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“He’s been loving the game since he was four”

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , , on August 5, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Oak Harbor grad James Besaw hopes to play baseball in Wisconsin next spring. (Photo courtesy Teresa Besaw)

New state, same game.

Oak Harbor High School grad James Besaw is off to the Midwest to pursue his baseball dreams, while continuing to work on his college education.

The former Wildcat star will be attending the University of Wisconsin-Superior, a liberal arts school where he’ll be pursuing a bachelors in chemistry.

Besaw, who is working as a park aid at Deception Pass State Park this summer, leaves near the end of August to head to a school with some famous alumni.

Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t need much of an introduction, but Wisconsin-Superior has also graduated Pixar co-founder David DiFrancesco, several NFL players, and old-school Major League Baseball star Morrie Arnovich.

Arnovich played seven seasons in the bigs, making the All-Star team as a Philadelphia Phillie, before winning a World Series with the 1940 Cincinnati Reds.

Wisconsin-Superior, which plays baseball in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, is an NCAA D-III school.

After graduating from OHHS, Besaw played his freshman season at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

He then moved back to the Northwest, where he suited up this spring for Green River College alongside Coupeville grads CJ Smith, Joey Lippo, and Hunter Smith.

The season ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the handful of games he played as a Gator don’t count against Besaw’s college eligibility.

Wisconsin-Superior contacted Besaw, and, after a visit to the campus, he decided it was perfect for the next step in his baseball career.

“I don’t look forward to him being so far away, but I am excited for him to play ball again,” mom Teresa Besaw said. “He was off to such a good start before COVID hit.

“It’s just over a bridge from Duluth, Minnesota, so there will be lots to do where he’ll be at,” she added. “I’m glad to see him getting more opportunity to play ball.

“He’s been loving the game since he was four.”

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Local little leagues stay in shutdown

Posted in Baseball, Softball, tagged , , , , on August 5, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Whidbey Island Little League fields will remain quiet.

North Whidbey Little League announced Wednesday it was cancelling its fall ball season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

That follows on the heels of South Whidbey Little League cancelling its Summer Sandlot series.

Both moves come after Island County Commissioners voted to “restrict outdoor recreation events including sports in Island County to no more than 10 participants.”

That ruling went into effect July 28.

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Oldenstadt a star on the rise

Posted in Baseball, Boys Basketball, Football, tagged , , , , , on August 3, 2020| 1 Comment »

Zane Oldenstadt rumbles down low in the paint. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Oldenstadt and William Davidson pause for a photo op during track season. (Morgan White photo)

Zane Oldenstadt listens to his mom, and that may pay off as the world deals with a pandemic.

As Coupeville students prepare for a new school year, without knowing for sure how it will play out in the age of coronavirus, incoming freshmen have high hopes in an unsettled world.

For Oldenstadt, who plans to be a three-sport athlete at CHS, it’s a perfect time to reflect on words of wisdom from mom Michelle Glass.

“My mom’s had a huge impact in showing me how the only way things get done is through perseverance and work,” Oldenstadt said.

Whether his high school days start off in a classroom or at home in front of a computer, the outgoing 9th grader-to-be wants to make an impact in everything he does.

Oldenstadt is “very interested in marine biology, and I plan to go to college for it,” while in the arena he hopes to play football, basketball, and baseball, in whatever order the WIAA and CHS allow him to.

Being a three-sport athlete is something which comes naturally, as he played soccer and basketball, then wrapped up the school year competing in track and field during his middle school days.

He also played little league baseball.

While he enjoyed all of his sports, Oldenstadt felt most at home on the hardwood.

“Basketball, I have fun getting out there and battling on the court,” he said. “It’s a sport I never tire of, and I’m always ready to go and give it my all.”

As he makes the transition from CMS to CHS, Oldenstadt already has the height and strength to set him apart from other athletes his own age.

But he also realizes he needs to add other components to his game if he wants to be successful at a higher level.

“I think my athleticism at my size really stands out,” Oldenstadt said. “But I’d still like to work on overall quickness.

“My goal in high school sports is to better myself and the teams I play on through hard work and commitment.”

When he’s not playing sports, Oldenstadt enjoys listening to music.

In an uncertain world, though, athletic activity is key to his happiness.

“Sports helps me cope with stress or anything else that’s bothering me,” he said. “It’s nice just to go and focus all your energy on trying to win something.”

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Hardball heroes nab final swing

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on July 23, 2020| Leave a Comment »

The bright future of Coupeville baseball. (Photo courtesy Jeff Porter)

One more game, before another shutdown.

Coupeville’s Babe Ruth baseball squad hasn’t had much time on the diamond this summer, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic throwing a huge wrench into things.

But Thursday the Wolves took the field to host Anacortes, and, while they fell 5-3 despite a late rally, they got to play, which was a win in itself.

It was Coupeville’s sixth, and final, game of this shortened season, as it only has nine players and won’t go on to play in any tournaments.

The mere fact the Wolves were on the CHS diamond might have come to a surprise to some, as Washington state Governor Jay Inslee issued new limits on gatherings which went into effect July 20.

Counties in Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan, such as Island County, are currently restricted to 10 people getting together.

However, after some digging by Oak Harbor Babe Ruth officials, it was determined there was an exclusion for outdoor sporting events.

Which brings us to Thursday, when the scrappy Wolves fell behind 5-0, then almost came all the way back in the bottom of the seventh and final inning.

Coupeville opened its last at-bats of the game, and season, with four straight walks, as Camden Glover, Johnny Porter, Marcelo Gebhard, and Aiden O’Neill all got aboard thanks to eagle eyes.

That set up the top of the order, and Scott Hilborn and Jack Porter responded, whacking back-to-back singles to make the Anacortes coaching staff start sweating in the autumn-like weather.

But the visitors got away with one, finding a way to stop the Coupeville onslaught and deny Wolf fans a chance to storm the field in celebration.

Anacortes got on the board early, plating two runners in the first, then two more in the second.

A final tally in the top of the sixth provided a little bit of a cushion.

Jack Porter, Johnny Valenzuela, and Hilborn split the pitching duties for Coupeville, with Valenzuela whiffing seven hitters across five innings of work.

Hilborn and Jack Porter paced the Wolf offense, collecting a pair of singles apiece, while Chase Anderson and Valenzuela also picked up base knocks.

Coupeville tallied seven walks, led by two each from Gebhard and O’Neill, to go with its six hits.

Eight of the nine Wolves in uniform reached base Thursday, with Landon Roberts rounding out the lineup for a team with a bright future, and, hopefully, many more games ahead of it.

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Wolf baseball ekes out hard-earned tie

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on July 16, 2020| Leave a Comment »

A star regardless of the sport, Scott Hilborn struck out seven batters while collecting three hits and three RBI Thursday in Coupeville’s baseball clash with South Whidbey. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Coupeville and South Whidbey faced off on the baseball diamond Thursday, playing to a 6-6 tie in a game called after two-plus hours of play.

It was the second game between the next-door neighbors in the last three days, and, quite possibly, the last time either hardball squad will play this summer.

Earlier in the day, Washington state Governor Jay Inslee announced that counties in Phase 3 of his reopening plan will revert to a 10-person limit on gatherings as of Monday, July 20.

That decision was made after the state Department of Health recorded 1,000+ new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour period, well above the previous one-day mark of 716 new cases.

Leading the spike is a considerable increase in positive cases among state residents in their 20’s and below.

While Coupeville’s diamond men only got two games in the book, they sit at a very-respectable 1-0-1.

The Wolves bounced South Whidbey’s Crabs 2-1 Tuesday, before fighting to the hard-earned Thursday tie.

Playing on the south end of the Island for the second time, Coupeville got to be the home team, and ended up having to rally to claim the tie.

Coupeville fell behind 3-0 as South Whidbey hit around in the top of the first against Wolf hurler Camden Glover, but then the “home” team immediately began its comeback.

Scott Hilborn lit the fuse with a lead-off single, beating out a shot to short, before Jack Porter followed with a resounding double on mom Jenny’s birthday.

Back within 3-2, Coupeville kept coming and eventually reclaimed the lead.

With Porter firing BB’s on the mound, the Wolves defense shut down South Whidbey, then Coupeville’s offense started really clicking.

A couple of second inning walks set the table for Hilborn, and the CHS sophomore-to-be responded, smoking a stand-up three-run double to left center.

Porter’s bat continued to be red-hot as well, as he cracked another two-bagger, followed by a sharp single from Chase Anderson.

Trailing 6-3, South Whidbey chipped away, plating a pair of runners in the third, then knotting things back up by pushing a runner across in the fifth.

While Coupeville put runners on base down the stretch, with Hilborn and Porter collecting singles to go with walks to teammates such as Johnny Valenzuela, the Wolves came up just short of getting a go-ahead run.

Wolf pitchers Glover (1), Porter (5), and Hilborn (7) combined to whiff 13 South Whidbey hitters on a balmy mid-summer night.

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