Coupeville Sports

Be the next Sweet Lou!!

March 7, 2018 by David Svien

Central Whidbey Little League needs another baseball coach, stat. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Want to coach baseball? Now’s your moment.

Whether you have visions of being Lou Piniella’s one true heir or just want to get out of the house and smell the fresh air, I have a job which could be enticing for either a newcomer or a hardball veteran.

As Coupeville gears up for another spring on the diamond, Central Whidbey Little League is searching for a volunteer to head up its rookie baseball squad.

The team is co-ed, open to kids ages 6-8 and has a full roster, but just needs a coach before play starts next month.

If interested, contact centralwhidbeyll@gmail.com.

Posted in Baseball | Tagged baseball, Central Whidbey Little League, coaching, job openings, Lou Piniella | Leave a Comment »

Etzell slams the door!!

March 6, 2018 by David Svien

Coupeville grad Ben Etzell brings the heat on the college diamond. (Libby Auger photo)

Big Ben, little pic. (Photo property of Saint John’s University baseball)

Ben Etzell is warming up, in more ways than one.

The former Coupeville High School baseball star is kicking off his senior season at Saint John’s University with extended spring training in Fort Myers, Florida, as opposed to being on campus in Minnesota.

On Tuesday, that meant playing in a balmy 76 degrees as opposed to trying to warm up his fastball in a frigid 29 degrees.

With his arm limbered up, Etzell made his season debut, tossing two perfect innings and nabbing the win in relief as the Johnnies slipped past Alvernia University in a 2-1 thriller.

The victory came in the first of two games Saint John’s played Tuesday.

A 13-1 win over the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford in the nightcap improved SJU to a pristine 4-0 on the young season.

The Johnnies have outscored their foes 53-4.

Etzell and Co. play doubleheaders Wednesday and Thursday, then cap their Florida adventure with a single game Friday before getting on a plane and gettin’ the heck out of town.

After an eight-day break, the Johnnies travel to Arizona, where they’ll play seven games in four days.

Saint John’s doesn’t set foot on a Minnesota diamond until Mar. 31, then plays the final 23 games of its 39-game regular-season schedule inside its home state.

Tuesday, the Johnnies dueled down to the wire with Alvernia, with the two teams trading solo home runs over the first seven innings.

With the game knotted at 1-1, Etzell, who was a First-Team All-Conference pick as a relief pitcher a season ago, took the mound in the eighth and promptly set the opposing batters down one-two-three.

Sparked by their ace, the Johnnies rallied for a run in the top of the ninth, with Max Jackson ripping an RBI single to plate what turned out to be the winning run.

Etzell finished off his perfect season debut with another one-two-three inning in the ninth, finishing with two strikeouts while facing the minimum six batters.

With the win, he improved to 9-2 as a college hurler.

Posted in Baseball, Wolves in college | Tagged baseball, Ben Etzell, Florida, Mariano Rivera, Saint John's University | Leave a Comment »

“My goal is to make history!!”

March 6, 2018 by David Svien

Sophomore Derek Leyva, who joins cousin Aram Leyva on the pitch, is Coupeville’s newest soccer star. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There’s a new sharpshooter in town.

As the Coupeville High School boys soccer squad prepares for its home opener Saturday against 2A Olympic (11 AM JV, 1 PM varsity) there’s buzz over both the school’s new stadium, and its newest soccer star.

While local fans watched the stadium being slowly built, sophomore Derek Leyva is virtually popping up out of nowhere.

The cousin of current and former Wolf booters Aram and Abraham Leyva, Derek is still fairly new to the hallways of CHS.

But he’s not new to the soccer field, where his youth can’t disguise the years he’s put in perfecting his game.

“I’ve played since I was six years old,” Leyva said. “I started to play soccer because since I was a little boy I’ve liked it.

“I like soccer because I enjoy it and have fun.”

Leyva, who enjoys listening to music when he’s not playing, draws a lot of support from his family.

“My dad would have to be the biggest impact in my life,” he said.

On the pitch, Leyva will use his speed (“my strengths are running”) as he and Aram chase the goal-scoring records set by Abraham during his playing days.

The duo and their teammates also want to make a run at the top of the 1A Olympic League, with an eye on toppling three-time defending champs Klahowya.

“Some areas I’d like to work on would have to be making more goals,” Derek Leyva said. “My goal for this upcoming season is to make history.”

Posted in Boys Soccer | Tagged Abraham Leyva, CHS Wolves, Derek Leyva, music, season opener, Soccer | Leave a Comment »

Stick the landing!!

March 6, 2018 by David Svien

Allison Wenzel is one of four Wolf seniors who played a sport in all 12 seasons of high school. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Missed it … by that much.

As we head towards the first official games of spring, preliminary reports have 22 of the 29 Coupeville High School athletes who played a fall and winter sport completing the trifecta and earning status as three-sport athletes.

While that’s an impressive number for a very small student body, it narrowly misses tying the best performance in the six-year history of Coupeville Sports.

The numbers:

2012-2013 — (18 three-sport athletes)
2013-2014 — (23)
2014-2015 — (20)
2015-2016 — (17)
2016-2017 — (23)
2017-2018 — (22)

That includes four Wolf seniors — Allison Wenzel, Hunter Downes, Cameron Toomey-Stout and Hunter Smith — who made it a flawless 12-for-12, playing a sport in every season of their prep careers.

Certainly nothing to sneeze at, as only three CHS athletes — Lauren Grove, Jared Helmstadter and Tiffany Briscoe — accomplished the feat in the last two years combined.

It was almost more than four, as well, as Lauren Rose and Joey Lippo each missed perfection by just a single season, opting to sit out their senior and sophomore basketball seasons respectively.

Of the 22 who are minting themselves as three-sport athletes in 2017-2018, there’s a good balance.

The breakdown shows 12 boys and 10 girls, with seven seniors, six sophomores, five juniors and four freshmen.

Wolf girls were ahead going into spring, but five of the seven who are declining to play this season, for various reasons, are female athletes.

The spotlight will swing back on the girls next year, though, as the only CHS juniors who have a shot to pull off a 12-for-12 career are Lindsey Roberts and Sarah Wright.

Coupeville’s three-sport athletes in 2017-2018:

Mollie Bailey (frosh) (soccer, basketball, softball)
Kylie Chernikoff (frosh) (volleyball, basketball, track)
Hunter Downes (sr) (football, basketball, soccer)
Mason Grove (soph) (tennis, basketball, baseball)
Gavin Knoblich (soph) (football, basketball, baseball)
Ryan Labrador (jr) (football, basketball, track)
Joey Lippo (sr) (tennis, basketball, baseball)
Dane Lucero (jr) (football, basketball, baseball)
Jean Lund-Olsen (soph) (football, basketball, track)
Jake Pease (jr) (football, basketball, baseball)
Chelsea Prescott (frosh) (volleyball, basketball, softball)
Avalon Renninger (soph) (soccer, basketball, tennis)
Lindsey Roberts (jr) (soccer, basketball, track)
Kyle Rockwell (sr) (football, basketball, baseball)
Hunter Smith (sr) (football, basketball, baseball)
Scout Smith (soph) (volleyball, basketball, softball)
Cameron Toomey-Stout (sr) (football, basketball, track)
James Vidoni (sr) (football, basketball, baseball)
Allison Wenzel (sr) (volleyball, basketball, track)
Genna Wright (frosh) (soccer, basketball, tennis)
Sarah Wright (jr) (soccer, basketball, softball)
Tia Wurzrainer (soph) (soccer, basketball, tennis)