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Archive for the ‘Softball’ Category

Wright back where she belongs

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on March 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville grad Sarah Wright, seen here last spring, is back to playing college softball. (Photo courtesy Wright)

The field is hers again.

Coupeville High School grad Sarah Wright and her softball teammates at Sewanee: The University of the South returned to the diamond Wednesday, playing for the first time in 360 days.

With the ongoing pandemic, the Tigers will play a limited schedule this spring, with only home games.

For its season opener, Sewanee welcomed Covenant College to Tennessee, with the visitors swinging by from just over the Georgia line.

After a bit of a slow start in a 7-2 loss, Wright and the Tigers rebounded nicely in the nightcap, winning 3-2.

The former Coupeville four-sport star (and Valedictorian) — now a sophomore at Sewanee — was one of the stars in game two, bashing three singles and picking up her first RBI of the season.

Clinging to a one-run lead, the Tigers gave up a leadoff triple in the top of the sixth, but escaped unharmed, then ended the game in the seventh on a double play.

Wright, who was hitting out of the cleanup spot and catching for Sewanee, walked twice in the opener, while teammate Alice Charbonea mashed a solo homerun.

The Tigers, who currently have a 10-game schedule (though that could expand), return to action this Saturday, March 6, when they host Berry College for a doubleheader.

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CHS diamond dandies lose a foe (for now)

Posted in Baseball, Softball, tagged , , , , on February 24, 2021| Leave a Comment »

With Orcas Island stepping away from spring sports, Daniel Olson’s senior season dips from 10 games to nine. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

And then there were six.

Things change at a moment’s notice in the Age of Coronavirus, and Wednesday brought a new wrinkle.

Orcas Island informed Northwest 2B/1B League officials it will not begin athletics until students return to in-person education.

Currently, the expectation is for that to happen in late March, though nothing is guaranteed.

With a condensed spring sports season running from February 22 to April 3, Orcas is out, with the hope it will be back in when traditional fall sports run March 29 to May 8.

The Vikings are the second group of NWL athletes to bow out due to COVID-19 concerns, as Chimacum already opted to delay joining what is intended to be an eight-team league.

Chimacum combined with next-door neighbor Port Townsend for the 2020-2021 school year, and the schools are playing in the 1A/2A Olympic League as East Jefferson.

With Orcas stepping away from spring sports, two Coupeville teams lose a total of four games from already pared-down schedules.

The Wolf softball squad was set to host the Vikings March 13, then join the CHS baseball team in traveling to Orcas March 23.

That road trip was to feature a softball doubleheader and a lone hardball contest.

With the changes, Coupeville softball sees its schedule shrink from 12 to nine games, while Wolf baseball goes from 10 to nine.

CHS track and girls tennis are unaffected, as Orcas doesn’t field teams in those sports.

 

UPDATE #1: A trip to Friday Harbor has been added to the schedule on March 19, bringing both Coupeville diamond schedules up to 10 games.

 

UPDATE #2: Softball will play a home doubleheader March 6 against Friday Harbor, instead of the previously-planned single game, raising its schedule back to 11 games. 

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New league, same title hopes

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on February 23, 2021| Leave a Comment »

After a year off due to COVID-19, Izzy Wells and Co. are back to reclaim the diamond. (Karen Carlson photo)

It’s been a long time coming.

Coupeville High School softball players are back on the field and ready to play games again for the first time since the 2019 state tournament.

The COVID-19 shutdown cost the Wolves the 2020 season and prevented four-year players such as Emma Mathusek and Scout Smith from experiencing their senior season.

But, while that hurts, the focus when players opened practice Monday was a positive one, said CHS coach Kevin McGranahan.

“I have 22 girls as of today and ALL of them have been practicing when we could throughout the last year,” he said. “They have all stuck by the program and are anxious to get the season going.

“I could not be more proud of this team,” McGranahan added.

“I am always proud of my teams, but this particular set of girls have endured through the last year and finally get to showoff a little bit.”

Leading the way will be five players from that 2019 team, which won a North Sound Conference title, finished second at districts, then advanced to state for the third time in program history.

Seniors Chelsea Prescott, Mollie Bailey, and Coral Caveness are joined by juniors Izzy Wells and Audrianna Shaw.

Wells was Coupeville’s #1 pitcher as a freshman, while Prescott has been one of her team’s most-dangerous hitters since day one of her own 9th grade season.

Bailey held down third base for the 2019 state team, and also has plenty of experience as a catcher, while Caveness and Shaw played multiple positions.

The five-pack are key as the Wolves move into their home in the Northwest 2B/1B League.

“Gonna need all of them to step up and lead the younger players that have never seen varsity time due to COVID,” McGranahan said.

Coral Caveness, one of three Coupeville seniors, last played at the 2019 state tourney. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Among key newcomers for the Wolves are a group of “redshirt freshmen” — sophomores who never got to play last spring and are “talented, but very inexperienced at this level.”

These include Gwen Gustafson (pitcher/centerfield), Jill Prince (infield), and the deadly duo of Allie and Maya Lucero (infield).

Outfielder Lacy McCraw-Shirron, who transferred to Coupeville before last season, but never got on the field, is also expected to contribute.

Regardless of which of the 22 players get on the field, and in what positions, McGranahan will be there to preach hard work and improvement.

“We have strong leaders in our seniors, and our defense will be pretty solid with a scrappy offense,” he said. “(But we need to work on) softball IQ – we have to get better with our softball knowledge of the game and strategies.

“This is only because we are getting so young and inexperienced due to COVID; not a knock on the girls at all,” McGranahan added. “They just have to be able to learn quickly.”

Along with the time off, Coupeville is making the transition from 1A to 2B, with a new group of foes.

With schools playing shortened seasons as they return from the pandemic shutdown, the Wolves are scheduled for 12 games, all against league opponents.

They’ll play five games against fellow 2B schools La Conner (3) and Friday Harbor (2), with seven against 1B foes Orcas Island (3), Darrington (2), and Concrete (2).

Mount Vernon Christian (1B) doesn’t play softball, while Chimacum (2B) delayed its move to the NWL until the 2021-2022 school year.

There won’t be any playoffs this season, with the hope that things will be back to “normal” in the spring of 2022.

In particular, McGranahan, who enjoys having his team “play up,” is looking forward to when CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith can return to adding extra games to the schedule.

“I hope in future seasons we can play the 1A schools out of conference to challenge our girls, because they respond to a challenge.”

Which doesn’t mean the Wolves aren’t swinging for the fences this time out.

“Our goals are to win the league and develop the younger talent that lost a very big developmental year last season,” McGranahan said.

“Friday Harbor will be our biggest challenge from what I can tell,” he added. “They were getting pretty good before COVID, so I expect them to be our new rival.

“But with everyone having a year off, anyone could have gotten better.”

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She has the Wright stuff in the classroom

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on February 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Sarah Wright

No games, but good grades.

As she waits for softball to return from its COVID-19 shutdown, Coupeville’s Sarah Wright has remained a force in the classroom.

The former Wolf was one of 12 diamond dandies to make the Dean’s List for the Advent Semester of the 2020-21 academic year at Sewanee: The University of the South.

To be eligible for the Dean’s List, a student must have a semester average of 3.625 or higher after completing a semester with credit for at least three and one-half academic courses, at least three of which were taken for a grade.

Wright and her teammates topped the entire school, in fact, as their team GPA of 3.781 was the best posted by any Tigers athletic squad.

Softball was followed by women’s swim/dive (3.597), men’s cross country (3.589), women’s cross country (3.572), and volleyball (3.561).

Wright, a Valedictorian and four-sport athlete during her time in Coupeville, is a sophomore at Sewanee.

While Tigers softball has been sidelined during the pandemic, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

School officials have said Sewanee spring sports teams may compete, but only at home, with no travel involved.

No games have officially been set yet, but there is talk the team may play in late February/early March, Wright said.

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Little League needs players, volunteers

Posted in Baseball, Softball, tagged , , , , on January 26, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Central Whidbey Little League players are revved up and more than ready to return to the diamond. (Jackie Saia photo)

The fate of Central Whidbey Little League is in your hands.

As registration opens for a potential spring season, the search for a new generation of volunteers to run things is at its most-crucial point.

Virtually every member of the current CWLL board has a child who is about to “age out” of play, meaning new parents (or aunts and uncles, or grandparents, or just community-minded folk) will need to step up to keep things going.

There is a genuine potential that if enough new volunteers don’t surface, the league might vanish next year, leaving Coupeville kids with the choice of traveling to Oak Harbor or South Whidbey to play baseball or softball.

“We are in dire need of volunteers in every capacity,” said CWLL President Gordon McMillan. “These include managers, coaches, umpires, concession stand workers, food handlers, scorekeepers, and board members.”

For those on the fence about volunteering, the league invites them to join its next open board meeting February 1 at 6 PM to “ask questions, give your input, and to see how you can help CWLL be successful.”

With everyone still living in the Age of Coronavirus, CWLL is approaching registration with “excited” caution.

The league is working with little league officials and Island County’s Health and Parks departments to plan for a “safe and successful season with proper mitigation in response to the virus.”

Current plans, if county and state health department protocols can be met:

March 3 — Practices start
March 6 – May 29 — Minors and Majors baseball and softball season
May 1 – June 15 — T-Ball season
May 22 – June 30 — Juniors baseball and softball season

But with so much uncertainty, CWLL won’t collect any money at the present time.

Instead, each registered player will be placed on a hold list. Once there is definitive confirmation of a season, emails will be sent out with instructions on how to finish registration and pay.

To register a player, obtain a volunteer application form, or nab the link to the board meeting, pop over to:

Home (centralwhidbeylittleleague.com)

 

For questions, email Gordon McMillan at centralwhidbeyll@gmail.com or call him at (206) 550-7146 between the hours of 12-4 PM.

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