The 2002 Coupeville HS softball squad, which won four of five at state. For a list of who’s who, head to the bottom of this article. (Photo courtesy Jim Wheat)
They were trailblazers who shocked the world.
Today, as we celebrate our 54th induction ceremony for the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, we honor a team which reached peaks never seen before, or since, at Coupeville High School.
So, let’s open these hallowed digital walls and welcome, finally (I needed a roster and a pic and it took some digging), the 2002 CHS softball squad.
After this, you’ll find them enshrined together, as a team, at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.
And frankly, that’s what they are — legends.
Coupeville High School has 17 individual state titles thanks to cross country and track, but has yet to reach the top of the mountain in a team sport.
No team came closer than the 2002 softball sluggers.
They are one of three Wolf teams to have brought home a 3rd place state trophy, but their feat tops, at least a bit, what those other two teams accomplished.
The 2005 Wolf girls’ tennis team rode one hot doubles team to their trophy in a sport with extremely quirky scoring, while the 1987 CHS baseball team played through an easier format than the softball sluggers.
When Coupeville took the field at state in 2002, having reached the big dance in the school’s very first year of playing fast-pitch softball, the Wolves had to win four straight to win a title.
And they almost did, falling only to eventual champ Adna in their third game.
Rebounding with back-to-back wins to close the tourney, CHS exited with four wins in five games, the most victories achieved in a single state tourney by any Wolf team, in any sport.
Coupeville outscored their foes 28-13, beating Cle Elum-Rosalyn (8-0), Royal (3-2), Okanogan (6-1) and Napavine (11-6) behind the leadership of Sarah Mouw and Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby.
The lone loss, a 4-0 defeat to Adna, a school which has won nine state titles on the softball diamond, was even closer than the score might indicate.
While they may not have gotten the big trophy, those Wolves loom large in CHS history, even now as most of those players break through into their early 30s.
“Without a doubt the best group of coachable athletes I’ve ever worked with,” said Jim Wheat, an assistant coach on that squad who now trains umpires when he’s not calling games himself.
They could hit, for power and precision. They were slick-fielding. They ran the base-paths with authority. They were beasts in the pitcher’s circle.
Mouw was the league co-MVP, going 22-2 as a pitcher on a team which finished 24-3.
She also led the Wolves in hitting, doubles, triples, home runs and RBI.
Backing her up were fellow First-Team All-League players Erica Lamb and Ellsworth-Bagby (a four-time pick) and Second-Team selections Lindsey Tucker and Tracy Taylor.
Along with their teammates they are, arguably, the most successful sports team in the 116-year history of the school, and 99% of that argument is set in stone.
This much we know for 100% — today, 14 years after they made their run, we bring them back together again (at least on the internet.)
Instead of listing them alphabetically, we’re going to put them in the order they appear in the team photo above.
The guy with the #1 is a random WIAA official, but the ones who go in the Hall together, as a team:
2 — Kim Meche
3 — Kristin Gwartney
4 — Erica Lamb
5 — Randy Dickson (head coach)
6 — Sarah Mouw
7 — Tracy Taylor
8 — Jim Wheat
9 — Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby
10 — Laura Crandall
11 — Heather Davis
12 — Angel Black
13 — Andrea Larson
14 — Tara Guillory
15 — Ashley Ginnetti
16 — Samantha Roehl
17 — Caitlin Harada
18 — Carly Guillory
19 — Brooke Croghan
20 — Christine Larson
21 — Lindsey Tucker
Plus, they’re not in the photo, but Bruce Berg and Dale Folkestad.
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