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Posts Tagged ‘Ben Etzell’

Better weather, same Big Ben!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on April 23, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Just give Ben Etzell the ball. That’s all he wants. Oh, and no more Minnesota snow. (Libby Auger photo)

With the snow receding, they’re rolling once again.

Saint John’s University baseball, and former Coupeville diamond star Ben Etzell, were slowed by the non-stop white stuff which hammered Minnesota.

After starting the season in Florida and Arizona, once the Johnnies returned home they found nothing but games being backed up, and then backed up some more.

That has begun to change, and SJU is once again playing, running its record to 19-5 after a doubleheader sweep Monday of Hamline University.

Etzell, a senior, tossed a perfect inning, including a pair of strike-outs, to slam the door in the nightcap, a 6-1 win.

He’s tied for the team lead among pitchers with seven appearances and is 1-2 with a 2.35 ERA this season.

For his career, Etzell is 9-4 with seven saves and he crossed the 100-inning barrier against Hamline. He has 84 K’s in 100.2 innings all-time.

Saint John’s has 13 regular-season games left on its schedule and will be playing a ton of doubleheaders over the next two weeks.

The league tourney is scheduled for May 10-13.

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Big Ben brings the heat!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on March 20, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Ben Etzell (right) is making dad Mike (left) proud by ringing up hitters while pitching for his papa’s alma mater, Saint John’s. (Kristi Etzell photo)

Etzell brings the heat. (Photo by Libby Auger)

The weather was warm, but the pitching was hotter.

Sparked by Coupeville grad Ben Etzell, the Saint John’s University baseball squad successfully capped a four-day trip to Tucson, Arizona, and now head back to Minnesota boasting a red-hot 14-2 record.

The Johnnies went 6-1 on their Arizona trip, including a 16-7 win Tuesday over Buena Vista (Iowa).

Etzell, a senior, came on to pitch a 1-2-3 ninth inning to put a final, definitive stamp on Saint John’s warm weather jaunts.

As they wait for things to un-thaw back home, the Johnnies kicked off the season with a nine-game stand in Florida, then hit Arizona.

They’ll play for the first time in their home state Mar. 30, when the league season begins.

While SJU has been beatin’ the crud out of the ball, it has also been getting solid work from a deep pitching staff.

As he heads down the stretch run of his collegiate career, Etzell currently sits at 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA in four games this season.

That ties him for the team lead in appearances among pitchers.

He’s tossed 4.2 innings, surrendered just one hit and struck out six.

For his career, Etzell is 9-3 with seven saves over 41 appearances, which includes nine starts before the Johnnies made him their bullpen closer.

In 97.2 collegiate innings the former Cascade Conference MVP has struck out 82 hitters.

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Etzell slams the door!!

Posted in Baseball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on March 6, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Coupeville grad Ben Etzell brings the heat on the college diamond. (Libby Auger photo)

Big Ben, little pic. (Photo property of Saint John’s University baseball)

Ben Etzell is warming up, in more ways than one.

The former Coupeville High School baseball star is kicking off his senior season at Saint John’s University with extended spring training in Fort Myers, Florida, as opposed to being on campus in Minnesota.

On Tuesday, that meant playing in a balmy 76 degrees as opposed to trying to warm up his fastball in a frigid 29 degrees.

With his arm limbered up, Etzell made his season debut, tossing two perfect innings and nabbing the win in relief as the Johnnies slipped past Alvernia University in a 2-1 thriller.

The victory came in the first of two games Saint John’s played Tuesday.

A 13-1 win over the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford in the nightcap improved SJU to a pristine 4-0 on the young season.

The Johnnies have outscored their foes 53-4.

Etzell and Co. play doubleheaders Wednesday and Thursday, then cap their Florida adventure with a single game Friday before getting on a plane and gettin’ the heck out of town.

After an eight-day break, the Johnnies travel to Arizona, where they’ll play seven games in four days.

Saint John’s doesn’t set foot on a Minnesota diamond until Mar. 31, then plays the final 23 games of its 39-game regular-season schedule inside its home state.

Tuesday, the Johnnies dueled down to the wire with Alvernia, with the two teams trading solo home runs over the first seven innings.

With the game knotted at 1-1, Etzell, who was a First-Team All-Conference pick as a relief pitcher a season ago, took the mound in the eighth and promptly set the opposing batters down one-two-three.

Sparked by their ace, the Johnnies rallied for a run in the top of the ninth, with Max Jackson ripping an RBI single to plate what turned out to be the winning run.

Etzell finished off his perfect season debut with another one-two-three inning in the ninth, finishing with two strikeouts while facing the minimum six batters.

With the win, he improved to 9-2 as a college hurler.

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Etzell brings heat, one more time!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on February 7, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Ben Etzell fires up the fastball machine. (Libby Auger photo)

And then there was one.

With several former Wolf athletes graduating from college last spring, it appears there will only be one Coupeville High School alum playing collegiate spring sports this year.

That man is former Cascade Conference baseball MVP Ben Etzell, now a senior at Saint John’s University in Minnesota.

Etzell, who started his collegiate career as a starting pitcher, then morphed into an ace reliever for the Johnnies, was named to two All-Midwest Region teams a year ago.

He carries an 8-2 career pitching mark, with seven saves and 76 strikeouts in 93 innings into the new season, which kicks off with a trip to Florida.

Saint John’s, which has posted a winning record in each of Etzell’s three seasons, debuts Mar. 5 with a doubleheader against Finlandia University in Fort Myers.

The Johnnies play nine games in Florida between Mar. 5-9, then return to the less-balmy environment of Minnesota.

All together, they have a 32-game regular season schedule, with 20 league games (all doubleheaders) against their 10 foes in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

For his senior season, Etzell is getting the featured treatment, as he is one of two Johnnies whose action photos grace the school’s baseball web site.

To see the former Wolf in all his goatee-sportin’ and fastball-chuckin’ glory, pop over to:

http://www.gojohnnies.com/index.aspx?path=baseball

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Still in it to win it!!

Posted in Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on June 10, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Jacob Martin is one of 12 former Wolves planning on playing college sports next school year. (John Fisken photo)

Some are done, some are just beginning.

With the 2016-2017 school year reaching an end, a number of former Coupeville athletes are saying goodbye to life in college sports, while others are gearing up for their own runs.

The elder statesman, Mitch Pelroy, capped a five-year run as a football player at Montana Western, while Hailey Hammer and Monica Vidoni ended two-year stints at Everett Community College and Rainy River CC, respectively.

Also out the door is Jenn Spark, who played a year of soccer at Tacoma Community College.

She’s engaged to former Wolf hoops star Anthony Bergeron and is headed to San Diego to join him.

Looking towards the fall of 2017, here’s a list of former Wolves who we expect to be in the mix for a college sports career.

It’s an ever-changing list, so don’t be surprised to see additions or subtractions as we head down the winding road.

In alphabetic order:

Zane Bundy — After a year of learning on the sidelines at Santa Barbara City College, the former Wolf kicker is transferring to Tabor College in Kansas.

Ben Etzell — An All-League pick for his performance as a relief pitcher, he’ll be a senior at Saint John’s University in Minnesota next spring.

Kailey Kellner — 2017 CHS grad has signed to play hoops at D’Youville College in New York.

Dalton Martin — Enjoyed a successful freshman season as a discus thrower at Everett Community College.

Ally Roberts – 2017 CHS grad is joining the equestrian team at Western Washington University. The school provides its riders with steeds, dashing hopes she would take her horse, Tiger, to live with her in the dorms, TV sitcom-style.

Jacob Martin — 2017 CHS grad has signed to play football at Feather River College in Quincy, California. Golden Eagles coaches are projecting him to play strong safety.

Clay Reilly — 2017 CHS grad will try out for the baseball team at Skagit Valley College.

Kory Score — 2017 CHS grad will try out for the baseball team at Western Washington.

Makana Stone — After a tremendously successful freshman year on the basketball court at Whitman College (she became a starter and helped carry her team to the Elite Eight), she’ll be a key player for the Blues next winter.

Nick Streubel – He’s healthy after missing much of last season with a hand injury and he, and his flowing Samson hair locks, are expected to start on the line for the Central Washington University football squad. Will be a red-shirt sophomore.

Jonathan Thurston – 2017 CHS grad will try out for the Central Washington baseball squad.

Aaron Trumbull – Played first base at Olympic Community College as a freshman this spring, where he showed a slick glove.

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