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State tourney, here we come!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged 1A tri-districts, Aaron Curtin, baseball, CHS Wolves on May 18, 2014| 1 Comment »

Senior Morgan Payne is all smiles after his team advanced to state. (Shelli Trumbull photos)

Assistant coach Chris Tumblin and Kurtis Smith, who won a state title together in little league, enjoy another diamond delight.

“We’re going to Anacortes!” Cause no one wants to go to Castle Rock. No one.

Sometimes third place is better than second.

With two wins in two games at tri-districts Saturday, the Coupeville High School baseball squad clinched its first trip to state since 2008, and, better yet, will get to start fairly close to home.

The Wolves (14-10) slipped past Overlake 1-0 in eight innings and then swatted Life Christian 6-3 to run their record against fellow 1A schools to a shiny 6-2.

As the third-place team from tri-districts, Coupeville will open the state tourney in Anacortes Saturday, May 24.

The Wolves will face Rochester (16-6) in a loser-out game. Win and they advance to play the survivor of Cedar Park Christian (18-2) and Hoquiam (15-8) for a chance to make the final four in Yakima.

Cascade Conference rival South Whidbey lost 5-2 to CPC to finish second and will have to travel further, heading down to Castle Rock to play Tenino.

Win that and the Falcons face the winner of Life Christian and Woodland.

If the two Whidbey schools meet for a fifth time this season (they’ve split the first four meetings), it will be in Yakima and both schools will be guaranteed a state banner.

The Wolves are flying high on an emotional wave right now.

After gutting out the win over Overlake — scoring the winning run in the bottom of the eighth when a Kurtis Smith single scored Jake Tumblin — Coupeville jumped on Life Christian early.

The Wolves used a two-run double from Aaron Curtin and RBI singles from Aaron Trumbull and Cole Payne to stake hurler CJ Smith to a quick 4-0 lead.

Despite taking a shot off the shins at one point, he made it stand up.

After Life Christian scraped its way back into the game at 4-3, CHS scored two in the sixth to slam the door.

The game’s final ball was a chopper to Josh Bayne, who made the throw to second and kept Coupeville’s second-half charge going strong.

The Wolves are 4-1 in the playoffs this season after going 0-2 a season ago.

State brackets:

http://www.wiaadistrict1.com/tournament.php?act=view&league=1&page=1&school=0&sport=6&tournament_id=1251

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Ticket punched!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, Ben Etzell, CHS Wolves, Kurtis Smith on May 17, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Kurtis Smith, hero of the prairie.

Watch out, here comes Whidbey!

Jake Tumblin scored from second on an RBI single off the bat of Kurtis Smith in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday morning, lifting the Coupeville High School baseball squad to a 1-0 extra-inning victory over Overlake at the 1A Tri-District tourney.

The win clinched a state berth for the Wolves (13-10) for the first time since 2008 and they will join Island mates South Whidbey in being part of the big dance.

Coupeville, which started the day at Sehome High School, now moves over to Meridian to play in the 3rd/4th place game at 4 PM.

If the Wolves win, they open the state tourney May 24 in Anacortes. If they lose, they travel to Castle Rock.

Either place, if they win two games next Saturday, they would head to Yakima for the state semifinals and the school’s first banner in any team sport in a decade plus.

Playing their private school counterparts Saturday, Coupeville benefited from another strong performance on the mound from Ben Etzell. The senior hurler twice punched out a batter to end an inning with a runner camped at third.

The second time he pulled the trick came in the top of the seventh, when Overlake had the bags juiced.

Etzell got defensive help from Tumblin, his catcher, and centerfielder Wade Schaef.

Schaef pulled off the web gem of the morning when he snagged a difficult fly to center, then gunned down a runner straying off of second to complete the double play.

With the game still scoreless, and Etzell about to be lifted in favor of reliever Aaron Trumbull, CHS finally found a run in the bottom of the eighth.

Schaef led off with a walk, but was forced at second on a grounder by Tumblin. The speedy senior then took second on a passed ball, before scampering home to be mobbed after Smith ripped a shot back up the middle.

The final run of the group that won a state title in little league as eighth and seventh graders rolls on, and the questions remains: why not us?

Why not, indeed.

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Throwback Thursday: Baseball lifers!!

Posted in Baseball, Throwback Thursday, tagged Aaron Trumbull, baseball, CHS Wolves, Kurtis Smith, Mariners, Throwback Thursday on May 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Young baseball fans (l to r) Aaron Trumbull, Kurtis Smith and Carson Risner. (Shelli Trumbull photos)

Stars of today.

From watching baseball to starring on the diamond themselves, three Wolves have taken a journey over the last decade.

And while Carson Risner eventually stepped away from baseball to follow his mom (CHS legend Jennie Cross) into the world of track and field, his compadres are still out there.

Kurtis Smith is the starting right fielder and Aaron Trumbull patrols first base (and pitches) for a Coupeville High School team that sits a win away from the state tournament.

Proof that the best baseball players come to the game early.

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Dream delayed, not denied!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged 1A District 1 playoffs, baseball, CHS Wolves, South Whidbey on May 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Wade Schaef and Co. are headed to tri-districts next Saturday. (Shelli Trumbull photos)

Wolf catcher Jake Tumblin has been swinging a hot bat lately.

One chance down, two more to still play out.

Despite taking a 4-0 loss to arch-rival South Whidbey Saturday in the championship game of the 1A District 1 baseball playoffs, Coupeville High School still has very valid dreams of punching its ticket to the state tourney.

They’ll just have to wait a week to make it a reality.

Having beaten the odds by winning two of three to finish second at districts, after entering as the #5 seed, the Wolves (12-10) will get two cracks to win one game at tri-districts next Saturday, May 17.

Coupeville will be the home team in a 10 AM game at Sehome High School that day against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.

Win and they hop on the bus and head to Meridian High School for the 3rd place/4th place game at 4 PM. Lose and they stay at Sehome to play in the 5th place game, also at 4 PM.

A win in either game and they join South Whidbey (15-7) as one of 16 teams at state, which kicks off at regional sites May 24. The final four meet in Yakima May 30-31.

The week off between districts and tri-districts should hopefully help Coupeville rediscover its offensive touch, which vanished Saturday after two strong games.

The Wolves only managed to get runners on in a few innings against the Falcons, and didn’t provide as much of a challenge as coach Willie Smith had hoped.

“Well, certainly not how we thought we would play today,” Smith said. “Probably our worst all-around game all season.

“I am certainly not going to take anything away from South Whidbey, because they got the hits when they needed to, made the defensive stops they needed, and got good pitching,” he added. “But, we really didn’t offer them a championship caliber effort until it was too late and our offensive approach was anemic at best.”

The game was scoreless into the third, when South Whidbey broke through, using a Wolf error, a dropped relay at home, a walk and a single to scratch out two runs.

The Falcons added two more in the fourth off of back-to-back CHS errors and a blooper that was misplayed.

Still, every team can have a bad day, and with two shots at still advancing to state, Smith remains confident in his squad.

“Our season goal is still intact and alive,” he said. “We just need to get back to what got us there: good pitching, solid defense, and timely hitting.”

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Whidbey rules, Northwest Conference drools!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, Jake Tumblin, Willie Smith on May 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The Wolves celebrate after Jake Tumblin's home run. (Shelli Trumbull photos)

The celebration was on after Jake Tumblin (far left in batting helmet) smacked a home run Friday afternoon. (Shelli Trumbull photos)

CJ Smith brings the heat.

Wolves (l to r) Tumblin, Willie Smith, CJ Smith and Ben Etzell confer on the mound.

Eight teams came to the 1A Northwest District baseball playoffs, and the only two still standing undefeated heading into Saturday are the pride of Whidbey.

With Coupeville thunking Lynden Christian 5-2 Friday and South Whidbey slipping past Friday Harbor 4-3, the district title game will be an all-Island affair, only played on the road at Kamiak High School.

The Falcons (14-7) and Wolves (12-9) will face off at 12 PM Saturday, and the winner clinches a berth to state.

South Whidbey will be the home team, but Coupeville has an emotional edge, having taken two of three from their arch-rivals to open the season.

Win or lose, both teams advance to tri-districts Saturday, May 17 at Sehome High School.

The district champ will face the winner from district 3 in the tri-district title game, while the runner-up will have two shots to win one game to advance to state.

Surging at the right time — having won eight of its last 11 games — Coupeville stormed past Lynden Christian, the #1 seed in the district tourney, with ease.

The Wolves did it riding the booming bat of senior catcher Jake Tumblin and the fireball-throwing arm of sophomore CJ Smith.

Tumblin, echoing the glory days when he helped lead Central Whidbey to a state little league title as an eighth grader, thumped three hits, including a home run to left, scored twice, stole two bases and knocked in a pair of runs.

“Heck of a game for the young man!” said Coupeville coach Willie Smith.

The Wolves actually got their runs multiple ways, using smart base-running and a couple of Lync mistakes to tack on scores around Tumblin’s solo shot and his later RBI single that plated Wade Schaef.

Korbin Korzan scampered home in the second inning when Lynden Christian’s second baseman ran into the umpire while trying to field a bunt by CJ Smith.

Ben Etzell also took advantage of what the Lyncs offered.

The Wolf senior walked, stole second, took third on a wild pitch, then came across to score on another wild pitch.

Coupeville capped its scoring with an RBI single from Kurtis Smith.

With run support to play with, CJ Smith induced a string of inning-ending ground-balls and stayed one step ahead of the Lync hitters all afternoon. He whiffed three and benefited greatly from opportunistic defensive plays by his teammates.

Kurtis Smith gunned down a runner at third by a solid five feet, while Etzell made a running catch on a pop up in foul territory while on a dead sprint.

“That’s kind of the way it went for CJ,” Willie Smith said. “Pitching in and around trouble all day, but never being touched by it.”

Lynden Christian loaded the bags in the bottom of the seventh, but Etzell, Coupeville’s #1 pitcher, came in to get the final out — in poetic fashion it was a bouncer to CJ Smith, who had moved back to second.

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