Chloe Wheeler let her bat do her talking. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
The quietest Wolf was loudest when it mattered most.
During the spring of 2019, I did something I haven’t done in the eight-year history of Coupeville Sports — attend every single game, home or away, for one team.
Writing this blog is a delicate, often tricky, balancing act, trying to be “fair” to all teams, and all sports.
You’ll always have some people who are grateful for whatever coverage their preferred rooting cause gets, and some who claim bias or neglect. It is what it is.
But in spring 2019, while still writing about every CHS track and field, baseball, tennis, and soccer contest — and attending a lot of those games and meets in person — I absolutely played favorites.
I hit the road with Darren and Kelly Crownover, parents of homer-thumping first-baseman Veronica, making it to every road game — even the ones rained out moments after we got there.
And, even when presented with multiple events on the same day here in Cow Town, I opted for the softball sluggers.
Turned out to be a smart choice, as that was the Wolf squad which went the furthest as a united team, returning to the state tourney for the first time in five seasons, and winning a game there for the first time since 2002.
As the guy forever hanging around the edge as CHS softball made its run, filled with a few heartrending losses, and a lot of epic wins, I had a chance to see the Wolf players in all their many moods.
Whether dancing on a rain-soaked field after a long, fruitless trip to Sultan, going bonkers after freshman Izzy Wells struck out the league’s most-dangerous slugger to cap the win which sent them to a league title, or just killing time on countless ferries, it was a team made up of wildly-diverse personalities.
One of my favorites quickly became Chloe Wheeler, a junior who bopped along like a feminine version of Matthew McConaughey, her grin often her only statement to the outside world.
As the season played out, I found out more about her — Darren Crownover can make anyone talk — and her plans for the future.
Chloe is highly-intelligent, a kind, caring young woman who proved on the diamond, and off, to be exceptionally-strong.
On a 2019 Wolf team which boasted the big bats of Sarah Wright and Veronica Crownover, and the explosive talents of young stars such as Chelsea Prescott and Scout Smith, she didn’t play every day.
But Chloe was ready every day.
Plug her in to the lineup, and she responded, giving you every ounce of hustle she had in the field and at the plate.
And, time and again, she proved to be an absolute killer in the spotlight.
A quiet assassin at the plate.
Her first high school hit was a thing of beauty, coming deep in the wilds at Granite Falls against the team which gave Coupeville its biggest struggle.
The Wolves and Tigers split four games in 2019, with CHS winning the last two, including a key playoff game which sent Granite home.
But, earlier in the season, as Coupeville tried to rally in the twilight, Chloe strode to the plate and launched a missile, rifling a two-run double to the deepest, darkest part of left field.
After watching her teammates struggle with the bat all afternoon, the quiet one mashed the crud out of the whirling orb, and it lit a fire under her fellow Wolves.
Hanging on the dugout fence, screaming Chloe’s name, they were reinvigorated, recharged, and rowdy as all get-out.
Granite Falls didn’t know it then, but what seemed like a surefire path to a league title and a trip to state for the Tigers vanished in that exact moment.
For the first time, you could see the Wolves really, truly no longer feared their hit-happy foes.
And, while that rally fell just short, they haven’t lost to Granite since.
As she quietly bounced on the bag at second, slight smile on her face, Chloe was already locked-in on CHS coach Kevin McGranahan, working over in the third-base coaching box.
Always ready, always watchful.
The moment was big, it was impactful, and it could have been the highlight of Chloe’s season.
But then she went to the biggest dance, and went bonkers.
Chloe started the state tourney on the bench, part of the support crew as Coupeville was drilled by eventual state champ Montesano.
Given a pinch-hit at-bat late in the game, however, she proved to be the one Wolf who was absolutely perfect against the reincarnation of the 1927 Yankees.
Breaking up Montesano’s bid for a shutout, and pissing off its thoroughly irritating coach, Chloe crunched an RBI single to right-center.
Her refusal to back down against a dominant team, and a loudly-braying coach, earned her the start in games #2 and #3 on a long day for Coupeville.
Chloe’s bat stayed scorchin’ down the stretch, as she racked up three more hits across a 14-2 demolishing of highly-ranked Deer Park and a gut-wrenching 8-6 loss to Cle Elum.
With four base-knocks in Richland, she had made a name for herself while the biggies in the sport watched.
After one of her hot smashes back up the middle, the coach from perennial power Castle Rock, camped in the bleachers during his team’s break, pointed at Chloe, and softly said something to his assistant.
The words were unclear, but the approval was obvious.
Coming within a play (or two, at most) of advancing to day two of state and likely earning some hardware, the Wolves capped the second-best performance in program history.
While there was sadness in the aftermath, there was hard-earned pride, and the unmistakable feeling this was the start of a run of success for the Wolf diamond queens.
Chloe likely would have been a full-time starter her senior year, and I firmly believe she was on her way to a true breakout season.
The pandemic denied her that opportunity, but her rep as a big-game killer was already set in stone.
When we talk about the highlights of CHS softball during its four-decade-plus run, Chloe Wheeler, the quiet assassin with the wicked bat, will forever hold a place in that conversation.
So today, we take a moment to pay tribute to her, inducting her into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame for being an inspiration to local athletes at every level.
She worked and she fought, and when Chloe got her chance, she made the absolute most of it. The way you hope every Wolf does.
After this, when you stroll past the top of the blog, you’ll find her hanging out under the Legends tab.
And why not? She earned it.
Read Full Post »
