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Posts Tagged ‘baseball’

After coming through a very dark period, Korbin Korzan embraces each new day.

Korbin Korzan is one of the most physically gifted athletes I have written about during my time in Coupeville.

He was a standout high school football and baseball player and a key member of a Central Whidbey Little League hardball squad which won a state title in 2010.

Very outgoing, he always seemed to enjoy being in the spotlight, and shared those moments with family and friends.

But no one ever truly knows what another is going through, and today Korbin has agreed to let me share his story.

He does so in the hope that it will help others reach their own inner peace.

In Korbin’s own words:

 

I originally intended on waiting a decade to share my story.

Some recent events have happened that are pushing me to share it now.

I don’t know if there is anyone out there that can benefit from hearing this, but if it makes a difference for just one person then I will be happy.

So, seven years ago … my life looked a little different.

I just turned 21, had an amazing career at Bank of America, just opened my drone business, and was engaged to the love of my life (Whitney).

Sounds like an awesome life, right?

Looking at pictures (from then) you would probably think I was a pretty happy guy.

Well, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I was severely depressed and mixing a cocktail of drugs and alcohol to try to numb my pain.

It took hitting rock bottom to fully accept that I was not okay.

And friends, it is OKAY to not be okay.

The biggest thing is accepting that and being willing to accept help.

That is so much easier said than done but I know you can do it.

I don’t want to go into details about what happened October 2017, but I do want to discuss what happened AFTER I decided to get help and get clean.

The first few months were riddled with anger and pain.

I dug myself into a massive crater and it was time to start making my way out. As time went on things began to improve.

I focused on bettering myself and surrounding myself with people who showed me love and support.

So, what has happened since October 2017? How much could YOUR life change in seven short years — just like mine did?

Since trying to take my own life, I have:

Married my soulmate.

Korbin and Whitney

Expanded my drone company to a full production company.

Traveled out of state 30+ times and gone on so many amazing adventures.

Made new friends.

Explored areas I didn’t even know existed.

Made over two million dollars.

Tried amazing new foods and played video games I once dreamed of as a child.

Drove awesome cars.

Started fun new hobbies.

Flown in planes, big and small.

Found my silver lining in life.

The list goes on and on. I have experienced so many new and amazing experiences.

I don’t say this to brag … I honestly never thought any of these things would ever happen to me.

So, whether your passion is family, love, adventure, or money, all of that can still be yours.

If my life can change that much, so can yours!

You might feel like you are in a dark place now but I promise you it can and it WILL get better.

Surround yourself with friends and family that love you. Accept that it is okay to not feel okay.

Talk to others and ask for help! I am always here if anyone needs to talk.

Suicide is a very real and scary thing in our world. Reach out to your friends and let them know you are there.

Even if you don’t think they are sad, sometimes the “happiest” people are truly the saddest.

It would be a lie if I said I didn’t still struggle to this day … but it is not as bad anymore and continues to get better every year.

I know the same thing can happen for you!

I promise you things can get better.

You are more than enough, and the world is such a better place with you in it.

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Spring approaches like a freight train, which means only one thing.

Time to get signed up for baseball and softball action.

Registration for Central Whidbey Little League is active and runs through March 1.

Scan the photo above for pertinent info, then get crackin’.

Before the bats themselves get … crackin’.

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Lyla Stuurmans smiles because she’s warm inside the gym. But “spring” approaches. (Delanie Lewis photo)

Will it be sunny and mid-60’s or cloudy, rainy, (extremely) windy, and low-40’s?

If you have to ask, you’ve never experienced spring sports on Whidbey Island…

While I ponder who I can sweet-talk into buying Coupeville Sports one of those plastic viewing bubbles, the annual freezing of the nether regions approaches.

And no, it wouldn’t help if I wore pants and not shorts.

I’ve tried that before, and, other than slightly blocking gusts of wind shooting up the backside of my legs, there isn’t much difference.

It will be dastardly … I mean, delightful out there on the prairie.

“Ladies, ladies, I am but a toasty lil’ tot. Let’s just stay here and never, ever speak of venturing out onto the frozen tundra of the prairie.” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

As I look in the mirror and try to psych myself up to stare down Mother Nature at her orneriest, here’s a look at Coupeville High School varsity schedules for “spring” sports.

If there’s a ** next to a game, it indicates a Northwest 2B/1B League contest.

And no, you’re not reading things wrong.

Wolf tennis will NOT be playing at home this season, instead hitting the road for all 10 matches as they wait for new courts over by the CHS gym to be finished.

It’s the road life for the netters, with ferries and buses taking them to other areas where maybe the wind doesn’t howl quite so much.

But don’t hold your breath.

 

BASEBALL:

Mon-Mar. 11 — Meridian (4:00)
Fri-Mar. 15 — @ South Whidbey (4:00)
Sat-Mar. 16 — North Mason (1:00)
Tue-Mar. 19 — Friday Harbor (4:00) **
Fri-Mar. 22 — Mount Vernon Christian (4:00) **
Tue-Mar. 26 — @ Orcas Island (4:00) **
Wed-Mar. 27 — Sequim (4:00)
Fri-Mar. 29 — @ Concrete (4:00) **
Sat-Mar. 30 — South Whidbey (1:00)
Mon-Apr. 8 — Sultan (4:00)
Tue-Apr. 9 — @ Darrington (4:00) **
Thur-Apr. 11 — La Conner (4:00) **
Sat-Apr. 13 — @ Forks (1:00)
Tue-Apr. 16 — @ Friday Harbor (4:45) **
Fri-Apr. 19 — @ Mount Vernon Christian (4:00) **
Tues-Apr. 23 — Orcas Island (4:00) **
Thur-Apr. 25 — Concrete (4:00) **
Sat-Apr. 27 — Darrington (1:00) **
Thur-May 2 — @ La Conner (4:00) **

 

GIRLS TENNIS:

Wed-Mar. 13 — @ South Whidbey (3:30)
Fri-Mar. 15 — @ Friday Harbor (4:30) **
Fri-Mar. 22 — @ Granite Falls (4:00)
Wed-Mar. 27 — @ Bush (3:30)
Wed-Apr. 10 — @ South Whidbey (3:30)
Wed-Apr. 17 — @ Friday Harbor (4:30) **
Sat-Apr. 20 — @ University Prep (TBD)
Wed-Apr. 24 — @ Bush (3:30)
Fri-Apr. 26 — @ Friday Harbor (4:30) **
Fri-May 10 — @ Friday Harbor (4:30) **

 

SOFTBALL:

Fri-Mar. 15 — @ South Whidbey (4:00)
Tue-Mar. 19 — Friday Harbor (4:00) **
Sat-Mar. 23 — @ Blaine (2:00)
Tue-Mar. 26 — @ Orcas Island (4:00) **
Fri-Mar. 29 — @ Concrete (4:00) **
Sat-Mar. 30 — Onalaska (12:00/2:00) — DOUBLEHEADER
Mon-Apr. 8 — Sultan (4:00)
Tue-Apr. 9 — @ Darrington (4:00) **
Thur-Apr. 11 — La Conner (4:00) **
Sat-Apr. 13 — @ Forks (1:00)
Tue-Apr. 16 — @ Friday Harbor (4:45) **
Sat-Apr. 20 — @ Granite Falls (12:00)
Tues-Apr. 23 — Orcas Island (4:00) **
Thur-Apr. 25 — Concrete (4:00) **
Sat-Apr. 27 — Darrington (1:00) **
Thur-May 2 — @ La Conner (4:00) **
Fri-May 10 — South Whidbey (4:00)

 

TRACK AND FIELD:

Wed-Mar. 13 — @ La Conner (3:30)
Sat-Mar. 16 — @ Rainier Invite (11:00)
Wed-Mar. 20 — HOME MEET (3:30)
Sat-Mar. 23 — @ Freshman/Sophomore Meet (Stanwood) — (10:00)
Thur-Mar. 28 — @ Mount Vernon (3:30)
Fri-Mar. 29 — @ Trojan Twilight (Meridian) — (4:00)
Tues-Apr. 9 — @ Nisqually League Track (Port Townsend) — (TBD)
Sat-Apr. 13 — @ Forks Lions Club Invite (11:00)
Wed-Apr. 17 — Coupeville Invite (3:30)
Sat-Apr. 20 — @ Li’l Norway (North Kitsap) — (10:00)
Sat-Apr. 27 — @ Sunny and 70’s Invite (Lakewood) — (10:00)
Wed-May 1 — @ Northwest League Championships (Mt. Vernon) — (3:30)

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Joey Lippo (right) and fellow Whidbey baseball alumni James Besaw hang out. (Teresa Besaw photo)

Joey Lippo’s classroom game remains strong.

The Coupeville High School grad, now a two-sport athlete at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, was one of 505 students named to the North Atlantic Conference Fall All-Academic team.

Lippo, a senior who will play his final season of baseball for the Owls this spring, was hailed for his work during golf season.

The NAC has 14 schools, and the athletes honored covered “87 unique teams across eight sports.”

To be eligible, a student/athlete needed to achieve a GPA between 3.5 and 4.0.

During his days in Coupeville, Lippo played tennis, basketball, and baseball for the Wolves.

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Jim Hosek, Coupeville High School’s most successful baseball coach.

Wolf Nation lost a diamond legend late last year.

Jim Hosek, who passed away at age 76 on Oct. 30, 2023, was the most successful baseball coach in Coupeville High School history.

During his six years in charge of the Wolf hardball program from 1973-1978, he led his teams to 103 wins, five straight league titles and four district crowns.

Hosek’s crew advanced to the state tournament four times during that run, with the ’77 team becoming the first CHS baseball squad to win a game at the big dance.

Those Wolves bopped Kittitas 14-0.

Coupeville was primed to keep the surge going, only to lose Hosek thanks to a questionable at best decision by the school board of the time.

After stepping down as a teacher to run the family’s novelty business, he offered to remain as Wolf baseball coach.

Instead, the board insisted it wanted a teacher as coach, and Hosek moved on to take over the Skagit Valley College baseball program.

To no one’s surprise, he was equally as successful at the college level as he had been leading high school teams.

Along with collecting a string of wins and titles, Hosek was unique in making sure all of his team’s uniforms had a one somewhere in the jersey number.

That was to reinforce the mandate that he and his team always view themselves as #1.

While I’m too young to have written about Hosek during his CHS days, I came to know him as a faithful customer at Videoville, and, before that, as dad to Mika, one of the first Wolf stars I covered during my stint at the Whidbey News-Times.

Later, with the blog, I spoke to many of his former players, from Bill Jarrell to Keith Jameson, and beyond, and they all praised their former diamond skipper.

He had an admirable baseball career, helped put Coupeville High School sports on the map, and always came across as a genuinely nice guy.

Inducting Hosek into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame in 2016 was an incredibly easy decision. He more than earned that spot.

As we approach another windswept spring on the prairie, the next time you head out to the CHS baseball diamond, take a moment and tip one out for a hardball legend.

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