Coupeville Sports

Stalemate city!!

March 11, 2017 by David Svien

Ethan Spark, seen here last year, opened the 2017 season Saturday with a goal from midfield. (John Fisken photo)

Boo! Boo, I say.

Not to the Coupeville High School boys’ soccer squad, which came dangerously close to upending a 2A school on the road Saturday in its season opener.

But a hearty boo to the folks who issued the declaration non-conference soccer games should end in ties, with no chance of overtime and/or a winner-take-all shoot-out.

So, after a long, rainy trip to Bremerton, and a strong team-wide effort by a much-smaller school, Coupeville settled for a 2-2 stalemate with host Olympic.

This, people, is why soccer struggles to match the popularity of other high school sports among those fans who are not die-hard pitch fanatics.

Ties — the bane of all of our lives and pretty much the very definition of un-American.

If we get past my petty issues, though, the Wolves came out strongly to open the season.

Ethan Spark and William Nelson, the team’s leading returning scorers, immediately slipped right back into the groove, with each junior sharpshooter finding the back of the net.

Spark launched a ball from midfield which evaded the Olympic goalie, while Nelson used angles, smacking a ball off a foe’s shin guard for his first score of 2017.

The Coupeville defense, spearheaded by Uriel Liquidano, Uriah Kastner, Axel Partida and Josh Robinson, held up well against their 2A opponents, while goalies Mathew Shreffner and Brian Roberts shared time in net.

“We worked together to keep our game tied,” Roberts said. “It was a game to see; cold and wet, but a good game.”

Coupeville returns to action 4:30 PM Tuesday, when it hosts Chimacum in the league opener.

And yes, because it’s a conference game, we can guarantee one thing — no ties.

So, we got that going for us, which is nice.

Posted in Boys Soccer | Tagged 1A vs. 2A, CHS Wolves, Olympic, season opener, Soccer, William Nelson | Leave a Comment »

Hardball squad endures wet ‘n wild opener!!

March 11, 2017 by David Svien

Clay Reilly, seen here eyeballing a pitch last year, reached base all three times he hit Saturday in a season-opening loss. (John Fisken photo)

As the field got wetter Saturday, the ball (and the game) slipped away from Coupeville.

Committing four of its five errors in the late going, the Wolf baseball squad saw a 2-2 tie turn into a 9-2 non-conference loss to host Lynden Christian in a season-opener called after five innings.

“Ugly weather. Hit well. Found some areas we need to work on,” said understated (and very damp) Coupeville coach Marc Aparicio.

The Lyncs, who only out-hit CHS 4-3, took advantage of wild throws and juggled balls to score four runs in the bottom of the third, then tack on three more in the fourth.

The miscues negated often-strong pitching from Coupeville, which racked up eight strikeouts combined from a four-pack of pitchers — Julian Welling, Jonathan Thurston, Nick Etzell and Hunter Smith.

The Wolves put runners on base in four of five innings, but only brought them around in the third.

Trailing 2-0, Coupeville seized an opportunity after Taylor Consford walked and Smith reached on an error to start the inning.

Clay Reilly and Thurston put together back-to-back one-out RBI singles to tie things up, before Lynden recovered to get out of the inning.

The Wolves put two runners on in both the first (walks to Reilly and Welling) and fifth (walks to Reilly and Kory Score) but couldn’t plate them.

A possible two-out rally in the fourth was also snuffed. Consford stroked a triple, but was left high and dry when a strikeout ended any Coupeville hopes.

With the rain coming down in waves, the varsity game was ended prematurely and the JV game, which was to follow, was called off.

The Wolves return to action Wednesday, when they launch defense of their 1A Olympic League title with a game at Chimacum.

After that, CHS plays six of its next seven at home.

Posted in Baseball | Tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, Hunter Smith, Lynden Christian, season opener | Leave a Comment »

Cool weather, hot hits!!

March 11, 2017 by David Svien

Sarah Wright (left) and Lauren Rose wait for their turn at bat while Kayla Rose (back) is pretty dang sure it’s too cold for spring. (John Fisken photos)

Mikayla Elfrank gets ready to crank one.

Melia Welling goes downtown.

CHS coach Kevin McGranahan fires up another pitch to one of his waiting sluggers.

Veronica Crownover, about to send one into the produce aisle at Prairie Center.

They call Hope Lodell “The Surgeon,” but right now she’s in full-on mash-the-ball mode.

Wright gets ready to inflict some lasting damage on an unsuspecting softball.

And then the sun came out. Ha! No it didn’t.

Eyes tracking the ball, freshman Emma Mathusek is a picture of concentration.

The weather might not have been warm, but the swings were crisp.

Braving the “spring”-like conditions Friday afternoon, Coupeville High School softball players took the field and held a Hit-A-Thon to raise funds for the program.

As the afternoon unfolded, wanderin’ camera clicker John Fisken, down for a visit from Oak Harbor, was nice enough to snag these pics for us.

To stay on top of his work this spring (purchases fund college scholarships for CHS student/athletes) keep an eye on:

http://www.johnsphotos.net/

Posted in Softball | Tagged CHS Wolves, hit-a-thon, John Fisken photos, Sarah Wright, Softball | Leave a Comment »

The joyride continues!!

March 10, 2017 by David Svien

Makana Stone (23), seen here earlier in the NCAA Championships, went for nine points and 11 rebounds Friday as Whitman rolled into the Elite Eight. (John Fisken photo)

They’re crying deep in the heart of Texas right now.

Sparked by fab frosh Makana Stone, who threw down nine points and snagged a game-high 11 rebounds, the Whitman College women’s basketball team pulled off a major upset Friday to roll into the Elite Eight.

Playing in frigid St. Paul, Minnesota, the #16 Blues stunned #7 Trinity University (Texas) 69-59 in the third round of the NCAA D-III women’s basketball championships.

Whitman improves to 26-4 and advances to play #2 St. Thomas (30-0), which nipped Marymount (Va.) 62-55.

Saturday’s match-up, played on the same floor at Schoenecker Arena, tips off at 5 PM Pacific time and can be streamed at:

http://tommiesports.com/broadcast/w7vf6i

Win there and the Blues are bound for the Final Four.

To make the jump from the Sweet Sixteen to the Elite Eight, Whitman had to overcome some poor shooting and some questionable passing in the early going.

Instead, the Blues used their shut-down defense to frazzle the Tigers, who finished 28-2.

Whitman also shredded any semblance of a press Trinity tried to throw on them, with Casey Poe darting, weaving and constantly finding the right target to thwart Trinity.

Down 15-14 after one (Trinity hit a buzzer-beater to nab the lead), the Blues steadily pulled away after that.

A 16-14 edge in the second gave them a one-point lead at the break, before 17-13 and 22-17 advantages in the third and fourth, respectively, sealed the deal.

Once Whitman had the lead, they never let it go, stretching the margin from six to 10 points throughout the second half.

Stone, making the 13th start of her college career, used her time wisely, garnering seven points and seven boards during a well-played second half.

The former Coupeville star also collected two steals and picked up an assist on a nice feed to Emily Rommel, who finished with a team-high 16 points.

Poe added 14, while Chelsi Brewer banged away for 11.

In her first season of college ball, Stone has played in 29 games, scoring 202 points (7.0 a night) and grabbing 186 boards (6.4).

She’s #2 on the squad in rebounding, while also racking up 31 assists, 16 steals and 11 blocked shots.

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college | Tagged Basketball, CHS Wolves, Makana Stone, NCAA-DIII, Sweet 16, Whitman | 3 Comments »