom of the third inning was when it all started.

With two outs, Central Whidbey had two people on base and Eck came to the plate. The pitcher threw a pitch that ended up hitting him and the judge awarded first base for pain and suffering.

Then Jake Pease came to the plate. Apparently, Pease thought that the field didn’t look so good with three Central players on base, and the scoreboard didn’t look so good with that goose egg on it, so he swatted a deep ball for a double, and cleared the bases.

Shortly thereafter, in the meat of the lineup, Welling hit a single to score Pease, making the score 8-4 in South Whidbey’s favor.

Jared Brown came in to pitch, and allowed only one run in the top of the fourth. The bottom of the fourth was a mirror image of the third, with Pease again hitting a bases loaded double, driving in his sixth RBI of the game.

This brings the score to 9-7 South Whidbey.

Brown remained the very picture of consistency, allowing no runs in the top of the fifth, while also featuring prominently in a play where the South Whidbey player on third let his situational awareness lapse for a second.

The catcher flipped the ball to Brown, who immediately whipped it to a waiting Lippo on third for the pick-off.

The same could not be said of the South Whidbey pitcher, as he gave up a few walks and hits to Matt Hillborn and Kyle Rockwell, driving in two more runs to tie the game at nine apiece.

The crowd from Central was thrilled, the fans from South not so much.

A rally in the sixth fell short, sending the game into extra innings. Bonus baseball! OT! The most thrilling part of any sporting event!

Brown stayed rock solid on the mound in the top of the extra inning, doing it all himself by striking out two and fielding a ball hit back to him for an out.

This was now Central’s chance to do it. The South Whidbey pitcher took the mound.

Can you imagine the pressure? One run across the plate and that’s it. No do-overs.

Speedy Hillborn chopped an infield single, beating the throw by mere inches. Payne and Brown followed with walks, then Eck came to the plate, and the winning run crossed the plate shortly after ball four was called.

Not the way we would choose to win, but this is why we play the game.

Central Whidbey wins 10-9 and South Whidbey moves to the losers bracket. Next opponent is Sedro Woolley on July 4th in a battle of unbeaten teams.

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Nick Etzell roars into the bag, creating his own sand storm.

Central Whidbey was solid on the mound.

At the plate.

And in the field.

2-0, baby!

After pulling out a huge 10-9 victory over arch-rival South Whidbey Tuesday (storming back after trailing 8-0 in the fourth inning), the Central Whidbey Major All-Stars baseball squad is unbeaten in the District 11 tournament.

Now it returns to Sedro Woolley for more playoff action on the 4th of July.

The photos above, courtesy of team mom Joan Payne, are from Central Whidbey’s opening 10-4 shellacking of South Skagit Monday.

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Joey Lippo, seen here during a practice, swung a big bat in his team’s 10-4 win. (Patrick Kelley photo)

The following story is written by Joe Lippo. To read more of his stuff, check out his hockey blog at http://11andcounting.blogspot.com/.

The Little League Majors All-Star Tournament kicked off in Sedro Woolley with Central Whidbey taking on South Skagit.

The Coupeville boys have high hopes for this year’s tourney, and coaches Bob Brown, Scott Losey and Steve Hillborn are confident that this team can go far.

“We have plenty of pitchers,” Brown said. “Julian Welling has about five different pitches, Jake Pease is solid and Jared Brown has this one pitch where the ball curves the other way.

“Don’t know how he does it yet, but were not messing with it,” he added. “Almost everyone on this team can pitch well.”

The first inning opened with South Skagit walking twice and hitting two singles and a double off of Pease, good for four runs.

Now, I know what’s going through your heads, and I just want you to keep reading at this point, OK? Keep. Reading.

In the bottom of the first, the Skagit pitcher walked two, and then Joey Lippo opened Central Whidbey’s scoring with a deep shot that sailed over the outfielders’ heads and landed six feet shy of the fence and rolled under it for a ground rule double, scoring one.

At this point, we should remember that Coupeville, when behind by seemingly any number of runs, has the other team right where they want them: up front and overconfident. This is the norm for this season, it seems.

The top of the second inning resulted in no runs for Skagit as Pease decided that he had had quite enough of Skagit’s batters, thank you very much, and the Central All-Stars came back to the plate.

The Skagit pitcher quickly loaded the bases by walking Jared Brown, then giving up singles to Pease and Welling. Then Lippo cleared most of them just as quickly with a single, driving in his second and third RBIs of the game.

After two innings, it’s 4-3 in Skagit’s favor.

In the third,  Skagit was chased back onto the field early again, scoring no runs under Welling’s pitching onslaught, and the Skagit pitcher was back on the mound.

Ty Eck started with a single, Jared Brown followed with his own single, and then Kyle Rockwell made it back-to-back-to-back singles, sending two runs home. The next four batters walked before Skagit could stop the bleeding, letting Coupeville take the lead 6-4.

The fourth was uneventful, and many took the opportunity to find something to eat or drink.

As the fifth inning began, it was obvious that Skagit had finally gotten the memo: the boys from Central only get better as the game wears on.

If that wasn’t enough, they were forced to endure a fourth straight scoreless inning, and were very quickly back in the field yet again after watching the pitching clinic put on by Welling, and experiencing a sudden end to their inning when catcher Pease threw to third-baseman Lippo for the pickoff.

In the bottom of the inning, Brown and Bryce Payne walked so that Pease could get a couple RBIs with a double that scored both of them.

Solid hitters Welling and Lippo both got on base with singles, then Nick Etzell, Eck and Matt Hillborn all hit to add two more runs and make the final score 10-4.

The last hopes for Skagit to rally for a late game comeback were dashed quickly as Whidbey’s closer, Brown, fooled three batters in a row to win the game and move his squad a step closer to the District championship.

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(Patrick Kelley photos)

“That’ll do, son. That’ll do.”

A Central Whidbey Little League coach says goodbye to his player, and … dang it … why is it so darn dusty in here right now?

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