Julian Welling snags a hot shot at first. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Saturday was a busy day, for all of us.
Five Coupeville High School athletic teams took advantage of the nice weather, with three playing on the road.
Meanwhile I was in Maple Valley, deep into a week-long odyssey of helping my sister and her family move back to Whidbey after a 15-year exile on the main land.
At this point, I am running on very little sleep, and still have one more day of non-Coupeville Sports grunt work ahead of me, and Saturday was also short on wins for the Wolves.
So, we’re going to mix things up a bit and make this story a four-for-one special.
That guarantees I uphold my part of our unwritten agreement – that you, the readers, can peruse the previous day’s sports exploits with your morning cereal.
While also getting me to bed sometime before 3 AM in the morning…
So, we’re off.
JV baseball:
The lone Coupeville win Saturday came courtesy of the Wolf young guns, who held on for a 5-3 victory at Vashon Island.
CHS broke open a scoreless game in the top of the fourth, taking advantage of four Pirate errors and a crucial one-out single from Shane Losey to plate four runners.
Another run in the fifth, this one featuring a single from Jacob Zettle and a sac fly from frosh Daniel Olson, capped Coupeville’s scoring.
That was enough for Wolf hurlers Johnny Carlson and Jered Brown, who combined to cruise in with the win.
Coming on in relief in the fifth, Brown was spot-on, striking out five over three innings, including Vashon’s final four hitters.
Zettle, Losey, Olson, Brown and Drake Borden all whacked base-hits in the game, helping the JV nab their first win in three games this season.
Varsity softball:
It started so strongly, but then something went a little haywire.
After crunching four hits and scoring three times in the top of the first, Coupeville’s offense hit a lull, and the Wolves fell 11-3 at Vashon.
The non-conference loss drops the softball sluggers to 2-1 on the season.
The Wolves came off the ferry on fire, with Lauren Rose walking to open things, followed by four consecutive singles off of the bats of Scout Smith, Katrina McGranahan, Veronica Crownover and Hope Lodell.
With McGranahan and Crownover picking up RBIs, things looked great for CHS.
And, while Vashon scraped out two runs of its own in the bottom of the first, the Wolves held on to a 3-2 lead until the bottom of the fourth, when a six-run rally by their hosts took a little bit of the shine off the day.
After putting together four straight hits in the first, the Wolves didn’t collect another hit until Coral Caveness singled in the fourth.
Sarah Wright and Crownover punched base-hits in the fifth, as well, but the rally ended before it began, and an interference call on a Wolf runner derailed any comeback hopes in the seventh.
“Today was just not our day,” said Coupeville coach Kevin McGranahan. “We were a little off all day and never really had an answer for it.
“Vashon hit the ball well all day and they hit the gaps. Our defense had some little errors but all in all it was a good defensive day,” he added. “Today our offense let us down and we paid for it.
“We will see them again at districts and next time we will give them a better game.”
Varsity baseball:
A day after ten-running North Mason, Coupeville was ten-runned by Vashon Island, falling 10-0 in five innings on the road.
The non-conference loss drops the Wolves diamond men to 3-3 on the season.
“Ran into a tough team,” said CHS coach Chris Smith. “Good opponent to see we need to keep working.”
Coupeville put runners on base in four of five innings, but a double play in the first killed their best chance of getting an early rally up and going.
The Wolves were out-hit 9-3, with Vashon tagging three extra-base hits.
Joey Lippo, Dane Lucero and Kyle Rockwell collected Coupeville’s lonely base-knocks, while Wolf hurler Matt Hilborn walked twice.
Varsity boys soccer:
The myth endures.
Klahowya won its 24th straight 1A Olympic League game, blanking Coupeville 5-0 in a game played on Whidbey.
The loss drops the Wolves to 1-1 in league play (they’re tied with Port Townsend), and puts them a game-and-a-half behind the Eagles (3-0), who are seeking a fourth-straight conference title.
Facing a stingy KSS defense, Coupeville was held scoreless for the first time in five games this season, and sits at 2-2-1 overall.
“The first half we kept things close,” said CHS coach Kyle Nelson. “We had a number of good opportunities, and played pretty much even with them, only conceding a counter attack goal late in the half.
“The second half did not go as well; Klahowya came out a little more aggressive in the second half and we didn’t match it,” he added. “The boys pretty much ran out of gas.”
Still, the first half gives Coupeville hope for the next time.
“We did see that we can play with them, we just need to do it for the full game,” Nelson said. “I will be looking forward to our rematch with them; I know we can do better.”
JV boys soccer:
Coupeville fell 7-1. And that’s all I know.
