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Big bats, big win!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on July 2, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Nick (left) and Mike Etzell are thrilled to be on the road for three days. Thrilled. (Connie Lippo photos)

   Skyy Lippo amuses herself before the start of a game while brother Joey is not sure about this whole “being stalked by the paparazzi” thing.

The (wooden) bats came alive.

Eight different players crunched a hit Saturday, as the Coupeville High School baseball squad rallied to pull out a 7-5 win over the Enumclaw Avengers.

The victory evens the Wolves mark at the Grays Harbor 4th of July Bash at 1-1, and propels CHS into the winners bracket for Sunday’s madness.

As the #8 seed after pool play, Coupeville gets a rematch with Washington Rush Elite Blue Sunday morning.

Beat the team they lost to Friday, and the Wolves advance to the semifinals of the tourney.

Depending on how things play out, CHS will play 2-3 games Sunday as it wraps up the three-day, 13-team event.

Facing off with the Avengers, Coupeville rallied twice, coming back from 1-0 and 5-3 deficits to pull out the win.

After hitting their only rough spot in the top of the fourth, when Enumclaw struck for four runs, the Wolves went into lights-out mode.

Nick Etzell replaced Dane Lucero on the mound, got CHS out of the inning and eventually threw 2 and 1/3 scoreless innings to get the win.

With Etzell firing BB’s, and catcher Taylor Consford on top of his game (he threw out three would-be stealers), Coupeville chipped away at the lead.

After Matt Hilborn manufactured a run in the fourth with a single and several stolen bases, Clay Reilly tied the game up in the fifth with a hard-hit RBI single.

Coupeville reclaimed the lead for good in the sixth, with Hilborn and Etzell stamping on home.

Both reached base thanks to intangibles (Hilborn eked out a walk, while Etzell scrambled to first, taking advantage of an error) and came around to score on a fielders choice and error, respectively.

While the Wolves took full advantage of Enumclaw’s four errors (they had just one themselves), CHS swung hot bats all night.

The big blow came courtesy Jake Hoagland, who mashed an RBI double to right-center in the second inning to plate Etzell.

Consford, Joey Lippo, Reilly, Hilborn, Etzell, Hoagland, Kyle Rockwell and Gavin Knoblich all collected base-knocks, while Jacob Zettle walked, as nine of Coupeville’s 12 hitters reached base.

The Wolves also ran wild on the bags, with Hilborn accounting for three of Coupeville’s six stolen bases.

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Hardball sluggers nipped in tourney opener!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on July 1, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Dane Lucero picked up Coupeville’s lone RBI in a 3-1 loss Friday. (John Fisken photo)

   Oak Harbor’s James Besaw (left) hangs out with Coupeville’s (l to r) Taylor Consford, Jonathan Thurston, Clay Reilly and Joey Lippo. (Teresa Besaw photo)

Razor-thin.

That was the margin between the Coupeville High School baseball squad and its foes Friday night.

Playing in their opening game at the Grays Harbor 4th of July Bash, the Wolves outhit and were slicker on defense than the Washington Rush Blue Elite.

But, in the end, the travel ball squad nipped them in the one category which truly matters, outscoring Coupeville 3-1.

The Wolves return to action Saturday afternoon, when they play the Avengers 17U squad at Olympic Stadium.

The three-day, 12-team tourney, which runs June 30-July 2, moves into bracket play Sunday.

Facing off with the Rush, who have a local connection on their roster in the form of Oak Harbor High School senior James Besaw, Coupeville held a 5-4 advantage in hits and were fairly flawless on defense.

“We played a good error-free game,” said CHS coach Chris Smith. “I was very proud of the way we composed ourselves and competed.”

Wolf hurlers Jonathan Thurston and Joey Lippo combined to keep the Rush at bay most of the evening, with a three-run third inning the only ding in the armor.

Thurston whiffed four in five innings of work before turning the hill over to his teammate.

At the plate, Clay Reilly led the way with a pair of hits while Hunter Smith, Dane Lucero and Nick Etzell added base-knocks.

Lucero picked up an RBI, bringing home Coupeville’s lone run in the top of the fourth.

The Wolves manufactured their score by getting lead-off hitter Taylor Consford on base via an error, followed by hits from Reilly and Lucero.

CHS had scoring opportunities in each of the first three innings, but was unable to seal the deal.

In the first, the Wolves got a two-out single from Reilly, only to see him gunned down on an ensuing steal attempt.

An inning later, Matt Hilborn wore one for the team, getting plunked and scrambling down to first before the sting wore off.

A double play ball erased the threat, however.

Etzell came the closest to scoring until Consford stamped on home, getting all the way around third base in the top of the third.

After stroking a single, the Wolf senior moved to second on a sac bunt from Kyle Rockwell, then made a play for home on a single off the bat of Smith.

The Rush came up strong on D, though, catching Etzell on his way home, with the play set up by a throw from Besaw in right field.

Coupeville’s rivals netted all three of their runs in the bottom of the third, a time period when they garnered three of their four hits on the game.

Besaw lined out to second his first time up, then was hit by a pitch the second time he faced off with Thurston.

In a bit of an oddity, there were two Oak Harbor players on the field, as Besaw’s Wildcat teammate, Donny Kloewer, is playing with Coupeville this summer.

Toss in Consford, a former OHHS player who transferred to CHS and played for the Wolves as a senior this spring, and it was an old school reunion.

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Wolves headin’ East!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on June 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Gavin Knoblich will lead the Coupeville Babe Ruth baseball team to state in mid-July. (John Fisken photo)

Pack your bags. We’re off to Ephrata.

OK, well not for two weeks, but you get the point.

After a second-place finish at the District 11 tourney, the Coupeville Babe Ruth baseball squad is state tournament bound and will make the 221-mile trip (one way) to compete at the big dance.

Action gets underway Monday, July 10 under (likely) toasty skies in Eastern Washington.

Coupeville closed districts Tuesday with a 12-1 loss to Sedro-Woolley, which gave the Outlaws a two-game sweep and the tourney crown.

The Wolves hung around through the third, with George Dailey using his arm and bat to stake his squad to a 1-1 tie.

A resident of Oak Harbor who’s playing with Coupeville this summer, he whiffed six and drilled an RBI double that shot down the third-base line, sending Scott Hilborn scampering home.

Sedro countered by inadvertently beaning Dailey in the back on an ensuing pick-off try.

Apparently they hit just the right muscles on the play.

“His pitching wasn’t the same after that, and then the wheels fell off,” said Coupeville coach Steve Hilborn.

Dailey eventually gave way to Gavin Knoblich, but the CHS sophomore-to-be was hampered by a defense which sprung multiple leaks behind him.

Coupeville had six base-runners in the game, with Dailey crunching a pair of doubles to lead the way.

Caleb Meyer added two singles, with Knoblich and Scott Hilborn earning walks.

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Roll on, heads high!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on June 27, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Ulrik Wells relaxes with a post-game beverage after playing Monday night. (Katy Wells photo)

Not all losses are the same.

While Coupeville’s Babe Ruth baseball squad was roughed up 13-3 Monday by Sedro-Woolley, it won’t change one important fact.

The Wolves are still state tourney bound.

Coupeville and S-W are playing a best-of-three clash in Burlington (game #2 is Tuesday, game #3 Wednesday if necessary) to decide seeding coming out of District 11, but both teams advance.

Going forward, though, the Wolves would like to trim down the mistakes, as they were stung by giving up seven walks and committing five errors Monday night.

Sedro seized the opportunity, scoring six runs across the first two innings, despite getting to Coupeville’s pitching staff for just a single hit.

The Wolves scratched out their runs in the third, using three walks (eked out by Daniel Olson, George Dailey and Cody Roberts) and base-knocks from Gavin Knoblich, Caleb Meyer and Ulrik Wells.

Dailey paced Coupeville with a pair of singles, while Wells, Knoblich, Meyer and Scott Hilborn each added a hit.

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Fight till the final swing!!

Posted in Baseball, Little League, tagged , , , , on June 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Jack Porter exits the season sporting a rather impressive shiner. (Jeff Porter photo)

Peyton Caveness is just hanging around. (Stephanie Pulliam photos)

Jon Roberts, master of sunscreen.

Pressure, what pressure? You’re looking at the most laid-back dugout in the biz.

Alex Smith is not sure about the whole “taking my picture” thing.

Landon Roberts gets limbered up.

“I throw strikes, son. It’s kind of my thing.”

They ran into the big boys.

Central Whidbey Little League soared through the Minors baseball season in style, winning tournaments and racking up win after win.

All-Star play turned out to be a bit different, however, as Coupeville’s diamond men went two and out at the district tourney.

Facing big city squads from Burlington and Anacortes, Central Whidbey got roughed up a bit, losing 27-1 Friday and 18-5 Sunday.

CWLL put up a fight in its finale, though, rapping out 10 hits.

Landon Roberts led the way with three singles and two RBI, while Peyton Caveness and Johnny Porter added a pair of base-knocks apiece.

Chase Anderson, Seth Woollet and Jordan Bradford rounded out the hit parade, each collecting a single.

Caveness was also a force on defense against Anacortes, making a spectacular diving catch while on the run in center.

In the opening game of the double-elimination tourney, Central Whidbey had a tougher time scraping out hits, finishing with three, one each from Caveness, Roberts and Anderson.

Levi Pulliam, Mike Robinett, Alex Smith, Jack Porter, Gabe Reed and Aiden O’Neill rounded out the All-Star roster.

While the season ended prematurely, Central coach Jon Roberts sees a bright future ahead for the program.

“Coaching, we made some mistakes that we will learn from and will return next year with most of the team intact, as we were a very young 9-10-11 team.”

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