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Josh Poole finds a home with Wolf baseball!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, homeless, Josh Poole, Ryan's House, Tom Black, Willie Smith on March 21, 2015| 1 Comment »

Josh Poole gets ready to fire some heat in his debut as a Wolf pitcher. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

Some baseball players fret about missing a bunt sign or muffing a grounder.

For Josh Poole, any moment on the baseball field is something to be celebrated. Great play or error, he’s just grateful for the opportunity.

Having come from an abusive home and been homeless, the Coupeville High School senior is embracing his new life.

“I started playing (baseball) because I’ve had a rough past and it feels like I’m part of a family, especially at CHS,” Poole said.

Dumped on the street by a father he says was abusive, Poole eventually got help, for which he is grateful.

“I registered myself into school, because education is number one, with help from Ryan’s House Youth Shelter and a big thanks to Julie Jansen,” Poole said. “Mr. (Tom) Black has helped me through the hard times and keeping my head on straight.”

Baseball has given him an outlet, and while this is his first season as a Wolf, he has found himself welcomed by his new team.

“There is a lot I enjoy about baseball, mostly being a part of a team as great as CHS,” Poole said. “My strengths are mainly my hustle.

“I do need work on my batting at times; my goals for the season are being a great role model and having a winning season.”

A country music fan, he plans to enter the military after graduation.

Poole has already made an impact on his new baseball family, with Coupeville coach Willie Smith taking a strong liking to his newest player.

“He’s been doing a great job in baseball,” Smith said. “He’s worked extremely hard and is a very likable young man.

“It sounds like he’s had a heck of a family life but he’s pretty determined to change the direction he’s headed and I’m impressed by what I’ve seen in his work ethic and attitude, which will go a long ways to get him to where he wants to get to.”

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You can go home again (just can’t win)!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged Aaron Trumbull, baseball, CHS Wolves, Sequim, Willie Smith on March 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Kyle Bodamer contemplates whether the umpire might be blind. (Shelli Trumbull photos)

They call Nick Etzell The Vacuum, because he sucks up every baseball hit anywhere near him.

Willie Smith went home and a pitcher’s duel broke out.

The CHS baseball guru took his current team back to Sequim Wednesday, the town he starred in back in his high school days, only to see his old-school Wolves edge his current pack of diamond men 3-0.

The non-conference loss dropped Coupeville to 1-2 on the season.

While CHS suffered its second straight shutout, the Wolves had their shots and hurler Aaron Trumbull did his best to limit the damage coming from the hosts.

All three runs were unearned, the kind of thing that can gnaw at the soul of a coach.

“We are just not making routine fundamental plays and it’s biting us in the hind end,” Smith said.

“Trumbull threw really well for us, keeping them off balance with a mix of off-speed and fastballs, but his defense didn’t do much to help him out,” he added. “Dropped pick-offs, overthrows, a dropped fly ball and failed executions on our first and third defense, led to all three of their runs.

“Other than that, we had a good defensive game!”

Coupeville had several chances to bring runners around, but failed each time.

Aaron Curtin launched a long drive to right in the first, only to see the man ahead of him, CJ Smith, thrown out at the plate.

Later, Josh Bayne singled, stole second and third, and then slowly wilted as the batters behind him finished out the inning with a strikeout and popup.

Things reached the height of disappointment with two blown plays in the late innings.

Kyle Bodamer beat out an infield single, then Cole Payne crushed a double in the fifth to put runners at second and third with one out.

Smith called for a double squeeze, only to have his batter miss the sign, cause a runner to get tagged out, then strike out to end the inning.

The final capper came in the sixth when Bayne smacked a grounder between short and third, only to have the Wolf runner at second make a base-running blunder.

“Our runner decided to run right at him, resulting in an out and a discussion with me on basic running fundamentals,” Smith said.

Still, while the frustrations mounted as the game wore on, the ol’ ball coach could walk away with hope for the remainder of the season.

“The good news is that the mistakes we are making are the result of not focusing and executing things we work on every day, so we can fix those,” Smith said. “Just like I thought, we are getting strong pitching but we need to play solid, fundamental defense and that is, right now, a work in progress, but we will get there and put it all together.”

JV makes its debut:

Coupeville’s young guns got their first action of the season, falling 9-2.

Wolf hurlers Jonathan Thurston and Josh Poole “both threw strikes and there was moments of good defense.”

Joey Lippo and Nick Etzell combined on a nice play up the middle to thwart a Sequim rally, while Cameron Toomey-Stout knocked in Gabe Wynn with the team’s first run.

Poole put in a one-man effort to notch the second run, stealing second and then coming around to score on a passed ball.

“It was good to see them in action and a lot of different players getting to make their high school baseball debut,” Smith said.

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Willie Smith has a fascinating financial offer for you!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged autographs, baseball, CHS Wolves, Diet Coke, John Fisken photos, Noah's ark, Willie Smith on March 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Willie Smith lays down the law. “No autographs until AFTER the game … unless you got $5, then I’m flexible.” (John Fisken photos)

CJ Smith comes up grinnin’ and gunnin’.

Aaron Trumbull lets loose with the Stare O' Death.

Aaron Trumbull unleashes the Stare O’ Death.

Josh Bayne sweet talks the baseball down from its perch in the heavens.

Hunter Smith controls the flow of the game.

“I said $5! Count my fingers and respect the financial authority of my hand!!”

“Dang, I only get $3. Smith, you da man!!”

Rain? What rain?

A day after a deluge straight out of Noah’s time, the sky was blue, the sun was out and baseballs were flyin’ through the air.

When he wasn’t looking for stray cans of Diet Coke, travelin’ photo man John Fisken was working the field, snapping pics, some of which are above.

To see more of his work (purchases help fund scholarships for CHS senior student/athletes) pop over to:

http://www.olympicleague.com/index.php?act=view_gallery&gallery=8289&league=21&page=1&page_name=photo_store&school=24&sport=0

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Etzell etches name in record book!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, Ben Etzell, CHS Wolves, Ft. Myers, ice fishin season, Johnnies, Saint John's University on March 17, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Ben Etzell throws the high, hard cheese during his high school days. (John Fisken photo)

College and facial hair.

Ben Etzell is perfect, so far.

The former Coupeville High School baseball standout, the MVP of the Cascade Conference his senior season, has pitched in one game as a freshman at Saint John’s University, and he collected the win.

Coming on in relief against Newbury College in a game played in Ft. Myers, Florida, Etzell hurled 1.1 innings, scattering four hits and sealing the victory for the Johnnies.

The NCAA D-III school, now 5-4 on the season — with five different pitchers having recorded a win — opened its season in Florida, and now, after a break, is off to Arizona for multiple games.

The Johnnies finally return home to Minnesota Mar. 28, hoping the warm weather will come with them.

Though, to be fair, late March in Minnesota is still a time many locals refer to as “yep, still ice fishin’ season, eh.”

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Swing and a miss!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, Everett Herald, Kyle Bodamer, Sultan, Willie Smith on March 16, 2015| Leave a Comment »

The swings looked good, but the Wolves spent most of Monday being baffled by Sultan hurler Tyler. (John Fisken photo)

The swings looked good, but the Wolves spent most of Monday being baffled by Sultan hurler Tyler Ohlson. (John Fisken photo)

“As good as things went Saturday, they went bad today!”

Willie Smith was still smiling in the parking lot after the game, but it was the strained smile of a coach blessed with a very young team that will be incredible some days, and soul-searing on others.

After a sublime Opening Day win over Blaine, Smith’s Coupeville High School baseball squad took a step back Monday, falling 6-0 to visiting Sultan in a game that had few highlights for the Wolf faithful.

For one thing, the non-conference loss came to a Turk squad that went winless a year ago.

Last year, when the two schools shared Cascade Conference residency, the Wolves swept three from Sultan.

This time around, the only one doing the sweeping was Turk hurler Tyler Ohlson.

Using 92 pitches, he blanked Coupeville, now in the Olympic League, on three hits and a walk while striking out four.

The biggest blow the Wolves landed was a double off of the bat of senior Kyle Bodamer, but he was stranded.

Adding insult to injury, Bodamer’s last name was changed to Budnaer in the game report that currently sits on the Everett Herald’s web site.

Oh, Herald, with your never-ending love of misspelling Coupeville names, never change.

After Aaron Curtin and Aaron Trumbull combined to toss a no-hitter against Blaine, Wolf hurlers CJ Smith and Julian Welling were decent, but not quite as effective.

Smith surrendered runs in the first and second, before Sultan tacked on two more in both the fifth and seventh against Welling.

Coupeville, now 1-1 on the young season, gets a chance to get back on the winning track when they travel to Willie Smith’s alma mater, Sequim, Wednesday.

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