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Archive for the ‘Softball’ Category

Big bats, big results

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on July 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Spring or summer, Madison McMillan punishes softballs. (Jackie Saia photo)

Swing for the fences and aim for success.

Cranking four home runs and 14 extra-base hits, the Whidbey Island Thunder 18U softball squad won four of five at a 14-team tourney in Kent this past weekend, coming up just a run short of capturing a title.

The hard-hitting squad swept through pool play with a perfect 3-0 record, came out on top in the semifinals, then fell 3-2 in a tightly contested Gold Bracket championship bout.

“I am so extremely impressed with how these girls have come together the last few weeks and just shown everybody that the little Whidbey Thunder organization is something to be reckoned with,” said coach Matt Suto.

“They left their hearts out on the field, and they smiled even after they lost,” he added. “These girls have worked hard all year long and we are eventually going to get that championship win.”

The Thunder came out on fire, with Madison McMillan and EmmaJoy Wise launching longballs to center in a 4-2 win over the Washington Freedom.

McMillan, one of three Coupeville sluggers on the roster along with Teagan Calkins and Taylor Brotemarkle, sent her tater flying 240+ feet, dropping jaws in both dugouts.

With her teammates teeing off, and a strong defense at work behind her, Thunder hurler Grace Swenson got the win in the pitcher’s circle, then handed the ball off to Zoe Abbott for game #2.

Late-game offensive heroics from Anna Friedrichs and Hayden Davies lifted Whidbey to a 4-3 win, before the all-star squad pasted their next foe 12-0 to wrap up a perfect run through pool play.

Ramona Ryder made it three Whidbey pitchers, and three wins, while Layla Suto cracked a three-run homerun to fuel the offensive surge.

“The girls just kept pounding the ball and being aggressive on the bases,” Matt Suto said.

The Whidbey Thunder celebrate a second-place finish at a 14-team tourney. (Photo courtesy Matt Suto)

The Thunder went into Sunday’s semifinals as the #1 team, marking the second weekend in a row they had achieved that feat.

This time out, Whidbey beat the Whatcom Wolverines 6-3 with Swenson dealing from the circle and Layla Suto making a phenomenal snag to rob her rivals of a potential home run.

“This was the championship game in my opinion,” Matt Suto said. “I have personally waited three years to beat this team and the girls came out fired up ready to play ball.

“Swenson pitched an absolute dime of a game in the circle, backed by multiple plays that secured the victory for us.”

While the bats were potent, it was the gloves which carried the day.

“We had killer defense in the infield — nothing got by the girls,” Matt Suto said. “They were putting their bodies and everything in front of the ball and they knocked the ball down and threw everyone out.”

Whatcom had one final chance, cramming the bags full of runners with their top hitter strolling to the plate.

To which Swenson said, “No Ma’am, not today. Not on my watch.”

The duo battled through a nine-pitch at-bat, before Whidbey’s ace “dug deep, got her pitch where she wanted it, and struck her out,”

Swenson then doubled her fun, whiffing the game’s final batter to send her team into the championship tilt.

“The championship game Zoe pitched an amazing game,” Matt Suto said. “Unfortunately, we had one mistake that cost us three runs, and that was it.”

Layla Suto clobbered a two-run homer to keep Whidbey within one run, but that was where things ended.

“We fought to the very end,” Matt Suto said. “We just ran out of steam.”

The Thunder wrap their season with a trip to Kent next weekend, before players head back to their individual schools.

 

Weekend stats:

Zoe Abbott — One single
Teagan Calkins — One single, two doubles, four walks
Hayden Davies — One single, one walk
Anna Friedrichs — Three singles
Madison McMillan — Two singles, one double, one triple, one home run, one walk
Mia Regan — Two singles
Ramona Ryder — One single, one double, two walks
Layla Suto — Two singles, one double, two home runs, two walks
Grace Swenson — One single
Loto Tupu — Three singles, one double
EmmaJoy Wise — Three singles, three doubles, one home run, one walk

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“I will always be a Wolf!”

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on July 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Kevin McGranahan enjoys his time on the softball field. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The winningest active coach at Coupeville High School is hitting the road.

Wolf softball guru Kevin McGranahan, who has compiled 111 wins, multiple league titles, and a very successful trip to the state tourney in 2019, has resigned effective August 15.

He and wife Justine, who was indispensable as an assistant coach and Wolf Mom, are moving to Folkston, Georgia.

With their children, CHS grads Wade Schaef and Katrina McGranahan-Rutledge, pursuing life in other areas now, the couple found themselves far away from family, helping prompt the move.

“We have been trying to move for the last few years but one thing or another has not allowed us to,” Kevin McGranahan said.

“We are the only two from either side of our families out on the West coast.

“With both of our kids now grown and building their own lives — one in Virginia and one going to Japan — we decided it’s time to go East, well Southeast.”

McGranahan has some time left to “get new uniforms ordered and clean up the loose ends for whoever the new coach may be” before they depart, then it’s a “3,500-mile trek across this great country.”

A master of in-game strategy at work. (Parker Hammons photo)

McGranahan has led the Wolf softball program for the past nine years, since he was hired in 2016.

That first team went 9-11 and showed tremendous growth. After that, Coupeville has been one of the most-successful softball programs in the region, first in 1A, then later 2B.

Coupeville went 19-5 in 2017, the most wins for the program since the 2002 team went 24-3 and finished third at the state tourney.

The 2019 squad, led by the homer-hitting duo of Veronica Crownover and Sarah Wright and freshman pitcher Izzy Wells, advanced to the 1A state tourney.

While there, the Wolves put up a strong fight against eventual state champ Montesano, destroyed Deer Park to claim the program’s first win at the big dance in nearly two decades, and came within a play of eliminating Cle Elum.

With the core of that team returning, Coupeville was primed for another run in 2020, only to lose its season to the pandemic, which erased all spring sports.

While he wasn’t able to record any wins that season, McGranahan joined with his fellow coaches to provide every opportunity possible for his players while still honoring ever-changing state health guidelines.

When softball returned to the field in 2021, CHS had moved to the 2B classification, and the Wolf sluggers went a pristine 12-0 in a shortened campaign.

The Wolves have followed that up with 16, 14, and 14 wins across the past three seasons, adding two more league crowns and not dodging anyone.

Under McGranahan, Coupeville softball has consistently played as tough a non-conference schedule as possible, with the Wolves often toppling teams from bigger classifications, such as 3A Oak Harbor.

This spring, a team that started three 8th graders, two freshmen, a sophomore, and four juniors (with no seniors on the roster) went 14-5 and was honored as the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association 2B Team of the Month for April.

With the entire roster set to return, and another talented group moving up, McGranahan is confident the Wolves are in a good place.

“The program is poised to win the league again and make a strong run at state,” he said. “If there is a good time to walk away, it is probably now.

“I give the new coach a proven championship roster for their first season.”

Hanging out with Taylor Brotemarkle. (Bailey Thule photo)

While he’ll miss the games, the strategy, and maybe even the occasional disagreement with the umpires, it’s the people involved who have had the biggest impact on him.

“I will miss being on the field come February thru May, and most of all I will miss the young ladies I have treated as my own for the last nine years,” McGranahan said.

“It is never going to be a perfect time to step away,” he added. “The kids keep coming into high school and now even middle school, and then you get attached to them again and the clock starts over.”

But while he won’t be the one calling the shots anymore, McGranahan will still be a part of Wolf Nation.

“I will be watching from South Georgia and will be the proudest coach to see his girls carry on the program,” he said.

“I will always be a WOLF, and their biggest fan.”

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Hail Hammerin’ Halle Black (and friends)!

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , on July 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Halle Black shows off the first of many trophies. (Photos courtesy Mandi Black)

She is the bright future of Coupeville sports.

Halle Black, the daughter of former Wolf stars Allen and Mandi (Murdy) Black, is deeply connected to the prairie.

She has parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents, even a lil’ brother, who are all either talented athletes or passionate sports supporters — or both.

As spring has morphed into summer, Halle, who has already made a mark for herself as a basketball player, has embraced the softball life her mom once lived.

As Mandi wrote on Facebook:

What a LONG first sb season, 3 teams, 3 sets of coaches, multiple different positions played and a trip to state!

I am so proud of how passionate you are, in anything you try Halle!

You’re so coachable and your competitive side is starting to shine, and this mama cannot wait for all our future sports seasons!

A softball season that began in a Central Whidbey uniform ended with a trip to the big dance for Halle as the lone prairie rep on a North Whidbey squad.

While there she, like her new teammates — who should probably all talk to their parents about moving to Coupeville where they can get proper media coverage — endured oppressive heat and the chance to play big city all-star teams.

They may not have won a state title, but they set the path for future success and did it with class and a never-say-die attitude.

There were countless young girls and boys who ventured onto the diamond to play baseball and softball this spring on Whidbey.

All should be commended for making the commitment, whether they were first-timers or are already grizzled vets while still in grade school.

Today, though, we offer a special shout-out to Halle and make her our poster girl for the movement.

Be proud of what you and your friends accomplished, Miss Black. And come back next season, and the season after that, ready to achieve even more.

While never forgetting that basketball, where your old man made his name as a hoops hotshot with a torrid shooting touch, is still God’s Chosen Sport.

If Coupeville athletics, and Coupeville Sports the blog have a future, and they do, it’s thanks to your generation.

Never stop reaching for greatness and never stop having fun out there.

The bright future.

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Thunder bats erupt with fury

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on July 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Whidbey Thunder sluggers take a brief break from crunching base hits to pose for a group pic. (Jackie Saia photo)

They brought the big sticks.

Bashing five home runs over the weekend, the Whidbey Island Thunder 18U softball squad won three of five games at the Cascades National Championship in Olympia.

The offensive barrage was fueled by Lakewood slugger EmmaJoy Wise, who smacked the ball at a sizzlin’ .818 clip while accounting for four of her team’s taters.

Jivanna Bird, a Canadian ace making her Thunder debut, lofted the team’s other home run, while Oak Harbor star Layla Suto hit .778 on the weekend.

Coupeville’s trio was a duet this time around, as shortstop Taylor Brotemarkle sat out while dealing with an injury.

Her Wolf teammates, Teagan Calkins and Madison McMillan, swung hot bats, combining for 10 hits against top-level pitching.

The Thunder came out of the gate hot, rolling to three straight wins while outscoring their foes 26-3.

“The girls came out and played absolutely flawlessly in the first three games of the tournament,” said coach Matt Suto. “Our bats and defense were on fire.”

Things got chippy in the quarterfinals, where Whidbey fell to a Utah team backed by jaw-flapping fans who crossed the line with non-stop verbal abuse.

In a fitting bit of karma, those fans then got to watch their own squad fall apart and come up short of winning the title.

The Thunder, who finished fifth in a 15-team field, closed with a loss to Velocity Fastpitch in a game where every hit seemed to land right in a mitt.

“We would hit it right at them and couldn’t find a gap,” Matt Suto said. “It was extremely frustrating, but it’s something that we have to overcome and deal with.

“Overall, I’m extremely impressed with these girls. Taking fifth place is a true accomplishment by the girls and my coaching staff.”

The trio of Ramona Ryder, Zoe Abbott, and Grace Swenson divvied up the pitching load and all “did a fantastic job,” while Calkins “was an absolute brick wall behind home plate.”

“She battled and blocked everything she could and also had to battle hot heat, and she was absolutely amazing this weekend,” Matt Suto said.

“Every player on the team contributed somewhere or another,” he added.

Whidbey outfielders Anna Friedrichs, Layla Suto, and Hayden Davies closed off the gaps, limiting rival hitters, while Loto Tupu and McMillan “were great on the corners.”

“I can’t thank the girls and the parents enough for a great weekend of ball and showing class after the situation we had to deal with against the team from Utah,” Matt Suto said.

His squad will get back at next weekend, when it travels to Kent for another tournament.

 

Weekend stats:

Zoe Abbott — One walk
Jivanna Bird — Four singles, one home run
Teagan Calkins — Six singles
Hayden Davies — One single, two walks
Anna Friedrichs — One walk
Jayme Kallio — One single
Madison McMillan — One single, two doubles, one triple, two walks
Ramona Ryder — Two singles, two walks
Layla Suto — Six singles, one double, three walks
Grace Swenson — One single
Loto Tupu — One single, three walks
EmmaJoy Wise — Three singles, two doubles, four home runs, one walk

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Softball tryouts on tap this weekend

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , on July 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Cameron Van Dyke channels Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV. “I must break you!” (Photo courtesy Michelle Armstrong)

Have a daughter between the ages of 12-16?

Time to embrace your new life as a softball travel parent and unleash the Whidbey wrecking crew on the world.

The Island Vipers, who have fielded a very successful U14 squad comprised of players from Coupeville, Oak Harbor, and all those places down South, are looking to expand.

The plan is to have both a 14U and 16U team going forward, and tryouts are set for this Saturday, June 13.

They’ll be held at Coupeville’s Rhododendron Park starting at 10 AM.

All Whidbey girls ages 12-16 are welcome, though they can’t be older than 16 as of Dec. 31, 2024.

If your player can’t be at Saturday’s tryouts, you can set up a private tryout by contacting coach Grant Van Dyke at Islandvipers@yahoo.com.

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