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Posts Tagged ‘Adeline Maynes’

“Time to dig deep”

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , , on May 5, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Chelsi Stevens dreams of big hits. (Aleksia Jump photo)

It was a little taste of their own medicine.

A Coupeville High School softball squad which has inflicted the 10-run mercy rule on 13 of its first 17 opponents had the tables flipped by Klahowya Tuesday afternoon.

In a rematch of former Olympic League rivals, the red-hot Wolves were largely stifled by Eagles hurler Bailey O’Brien, falling 12-2 in five innings while playing in Silverdale.

The non-conference loss snaps a five-game winning streak for The Smash Sisters, dropping them to 16-2 on the season.

Coupeville will have one more tune-up before heading to the district tourney, travelling to Port Townsend Friday to play East Jefferson, a team it routed 21-3 during the first week of April.

There was supposed to also be a trip to Langley Wednesday to play South Whidbey, but the Falcons bailed at the last second, perhaps still in shock after being routed 17-1 by the Wolves a week-and-a-half ago.

While he wasn’t thrilled with his team’s performance, CHS coach Aaron Lucero had scheduled the game with Klahowya, a 1A school whose 9-11 record is a bit deceiving, intent on getting a challenge.

And like with Forks, the only other team to knock off the Wolves, and 3A Oak Harbor, which gave Coupeville an early-season extra-inning battle, mission accomplished.

“I think this is good for them in the long run to face a quality team,” Lucero said. “I have been telling them for a couple of weeks that Klahowya’s record does not tell the story.

“They are playing some very tough teams and getting very close. And talking with their coaches, that’s exactly how their season’s been.”

Tuesday’s tilt started as a nailbiter and remained close for 92% of the game.

Coupeville pushed a run across in the top of the first thanks to back-to-back base knocks from Teagan Calkins and Chelsi Stevens, before Klahowya answered back with a tally of its own in the bottom of the frame.

The game started to change in the second, however, when Eagle slugger Shyanne Kilmer bashed a two-run home run to right — the first of two taters for her on the afternoon — pushing the host team ahead 3-1.

CHS sliced the deficit to 3-2 on an RBI double off of Calkin’s always-electric bat in the third, but left runners stranded at second and third, unable to open their customary can of whup-ass.

Coupeville is deadly down its lineup from one through nine, but O’Brien whiffed 11 and walked just one Tuesday, and Klahowya never trailed again.

A run in the third made it 4-2, two more in the fourth stretched it to 6-2, and then a six-run rally in the fifth turned a close game into a romp.

For his part Lucero is already ready to get back at it, first with a couple of days of practice, then the regular season finale.

“We did not play the ball we are capable of,” he said. “We didn’t get the timely hits, and we did not play well defensively to back up our pitcher.

“I think this was a good gut check game for the team and definitely needed. Soooo, time to dig deep, get our minds right, and get ready to play the next game.”

 

Tuesday stats:

Haylee Armstrong — Two singles
Teagan Calkins — One single, one double
Chelsi Stevens — One single
Cami Van Dyke — One walk

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Smash Sisters blister big school rivals

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on March 12, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Adeline Maynes and friends are off to a 2-0 start on the softball season. (Julie Wheat photos)

Patience and power.

Playing on the cold, rain-splattered turf at Lakewood Thursday, the Coupeville High School softball squad mixed a ton of walks with some timely hits to make it two wins against big school rivals.

A day after storming from behind on their home prairie to knock out 3A Oak Harbor in extra innings, the Wolves unloaded on the 2A Cougars, ending things early in a 21-3 game called after five innings due to the mercy rule.

Now 2-0 on the young season, Aaron Lucero’s squad, which reps a 2B-sized school, is off until a road trip Mar. 21 to Bellingham to square off with 1A Meridian.

That’ll give the young Wolves time to fine-tune things and defrost, in some order.

“The game was getting rough, players turning into popsicles and we wanted to get done,” Lucero said.

“Proud of the team for fighting through horrendous conditions, maintaining composure, and getting the job done.”

A day after facing a flame thrower in Oak Harbor ace Reese Wasinger, Coupeville had to adjust to slower speeds from a group of Lakewood pitchers who struggled with chucking a slick ball which was looking to shoot off in random directions.

The Wolves happily accepted all 22 walks offered up by their rivals.

But they also connected on 10 base hits, keeping the runners churning around the basepaths until Lucero took his foot off the gas pedal late, giving up some free outs by having players leave base early.

The tone of the game was set early, as CHS sent 11 batters to the plate in the top of the first, scoring six of them.

Haylee Armstrong started things off with a sharply hit single, Sydney Van Dyke scampered to first on a dropped third strike, and Teagan Calkins walked, priming the well for cleanup hitter Chelsi Stevens, who immediately smacked a two-run double to left field.

Chelsi Stevens, master of the bunt, or the thunderous base hit.

Tack on a sac fly from Adeline Maynes and a two-run single to right from 8th grader Cami Van Dyke, and the floodgates were open.

Coupeville kept delivering rib shots to the Lakewood pitchers, or, in the case of Haylee “The Ankle Breaker” Armstrong, just whacked low, wicked liners which tore chunks of flesh off the leg of any Cougar hurler unable to dodge in 0.3 seconds.

It was one of two painful moments for the hosts, as later a batter in pursuit of a hit took a spectacular fall midway down the line to first, then kissed sweet, sweet wet turf as Wolf first baseman Ava Lucero calmly tracked down the wayward ball and recorded the out.

There was a moment when it looked like the Lakewood player might have to be taken out behind the barn and put out of her misery, “Of Mice and Men”-style (read a book!), but her body survived — if her dignity maybe didn’t.

The Wolves pushed eight more runs across in the second inning, with Stevens and Armstrong spraying RBI-rich hits — the latter cleared the bases with a long single — before getting five consecutive walks to end the frame.

The third inning was the one bright spot for Lakewood, with Coupeville held scoreless (the horror! the horror!), while the Cougars eked out their only runs of the afternoon.

But once the teams rolled into the fourth, things clicked back into place, with CHS tacking on seven more runs across the final two innings, while its outfielders twice threw out Lakewood runners trying to pick up an extra base.

Ava Lucero, defensive dynamo.

Coupeville’s final four runs came courtesy of a two-run single off the bat of Capri Anter and a two-run double from Ava Lucero, one of the few players with pep to spare as the cold and rain sapped the will of everyone involved.

Still joyfully bouncing around and whipping balls back to Wolf hurler Adeline Maynes with undisguised glee, the coach’s daughter put a punctuation mark on the win with a display of defensive prowess in the bottom of the fifth.

First, she backpedaled through the raindrops to snare a high pop fly, before stepping forward and calmly snagging a liner to mark the game’s final out.

Along with beating a big school rival, Coupeville did it by getting something from everyone on the active roster.

Aaron Lucero was able to play all 13 players in uniform, with 11 Wolves getting aboard thanks to a hit or walk.

Seven different sluggers recorded an RBI as well, with Stevens, Armstrong, and Anter leading the way with four apiece.

The game featured the season debut of Emma Leavitt and the CHS softball debut for Zariyah Allen and Marina Jadwin, who are both new to the sport.

Plus, the Lakewood coach provided pizza for the Wolves. So, winner, winner, pepperoni dinner.

 

Thursday stats:

Zariyah Allen — One walk
Capri Anter — One single, three walks
Haylee Armstrong — Three singles, one walk
Teagan Calkins — Five walks
Emma Cushman — Two walks
Ava Lucero — One double, one walk
Adeline Maynes — One single, three walks
Olivia Martin — One walk
Chelsi Stevens — One single, one double, three walks
Cami Van Dyke — One single
Sydney Van Dyke — One single, two walks

Hot-hitting cousins Capri Anter (left) and Haylee Armstrong dress for success. (Photo courtesy Michelle Armstrong)

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Our prairie, our win

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , , on March 11, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville fab frosh Emma Cushman made an impressive debut as a varsity starter Wednesday in a rivalry win over Oak Harbor. (Julie Wheat photos)

Welcome to the Emma Cushman era.

Making her debut as a varsity softball starter Wednesday, the Coupeville High School freshman came up huge in the Opening Day spotlight, pulling off two big plays — one on offense, the other on defense — to spark the Wolves to an extra-innings win over the huge school from the North.

Those invaders in purple and gold rep 3A Oak Harbor and were the only team to beat 2B Coupeville during the regular season in 2025, edging them 5-4 in O-Town.

Jump forward to 2026, transport the action to the cold prairie of Cow Town, and it was time for Cushman and Co. to return the favor, capturing a come-from-behind 4-3 victory which will reverberate long and loud.

While Wednesday’s baseball game between CHS and OHHS was a varsity vs. JV affair, the softball clash was straight up varsity vs. varsity, with the visiting Wildcats led by the potent duo of hot-hitting Layla Suto and fastball-flinging Reese Wasinger.

While the rain, and most of the wind, stayed away, fans on both sides of the battle were buried in jackets, blankets, gloves, hats, and anything which could hold off the cold nibbling at their very souls.

What heat there was, came on the field, as Wasinger and Wolf sophomore hurler Adeline Maynes went fastball-to-fastball in a pitcher’s duel where both whiffed 15 rival batters across eight innings of work.

After 1-2-3 innings for both teams to start things, Oak Harbor struck first, pushing across two runs in the top of the second thanks to some well-executed small ball.

A single which landed just out of reach of the infielder’s grasp followed by a throwing error on a bunt got the Wildcats primed, and the visitors pushed both runners across thanks to a note-perfect sacrifice bunt and a well-placed RBI groundout.

Coupeville put a runner aboard in both the second and third, but Chelsi Stevens and Haylee Armstrong were left stranded on the basepaths, leaving things at 2-0 headed into the top of the fourth.

Enter Cushman.

Once again using small ball to push a runner around to third, Oak Harbor then blasted a two-out fly to right-center that had extra bases (and an RBI) written all over it.

Except Cushman, playing like a 20-year vet and not a fab frosh who only nabbed her starting slot in the hours before the first pitch, came flying left to right and snagged the rapidly descending ball in mid stride, plucking it off a gust of wind and spiking the Wildcats through their collective hearts.

The highlight reel catch sent the Wolf bench into a tizzy, but Oak Harbor responded with its own defensive gem in the bottom half of the fourth, throwing out a runner at the plate to keep CHS scoreless.

It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth that the Wolves finally broke Wasinger’s spell, pushing three runs across to claim their first lead of the game.

Ava Lucero got things jumping with a leadoff double, before 8th grader Cami Van Dyke laid down a beautiful bunt single and Armstrong walked to jam the bases full.

Something had to break, and it did, as Sydney Van Dyke swatted a hard-hit grounder, with the throw home pulling the Wildcat catcher off the plate, giving Coupeville its first run of the season.

Teagan Calkins smashes a base hit.

Runs #2 and #3 came quickly, as “The Red Dragon” flexed some prime-time muscles.

Wolf catcher Teagan Calkins, the veteran leader on a young squad, turned on a nasty Wasinger pitch and cranked a two-run single to left and just like that Aaron Lucero’s squad was in front 3-2.

Which held up until the top of the seventh, thanks to an Oak Harbor runner being nailed at the plate in the sixth.

An out away from defeat, Oak Harbor turned a single, a sac bunt, and a mistimed throw to third to knot things back up at 3-3, but you can’t deny destiny.

Coupeville held fast in the top of the eighth, with Cami Van Dyke slickly fielding a hard smash and throwing out the runner at first by a step for the third out, even as the potential go-ahead run screamed for home.

Which brings us to Cushman’s second big play.

It was set up by Maynes cranking a one-out double to right-center in the bottom of the eighth, followed by Ava Lucero being intentionally walked.

Which makes perfect sense.

Do you want to face Lucero, a battle-hardened varsity vet with an often-explosive bat, or Cushman, who was, and I’ll repeat this for those of you in the cheap seats — making her first-ever varsity start?

Well, either way, you’re going to lose.

If she was nervous, Cushman never showed it. She just did exactly what her coaches asked her to do — drop a bunt.

An absolute gem of a bunt, I might say, angled exactly to the very fleck of infield dirt where the most danger would be created.

It could have been a sacrifice, put runners at second and third, with Cami Van Dyke coming to the plate.

Except Cushman’s pool shot hit flawlessly, and an Oak Harbor defender, likely tired and bone-deep cold, snatched it up and threw wide of first base.

Cushman’s feet came to rest on first base, safely, and Olivia Martin, pinch-running for Maynes, came flying around third and danced home with the winning run, sending the Cow Town faithful into a celebration which could be heard from one end of Whidbey to the other.

Over to the side, big smile on his face, was Aaron Lucero.

“I love one-run games. But I really love one-run wins!”

 

Wednesday stats:

Capri Anter — One walk
Haylee Armstrong — Two walks
Teagan Calkins — One single
Ava Lucero — One double, one walk
Adeline Maynes — One single, one double
Chelsi Stevens — One single
Cami Van Dyke — One single
Sydney Van Dyke — One single

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Sluggers aim for return to state tourney

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on March 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

“The Red Dragon” is ready to rumble. Diamond dazzler Teagan Calkins is back for her senior season. (David Somes photo)

“I’m never satisfied and neither are the players. We can improve in all phases.”

Aaron Lucero’s first season as head coach of the Coupeville High School softball program was an impressive one, with the Wolves splitting four games at the 2B state tourney, eliminating Colfax and Raymond-South Bend en route to finishing 20-3.

But while that was a good start, it was just a start for the diamond sage, and one he and his players want to take further.

So, while the Wolves will have to adapt to losing several key players to graduation, they are also champing at the bit with a roster which is both young and already varsity tested.

Sophomore slinger Adeline Maynes returns to the pitcher’s circle, where she’ll be chucking fastballs to senior catcher Teagan Calkins.

The duo is deadly, but so is the #2 unit, with junior Haylee Armstrong peppering pitches to sophomore backup backstop Ava Lucero.

“Pitching and catching are big assets for us,” Aaron Lucero said.

“Adeline has a lot of experience in the circle and is a rock out there. She gets better every year.

“Teagan plays like Teagan and will be the anchor as she’s got a huge amount of experience to go with her talent.”

Wheel in Armstrong and Ava Lucero, who will be everyday starters at other positions, and there’s not much slippage.

“I feel we have the two best catchers in the league in Teagan and Ava, and the two best pitchers in the league with Adeline and Haylee,” Aaron Lucero said. “They’re a pretty tough 1-2 combination. Fortunate to have had them for so many years.”

Adeline Maynes (middle) is a fireball-flinging destroyer of worlds. (Jackie Saia photo)

Graduated starters Madison McMillan, Mia Farris, Jada Heaton, and Taylor Brotemarkle will be missed, but the core of last year’s squad, the fourth Wolf softball crew to advance to state, returns.

Along with Calkins, Maynes, Armstrong, and the younger Lucero, Coupeville welcomes back young players such as Sydney Van Dyke, Capri Anter, and Chelsi Stevens, who will all take on bigger roles this time out.

Anter, formerly an outfielder, is sliding in as the starting second baseman — “Very excited for that move for her” — while Stevens brings considerable pop to the lineup.

“Chelsi has put in a lot of work and is hitting fantastic,” Aaron Lucero said. “We’re looking forward to her everyday role and the big bat she’s got.”

Young guns (l to r) Sydney Van Dyke, Capri Anter, Ava Lucero, and Haylee Armstrong are back to claim more success. (Jackie Saia photo)

Another young player on the rise is 8th grader Cami Van Dyke, who is slotting in at shortstop.

Overall, 11 of the 19 Wolves on the roster play the sport year-round, giving them a leg up on being ready to have an impact from day one.

“We have a number of freshmen who I expect to be key contributors and likely earning significant field time,” Aaron Lucero said. “We also have some new to the sport players who look more like veterans after just eight practices.

“We have seven 8th graders and I’m very excited to see that strong of a number with the young players, as they are the future.”

In the present, the Wolves know Friday Harbor will likely be their biggest obstacle in defending their Northwest 2B/1B League crown and have stuffed the non-league portion of the schedule with challenging opponents.

“We’ve got some tough teams on the calendar to push us to be better for league and state,” Aaron Lucero said. “Oak Harbor, Lakewood, a doubleheader with Forks, and Klahowya, who is always tough.”

The path is different each season. The goal remains the same, however.

“Win the league, districts, and get back to state!”

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“We made them work for that win”

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on February 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Capri Anter (30) and Adeline Maynes are part of a pack of talented younger hoops players who can return next season. (Jackie Saia photo)

“It was an absolute dog fight for 36 minutes!”

Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball coach Scout Smith had an up close and personal view of Tuesday’s playoff rumble between her Wolves and host Orcas Island.

And she witnessed a wild one, with both teams dropping daggers and pulling miracles out of thin air before the Vikings finally escaped with a 50-48 overtime win.

While the loss drops Coupeville to 5-15 and eliminates them from the District 1/2 playoffs a game shy of vying for a state tourney berth, Smith glowed with pride afterwards.

“It’s never fun to lose, but we can walk away from the game with our heads held high,” she said. “I am very proud of the way our team played and fought hard throughout the game.

“Each one left everything they had out on the court tonight.

“Credit to Orcas Island. They played a good game, and we made them work for that win.”

Coupeville’s win/loss record has been deceptive all season, with a young team coming very close to flipping the script in numerous narrow losses.

The Wolves squared off with the Vikings three times this season, and the margin of defeat in those games? Three, two, and two points.

Tuesday’s tilt opened in favor of CHS, which pulled out to an early 10-6 lead, with four different players hitting the bottom of the net — but not the one who would eventually lead the team in scoring.

A big three-ball from Teagan Calkins, setup by a rebound and pass from defensive dynamo Arianna Cunningham, was the main dagger, but then things took a big swerve.

As in the Wolves plunged off a cliff for a bit.

Orcas closed the first quarter with a bucket, then went off on a 14-1 surge in the second frame, momentarily making it look like this might be a blowout, and not in a good way.

Never fear, as Danica Strong wasn’t going out like that.

The Coupeville senior had spent the first half doing the dirty work, ripping down rebounds and swatting one wayward Orcas shot into the cheap seats, but after the halftime break, she came out ready to rain down pain.

Scoring all 15 of her points across the second half and overtime, Strong started tossing haymakers, and the Vikings got staggered.

The Wolves got back to within 26-24 midway through the third quarter but made their biggest moves in the fourth.

Back-to-back breakaway buckets off of steals by Haylee Armstrong and Tenley Stuurmans forced a 31-31 tie, before Strong powered her way through the paint to give the Wolves their first lead in a long time at 35-34.

With the clock ticking down, the teams exchanged buckets, with Orcas reclaiming the lead at the very end.

Cue an ice water in her veins moment from Armstrong, who knocked down a free throw with 13.9 seconds to play to knot things at 40-40, before CHS made one final defensive stand to force extra time.

Neither team was ready to go down easy in the four-minute overtime frame, with Strong netting a pair of free throws, Orcas surging ahead 45-42, then Strong nailing a game-tying trey from the right side.

The Vikings slipped back ahead on a pair of charity shots, before things got really dramatic.

Armstrong popped a three-ball on the move to stake Coupeville to a 48-47 lead, only to have Orcas gunner Sofia Mahony-Jauregui answer with a long-range rainbow of her own with under 30 seconds to play to set the final score.

Coming out victorious, the Vikings advance to play Friday Harbor Thursday in Mount Vernon in a winner-to-state, loser-out game, while the Wolves will turn their eyes to the future, when they can return eight of the 10 players from this year’s roster.

“We look forward to next season and bringing back so many young and talented players,” Smith said.

“We will definitely miss our seniors Danica and Teagan, but we are extremely grateful for their contributions to our program.”

Strong capped her run as a Wolf hoops star with a team-high 15 points, while Stuurmans, just a sophomore, banked in 14 in support.

Armstrong (8), Calkins (5), Cunningham (3), and Maynes (3) also scored, with Kennedy O’Neill and Lexis Drake seeing floor time.

As she exits, Calkins notches one final personal milestone, becoming the 26th Wolf girl to score 400 career points for a program launched in 1974.

“The Red Dragon” finishes with 402 points, while Armstrong, a junior, also hit a major mark. With 305 points and counting, she is the 39th CHS female player to crack the 300-point club.

Armstrong, who entered the season with 98 points to her credit, tallied a team-high 207 this season, the most any Wolf girl has scored across a single campaign in the last decade.

She and current JV coach Alita Blouin, who racked up 204 points during the 2022-2023 season, are the only 200+ female single-season scorers since Makana Stone nuked the nets for 427 points in 2015-2016.

 

Final season scoring stats:

Haylee Armstrong – 207
Tenley Stuurmans – 171
Teagan Calkins – 160
Danica Strong – 97
Arianna Cunningham – 53
Adeline Maynes – 47
Kennedy O’Neill – 44
Capri Anter – 8
Lexis Drake – 8
Sydney Van Dyke – 8

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