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Posts Tagged ‘Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby’

Take a moment for Marie!!

Posted in Basketball, Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , on July 28, 2017| 3 Comments »

   Long before she had four kids, all of whom became CHS athletic stars, Marie (Grasser) Bagby was a rebounding machine. (Megan Hansen photo)

Marie Bagby is one of the most genuinely nice people you will ever meet.

It’s a trait she shared with her sister, Marlene Grasser, and one which filtered down into all four of her children.

But we’re here to talk about the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, and we’re here to discuss not Marie’s sweet nature, but her fire and drive on the basketball court.

That’s what carried her to great success as the first true modern-day girls basketball superstar at CHS, and it’s why she is being inducted (finally) into our little digital mecca.

After this, if you pop up to the top of the blog and look under the Legends tab, you’ll find her, enshrined under her maiden name, Marie Grasser, which means she and Marlene will always be paired.

For students at CHS today, the ones who see Marie on a daily basis as she works at the school, they know she’s a warm and welcoming presence and that she’s married to the ol’ ball coach himself, Ron Bagby.

They may even know her four children, April, Ashley, Mike and Jason, were all multi-sport stars who blazed across the campus, winning Athlete of the Year honors, setting records and carrying teams to state.

But what they probably don’t know is Marie was just as big a star in her day as any of her relatives.

In the days after Title IX, Coupeville High School finally powered up a girls basketball program, but it took until the FOURTH season before the squad got to practice in its own gym.

Seriously.

Prior to the 1977-1978 season (Marie’s sophomore year), the Wolf girls trekked out to Camp Casey, put their work in, then trekked back to campus to take showers.

As the Coupeville girls fought for respect, equality and some newspaper coverage (it wasn’t until the ’80s that articles started to expand past a size where you no longer needed a microscope to see them…), Marie was the program’s rock.

Players like Suzette Glover, Pam Jampsa and Kristan Hurlburt were among the early leaders in scoring, but #15 was a true two-way terror, scoring and hauling down an astonishing number of rebounds.

As I plow through the newspaper archives, one thing surfaces again and again in the truncated stories of the day — if there was a loose ball or a carom, Marie felt it belonged to her.

She pulled down 20 or more rebounds in a single game numerous times across her four-year career, with one game her junior season a particular standout.

Facing off with rough and tumble Concrete, Marie went off for 26 points and 28 rebounds, almost holding her own on the boards with the Lions, who mustered 31 rebounds as a team.

There have been some top-grade rebounding machines in Wolf uniforms over the years, from Sarah Mouw to Lexie Black to Makana Stone, but that 28 stands tall.

It’s the largest number for one game I’ve seen in my journey through the archives.

The early years of girls basketball at CHS were a tough road.

It took a decade before the Wolves posted a winning record and went to the playoffs, and longer before they made their first inroads at the state tourney.

But when you look back at the start of the program, it’s obvious — Marie Grasser was the spark that started things.

So today, for her superior skills on the court, for the talented children she gave her alma mater, for the classy way she approaches everything she does, we are very happy to welcome her into our little digital shrine.

It’s well deserved.

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Chasing history, a swing at a time!!

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , , , on April 18, 2017| Leave a Comment »

The best there ever was, and the team that’s chasing their records.

Separated by 15 years, but united by drive and desire.

Every time Katrina McGranahan stares down a batter from the pitcher’s circle, Hope Lodell chases down a fly in the gap, or Veronica Crownover crushes a ball so hard it leaves a dent, they are mirroring the most successful team in Coupeville High School history.

The high-scoring 1969-1970 boys basketball squad is arguably the most dominant ever to wear CHS uniforms, but the 2002 Wolf softball sluggers achieved heights never seen, before or since.

An 8-0 start, then later a 12-game winning streak, before finishing with four wins in five games at the state tourney to finish 24-3 and owners of a 3rd place trophy.

And all of that in the program’s first year playing fast-pitch.

This season, Coupeville has slapped foes around, winning its first seven games en route to an 8-1 start.

Heading into a three-games-in-three-days test this weekend (Thursday at home vs. La Conner, Friday at Klahowya, Saturday at home vs. Lynden Christian), the current Wolves have matched the best start in program history.

Only now they’ll need to rip off 12 straight wins — pushing their win streak to a program-record 13 — to stay even with the 2002 sluggers, who opened 20-1.

No pressure…

The numbers are equal — 16 players and five people on the coaching staff, including volunteers — both bash the ball and are led by a core of successful, veteran three-sport athletes.

That being said, there is one huge difference between the 2002 and 2017 squads, and it’s not just the fact the ’02 players wore shorts as part of their uniforms.

Her name is Sarah Mouw, and, with all due respect to the current sluggers, none of you are Sarah Mouw … yet.

When she and her family (including lil’ sis and future track state champ Amy) moved from Iowa to Cow Town right before her senior year, CHS sports took a giant leap.

I would argue (and win the argument) no transfer student has ever impacted sports in Coupeville the way Sarah Mouw did.

Meshing her talents with holdovers like Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby, Tracy Taylor and Erica Lamb (all perennial All-Conference players in multiple sports), she led CHS to state three times during the 2001-2002 school year.

Volleyball, basketball and softball all won league titles with Mouw leading the way, with basketball (6th) and softball both achieving the best finishes at state in the history of those programs.

When the Wolves took the diamond that spring, everything was in flux.

The Northwest Conference switched from slow-pitch to fast-pitch, and the two teams which had dominant pitchers, Coupeville and Archbishop Murphy, dominated.

Mouw and ATM hurler Kristen Linscott, who went on play college ball for Claremont Mudd Scripps, were co-MVPs, while the Wolves landed four other players on All-Conference teams.

Ellsworth-Bagby (SS) and Lamb (OF) were First-Team picks, with Ellsworth-Bagby a four-time honoree, while Lindsey Tucker (2B) and Taylor (OF) were Second-Teamers who should have been First-Teamers.

Randy Dickson rounded out the awards, being tabbed as Coach of the Year, an honor he shared with assistants Kim Meche and Jim Wheat and volunteers Dale Folkstad and Bruce Berg.

As the 2002 team reaches its 15-year anniversary, a look back at its season for the ages reveals how dominant the Wolves were.

CHS beats Sultan 24-5 — The first fast-pitch game in school history is a rout, as the Wolves torch the Turks for 11 runs in the fourth inning. Mouw and Ellsworth-Bagby combine for five RBIs.

CHS beats La Conner 11-1 — Mouw and freshman hurler Heather Davis combine to toss a one-hitter.

CHS beats Concrete 9-1 — Taylor goes 3-3, while Mouw tosses a no-hitter.

CHS beats ATM 6-5 in 8 innings — The only extra-innings game of the year, as the Wolves rally for two in the bottom of the seventh, then win on a walk-off RBI single from Lamb.

CHS beats ATM 6-5 — Different game, same score. This time Coupeville takes an early lead, then holds on for the win.

CHS beats Sequim 11-5 — Six straight wins.

CHS beats Orcas 20-1 — Davis is in the circle and throws her own no-hitter.

CHS beats Friday Harbor 3-2 — A thriller lifts the Wolves to 8-0.

Lamb, Christine Larson (her bloop single is the only CHS hit) and Tucker touch home as Coupeville builds a lead early, before things get dicey at the end.

Having surrendered a run in the sixth, the Wolves give up another in the seventh and Friday Harbor has the tying run at third with one out. Then disaster (almost) strikes.

A Mouw pitch gets past catcher Brook Croghan, but she alertly tracks the ball down and flips it back to her pitcher for a bang-bang play at the plate. The Wolves get the call, then Mouw mows down the final batter for her 13th K of the afternoon.

ATM beats CHS 5-1 — The first fast-pitch loss in school history arrives in game #9, as Linscott whiffs 12 Wolves.

CHS beats Friday Harbor 12-5 and 18-2 — The big bounce-back, as the Wolves rampage to a doubleheader sweep.

Total freakin’ domination, as Wolves rap out 33 hits. Lamb collects four hits, five steals and two RBIs in game two, while Mouw, Croghan, Ellsworth-Bagby and sweet-swingin’ Carly Guillory all have three-hit games.

CHS beats ?, ? and ? — The Whidbey News-Times somehow misses reporting on three games and I don’t have a time machine.

CHS beats Orcas 24-3 — Ellsworth-Bagby drops in four hits as the Wolves improve to 14-1. It’s feast or famine, as Coupeville gets 11 runs in the first, none in the second, then 12 in the third.

CHS beats La Conner 11-1 — Mouw with three hits and three RBI.

CHS beats Concrete 11-1 — Lamb with three hits, Croghan triples.

CHS beats Concrete 19-5 — Larson whacks two triples and misses a third only because she doesn’t see Dickson waving her in and stops at second.

Tucker, Ellsworth-Bagby and Mouw all collect three-baggers as well as Wolves bring the pain and reach 17-1.

CHS beats La Conner 18-8 — Wolves wrap the regular season with a 23-hit barrage. Tucker is high woman with four.

CHS beats Seattle Christian 12-4 — Coupeville opens Tri-District play by swatting a big city squad.

CHS beats University Prep 4-0 — The win which clinches the first trip to state in program history. 20-1 and 12 straight heading into match-up #4 with ATM…

ATM beats CHS 8-0 — Dickson rests Mouw (who will pitch all five games at state), while ATM keeps Linscott in the circle.

CHS beats Cle Elum 8-0 — Wolves make a flawless debut at the state tourney.

CHS beats Royal 3-2 — Showcasing its grit, Coupeville rallies for three runs in the bottom of the fifth after falling behind 2-0 and moves into the state semifinals.

Adna beats CHS 4-0 — Wolves stay close, but fall to the eventual state champs, who go on to shred ATM 6-1 in the final.

It’s the sixth of seven state titles for Adna softball (1987, ’90, ’92, ’94, ’95, 2002, ’15). The Pirates just miss in 2016, losing by a run in the championship game.

CHS beats Okanogan 6-1 — No back-to-back losses for the 2002 Wolves.

CHS beats Napavine 11-6 — Trailing 6-1 late, Coupeville rallies for 10 runs in the fifth as Kristin Gwartney lights the fuse with a key two-run single.

The 2002 Wolf squad, which also included Laura Crandall, Angel Black, Andrea Larson, Ashley Ginnetti, Samantha Roehl and Caitlin Harada, set a standard which hasn’t been touched since.

Taking into account we’re missing three games, they outscored foes 247-80.

But, through the first nine games of the season, the 2017 squad is scoring at a better rate than the 2002 team, with a 99-91 edge.

Though, this year’s team has also surrendered more runs (49-30), so it’s a bit of a toss-up.

After Mouw, Ellsworth-Bagby and Taylor graduated in 2002, Wolf softball took a few steps back.

Coupeville finally made it back to state in 2014, when this year’s seniors — Jae LeVine, Robin Cedillo and Tiffany Briscoe — were freshman playing for David and Amy King, but the Wolves went two-and-out.

But now, this season, a squad which starts four juniors and two sophomores, is off to a historic start, tying the 2002 unit for the best-ever record through nine games.

Can they keep it going? Can Kevin McGranahan’s young guns join Mouw and Co. as immortals?

Only time will tell. Swing away.

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Top of the mountain!!

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , , , on July 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »

2002

The 2002 Coupeville HS softball squad, which won four of five at state. For a list of who’s who, head to the bottom of this article. (Photo courtesy Jim Wheat)

They were trailblazers who shocked the world.

Today, as we celebrate our 54th induction ceremony for the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, we honor a team which reached peaks never seen before, or since, at Coupeville High School.

So, let’s open these hallowed digital walls and welcome, finally (I needed a roster and a pic and it took some digging), the 2002 CHS softball squad.

After this, you’ll find them enshrined together, as a team, at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.

And frankly, that’s what they are — legends.

Coupeville High School has 17 individual state titles thanks to cross country and track, but has yet to reach the top of the mountain in a team sport.

No team came closer than the 2002 softball sluggers.

They are one of three Wolf teams to have brought home a 3rd place state trophy, but their feat tops, at least a bit, what those other two teams accomplished.

The 2005 Wolf girls’ tennis team rode one hot doubles team to their trophy in a sport with extremely quirky scoring, while the 1987 CHS baseball team played through an easier format than the softball sluggers.

When Coupeville took the field at state in 2002, having reached the big dance in the school’s very first year of playing fast-pitch softball, the Wolves had to win four straight to win a title.

And they almost did, falling only to eventual champ Adna in their third game.

Rebounding with back-to-back wins to close the tourney, CHS exited with four wins in five games, the most victories achieved in a single state tourney by any Wolf team, in any sport.

Coupeville outscored their foes 28-13, beating Cle Elum-Rosalyn (8-0), Royal (3-2), Okanogan (6-1) and Napavine (11-6) behind the leadership of Sarah Mouw and Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby.

The lone loss, a 4-0 defeat to Adna, a school which has won nine state titles on the softball diamond, was even closer than the score might indicate.

While they may not have gotten the big trophy, those Wolves loom large in CHS history, even now as most of those players break through into their early 30s.

“Without a doubt the best group of coachable athletes I’ve ever worked with,” said Jim Wheat, an assistant coach on that squad who now trains umpires when he’s not calling games himself.

They could hit, for power and precision. They were slick-fielding. They ran the base-paths with authority. They were beasts in the pitcher’s circle.

Mouw was the league co-MVP, going 22-2 as a pitcher on a team which finished 24-3.

She also led the Wolves in hitting, doubles, triples, home runs and RBI.

Backing her up were fellow First-Team All-League players Erica Lamb and Ellsworth-Bagby (a four-time pick) and Second-Team selections Lindsey Tucker and Tracy Taylor.

Along with their teammates they are, arguably, the most successful sports team in the 116-year history of the school, and 99% of that argument is set in stone.

This much we know for 100% — today, 14 years after they made their run, we bring them back together again (at least on the internet.)

Instead of listing them alphabetically, we’re going to put them in the order they appear in the team photo above.

The guy with the #1 is a random WIAA official, but the ones who go in the Hall together, as a team:

2 — Kim Meche
3 — Kristin Gwartney
4 — Erica Lamb
5 — Randy Dickson (head coach)
6 — Sarah Mouw
7 — Tracy Taylor
8 — Jim Wheat
9 — Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby
10 — Laura Crandall
11 — Heather Davis
12 — Angel Black
13 — Andrea Larson
14 — Tara Guillory
15 — Ashley Ginnetti
16 — Samantha Roehl
17 — Caitlin Harada
18 — Carly Guillory
19 — Brooke Croghan
20 — Christine Larson
21 — Lindsey Tucker

Plus, they’re not in the photo, but Bruce Berg and Dale Folkestad.

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And that’s the sound of your butt bein’ beat!!

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , , , on August 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Madison Tisa McPhee and Jake Tumblin (top) are joined by fellow inductees (l to r) Megan Smith, Ashley (Ellsworth-Bagby) He

   Madison Tisa McPhee and Jake Tumblin (top) are joined by fellow inductees (l to r) Megan Smith, Ashley Heilig and Brianne King.

As dominant as you can imagine, and then some.

The 9th class inducted into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame features four female athletes who define athletic success in this town, and one guy who was pretty darn good, too.

Making the move to the top of the blog, where they’ll take up residence under the Legends tab, are Megan Smith, Madison Tisa McPhee, Brianne King, Ashley (Ellsworth-Bagby) Heilig and Jake Tumblin.

What connects these five?

Success, success and more success. Oh yeah, and raw talent, too. That’s always nice.

Tisa McPhee is the rare Wolf to have shined brightly as an athlete both in and out of school.

While wearing a CHS uniform, she was a dazzling volleyball and soccer player, one who was willing to sacrifice her nose if necessary to stop the other team from scoring.

Her biggest impact, though, came on the track oval, where she was a fleet-footed sprinter and hurdler, helping to set school relay records and hauling home multiple medals from the state meet.

Put her on a horse and Mad Dawg was just as likely to kick your rear, thundering through obstacles and becoming one with her trusty steed.

Before she exits the stage, we’ll let her deliver a speech for Tumblin, a standout football and baseball star who is now a two-time inductee (he was a key member of the 2010 Central Whidbey state championship little league squad).

Hi Mr. Svien! I just read about your new HOF deal and I have an extremely amazing athlete (I may be biased but I don’t care) for you to consider … Jake Tumblin!

Jake, for some reason I still can’t get my head around, was looked over as Athlete of the Year his senior year, when he was the starting catcher for about three years on the baseball team and starting in whatever position his football coach ever asked of him all through high school as well.

And, as you know he is going to play at Simon Fraser in the fall.

He is not only one of the best athletes Coupeville has and will ever see, they will not get a greater captain on any team or all around student.

Jake is one of the most modest, strong and considerate players/teammates etc. there has ever been on a field.

Why he was not Athlete of the Year when he was all of this and more I couldn’t flipping tell you.

He is the person that the school should idolize and hold a standard of for all the rest of student athletes to come.

And knowing him as well as I do he would make it seem like he could care less about what CHS staff and administration picks him for or not, but he is also deserving of recognition for the time/effort and sportsmanship he put forth during his four years.

JT is most definitely a worthy choice.

And with that, Rumblin’ Tumblin, Jake the Snake, zips into the Hall o’ Fame the same way he used to hurtle into the end zone — like a bat out of Hell.

Hot on his heels is the holy trinity, the three women who were the absolute pinnacle of sports excellence in Coupeville over the past 20 years.

Smith was a three-time Athlete of the Year winner who lettered 12 times (four each in volleyball, basketball and softball), the best athlete in a family that has already seen coach/dad Willie inducted into the Hall o’ Fame and brothers Ian and James dangerously close to joining them.

Megan is that rarity, a highly-accomplished athlete who led by example while rarely displaying any ego.

Her quiet confidence and her will to win were astonishing and if you have one game to win to save the world, in any sport, I want her front and center.

She was/is that good.

King and Heilig also had very successful siblings, a chunk of whom are currently in the Hall as we speak, but you can make a very strong argument Brianne and Ashley, like Megan, are the standard bearers for their families.

When it comes to CHS girls’ hoops, no player has ever scored as much as King did, and it’s not even close.

As far as we’ve been able to figure out, she owns the top three single-season efforts in program history and scored 1,549 points during her splendid career.

Her totals:

(1999-2000) — 275
(2000-2001) — 446
(2001-2002) — 386
(2002-2003) — 442

Without even taking into account her exploits as a track and cross country runner into consideration, Brianne is a slam dunk for the Hall.

Our final inductee is the one who I have the biggest personal connection to.

These days, Ashley is grown up and married, a mom to an adorable little girl who may one day be the next great Wolf superstar, but, to me, she’ll always be the girl with the pigtails and the extra-baggy shorts who also worked behind the counter with me at Videoville.

Off the court, one of those rare people who you just adore. She is as sweet and kind and smart and wonderful a human being as has ever existed.

On the court, be it volleyball or basketball, or on the softball field, Ashley was just as adored by her coaches.

A leader, a feisty lil’ warrior who would slice her foes off at the knees and leave them to bleed out, she was the linchpin of the most successful run of female sports teams CHS has ever known.

The biggest banner in the school’s gym is for a 3rd place finish at state by the 2002 Wolf softball squad, a team that, led by Heilig, won four of five games at the tourney.

Outscoring opponents 28-13, they lost only to eventual champ Adna, beating Cle Elum-Rosalyn, Royal, Okanogan and Napavine.

At some point, if I can track down a complete roster for that team, I will induct them all into the Hall.

For now, their leader goes in, for that moment and the ten million other times she would stride out to play whatever sport was in season, get mistaken for the ball girl, then kick unholy amounts of booty.

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Do we have enough cake for everyone?!?!

Posted in Happy birthday, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Birthday

Birthdays for everyone. Everyone, I said!

The birthdays, they are raining down today.

CHS assistant baseball coach Chris Chan (bottom, with son Drew and wife Bev in the photo above), Wolf seniors Marisa and Lucas Etzell (top, left and right) and the superstar of superstars — Ashley (Ellsworth-Bagby) Heilig (she gets two photos).

All have made a positive impact on Cow Town and the sports world therein, whether playing or coaching or doing some of both.

Coach Chan is one of the true class acts, both in the dugout and on the school board.

The Etzells, while different in nature (Lucas is a born politician, glad-handing and smooth-talking everyone in sight while Marisa has a softer, quieter, but no less out-going personality) are smart, talented and full of drive.

And then there is Ash, the Queen of everything.

Her athletic accomplishments on the volleyball court, the basketball court and softball diamond are legendary.

She is among the best the red and black has ever seen, or will ever see.

But it’s the pig-tail rockin’ girl who used to work the counter at Videoville with me who was even more impressive. And has never stopped getting more impressive with each passing year.

As she sits (possibly mere hours away) on the edge of becoming a mom herself, I hope Ashley knows how truly amazing and wonderful, such a vibrant lil’ firecracker, we all think she is.

Her son or daughter will be blessed to have a mom whose mere presence makes the world infinitely better.

Pretty good way to start their journey.

To all four, may your joint birthday be an awesome one. And, if Ashley’s first-born wants to join the party today, so much the better.

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