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Julia Borges (John Fisken photos)

Julia Borges cheered on the Wolves through two seasons. (John Fisken photos)

Borges and teammates Jazmine Franklin (left) and McKenzie Bailey listen to Wolf tennis coach Ken Stange during an early practice.

   Borges and teammates Jazmine Franklin (left) and McKenzie Bailey listen to CHS tennis coach Ken Stange during an early, blustery practice.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

As she nears the end of her year on Whidbey Island, Brazilian foreign exchange student Julia Borges is fondly looking back at her time on The Rock.

After arriving from Sao Paolo, she immediately became a huge part of Wolf Nation, joining the Coupeville High School cheer squad, where she participated through football and basketball season.

When the spring arrived, Borges picked up a racket and joined the Wolf girls’ tennis team, teaming up with Julianne Sem to form a dangerous doubles duo.

With her run as a CHS athlete having reached an end, Julia took a few moments to reflect on the experience for us:

Last week was my last week playing for the tennis team and I already miss it so much!

I can definitely say I had the best experience I could have with both activities I joined this year: doing cheer or playing tennis, both with awesome teammates and amazing coaches.

Coupeville can be a small school, but the dedication, hard work and love everyone puts into sports are the biggest ones I have seen.

It is awesome how most of the students are involved in at least one sport during the year and they all really care about it.

It can be something very normal here, but it does not happen everywhere.

This is one in a hundred reasons about why I love Coupeville so much.

It is going to be hard to leave all of this in a month, the place I can call my home!

Brisa Herrera (John Fisken photo)

Birthday girl Brisa Herrera. (John Fisken photos)

Herrera

Herrera locks out her rival as she eyes a rebound.

Brisa Herrera is deceptive.

Off the basketball court, the Coupeville High School sophomore comes across as serene, low-key and friendly.

Her quiet smile arrives before she does, and she projects a positive glow whenever she’s around.

On the court, though, she’s become a wild woman (and we love it), ripping balls away from foes and hip-checking her rivals into the stands with glee.

In the two years I’ve watched Herrera play for Amy King, I’ve seen her confidence soar and it’s been fun to watch.

A true scrapper who plays for the good of her team, often sacrificing for her teammates, Brisa is an easy athlete to root for, and an even better person, it would seem.

As she celebrates her birthday today, we, her many fans and supporters, want to wish her a great cake day.

And a great day every day after that, as well.

We look forward to seeing her game continue to soar in the next two years as she and her teammates continue to grow as athletes and determined young women.

Happy birthday, Brisa. Keep on kicking fanny and taking names.

Maya Toomey-Stout (John Fisken photos)

   Maya Toomey-Stout laughs at the idea you would try and take an extra base on her. Laughs. (John Fisken photos)

Chelsea Prescott

   Two hands, every time. Chelsea Prescott, looking ready to star in her own softball instructional video.

Emma Mathusek

Emma Mathusek looks down the street, sees Prairie Center, and aims for it.

"I taught her that!" Ema Smith, unofficial Venom hitting/fielding/pitching/team chanting/sunflower-seed-spittin' coach.

   “I taught her that!” Ema Smith, unofficial Venom hitting/fielding/pitching/team chanting/sunflower-seed-spittin’ coach.

bench

The many moods of the bench, mid-game.

Gazelle

   Toomey-Stout, AKA “The Gazelle,” owner of the fastest feet on The Rock, comes flying home.

Scout Smith

Scout Smith snaps off the big nasty.

team

So serious…

Their skills are as explosive as their uniforms.

Clad in the bright green garb of the Venom, a fast-rising pack of softball sluggers is busy terrorizing rival teams on the diamond this spring.

Rolling to a 6-3 record, Central Whidbey Little League’s Juniors squad has drilled foes to a tasty 138-67 tune so far.

And, when they’re not scoring runs in huge heaps, they’re catching the attention of the paparazzi, as shown by the snappy pics above.

They come to us courtesy of the Diet Coke-fueled John Fisken, who made time in his busy schedule to wander out to the prairie Thursday night.

Prince (Renae Mulholland photo)

   Jill Prince knocked in a pair with a blast to deep right field Thursday, as the Coupeville Crush rolled to its 10th straight win. (Renae Mulholland photo)

(Katy Wells photo)

Undefeated and lovin’ life. (Katy Wells photo)

Rollin’ right along.

Ten-running everyone they encounter, the Central Whidbey Little League Majors softball squad has soared to a 10-0 record this season.

Mixing superb pitching with stellar hitting and inspired defense, the Coupeville Crush have more than lived up to their name.

Their latest victim was Oak Harbor Gold, which fell 14-4 Thursday night.

Crush hurlers Kaela Meffert and Izzy Wells combined to shut down the North Enders at the plate, combining for eight strikeouts while getting a little help from their defense.

Audrianna Shaw patrolled third base with a vengeance, gunning down runners, while both pitchers snagged line drives hit right back at them.

Meffert also teamed with catcher Stella Johnson on a bang-bang play at the plate after leaving the pitcher’s circle to play short.

After running down a fly, Meffert wheeled and fired the ball on a bead to nail a runner headed home, pulling off a sweet double play.

Coupeville got all the offense it would need in the first, plating five.

Sofie Martin kicked things off with a gorgeous single, Meffert was drilled by a pitch, then Coral Caveness laid down a picture-perfect bunt.

After a handful of walks kept the runners moving base-to-base, Wells crunched a single to break things open.

The runs kept coming after that, with four in the second (though Abby Mulholland was denied on a steal of home when plate umpire Jim Wheat stood tall and withstood the screams of agony from Crush fans), one in the third and the final four crossing in the fifth.

Jill Prince crushed “an amazing shot to right” to knock in a pair, then came around to steal home herself, while Meffert, Kenna Somes and Bam Ries all collected base knocks.

The final run, which invoked the 10-run mercy rule, came via Johnson, who took one for the team, getting plunked with the bags juiced.

While the Crush was swinging hot, Coupeville coach Mimi Johnson sent a shout-out to Oak Harbor’s pitcher.

“I will say, Macy Oliver has really been working hard on her pitching! She is developing a wicked curve ball!,” she said. “All in all, it was another fun game!”

CJ Smith is one of three seniors who the Wolves will lose to graduation. (Sylvia Hurlburt photo)

   Staff ace CJ Smith is one of three seniors who the Wolves will lose to graduation. (Sylvia Hurlburt photo)

Gabe Wynn (John Fisken photo)

   Junior left fielder Gabe Wynn is one of seven starters who could return next season. (John Fisken photo)

Better than Klahowya.

The Coupeville High School baseball squad bowed 6-1 to Seattle Christian Thursday, ending its playoff run, but they didn’t get shellacked like their Olympic League rivals.

The Eagles were drilled 10-1 when they faced the Warriors in the opening round of the district playoffs and were one and done.

The Wolves, as league champs, got two tries, but a loss to Cascade Christian Tuesday put them in a precarious spot, and Seattle Christian finished the job behind stellar pitching.

Coupeville finished its first year under Marc Aparicio at 10-12.

“Great season. Wish it would have lasted a bit longer,” said the hardball guru.

With the win, Seattle Christian gets a chance to play for a berth in the state playoffs Saturday.

Their foe will be Vashon Island, the Nisqually League’s #1 seed, which was upset 4-2 Thursday in the district championship game by Cascade Christian.

The Warriors blitzed Coupeville behind a superb performance by hurler Alex Evenson, who took a perfect game into the sixth inning.

The Wolves refused to go down easily, however, breaking up the no-no on a sharply-hit single by junior Clay Reilly.

While he was gunned down by half a step on a subsequent steal attempt, CHS then put together three consecutive singles to plate its only run of the afternoon.

The base knocks came off of the bats of Ethan Marx, Matt Hilborn and Hunter Smith.

Coupeville added a fifth hit in the seventh, when Kory Score laced a single, but that was it for the late-game revival at the plate.

Seattle Christian scored early, putting two across in the first, plating three in the second and tacking on a final run in the third, then coasted home.

While the loss ended Coupeville’s season, the Wolves, a very young team, can look back in pride on being the first CHS baseball squad to win a league title since 1991.

They lose just three seniors, with staff ace CJ Smith, rock-solid catcher Cole Payne and utility man Brenden Gilbert bidding farewell to the program.