Ben Etzell leads a flame-throwing Wolf pitching staff. (Shelli Trumbull photos)
Kurtis Smith lights the fire from the lead-off slot.
It’s the last ride for the champs.
Well, not for all of them, as the Coupeville High School baseball players who won a state little league title are now a mix of seniors and juniors. But 2014 will be the last time they take the field as a unit.
And led by the guys who were once the best in their age group, the Wolves, repping the smallest 1A school in the state, hope to do some damage in their final go-around in the 1A/2A Cascade Conference.
Coming off of a third-place finish a year ago, which earned the Wolves their first home playoff game in several seasons, Coupeville returns virtually its entire roster.
Only starting second baseman and dependable #2 hitter Drew Chan is gone, having graduated and moved on to Washington State University.
Heading up the returnees are seniors Ben Etzell (P, IF), Jake Tumblin (C), Morgan Payne (SS, 3B), Wade Schaef (OF/P) and Kurtis Smith (OF).
Joining them are juniors Aaron Curtin, (P/IF), Aaron Trumbull (1B/P), Korbin Korzan (OF/P), Josh Bayne (IF/P) and Kyle Bodamer (IF/DH) and sophomore Cole Payne (IF/P/C).
With so many returning starters, playing time will be hard to come by for newcomers, but sophomore pitcher/infielder CJ Smith, who transferred to CHS during basketball season, is a possibility.
As veteran Wolf coach Willie Smith heads into a new season, being able to run out virtually the same lineup as a season ago is a major plus.
“We have a huge returning group of varsity letter winners who understand what it takes to win in this league and what it is going to take to win at the next level,” Smith said. “Our pitching and defense is a huge strength for us. We won a lot of one and two-run games last year because of our pitching and defense.”
Coupeville’s bats fluctuated last year, though, running hot and cold.
When on, they have hitters with pop (Bayne crushed one home run way, way over the distant fence in left last year) and Tumblin’s speed on the base-paths, where he’s a constant threat to steal or take an extra bag, is a huge bonus.
The Wolves just need to do it day in and day out.
“Our offense struggled at times last year finding consistency,” Smith said. “So I would say our ability to string hits together and score in bunches, or at least consistently, is a point of emphasis for us this year.”
As one of just two 1A schools in their league (King’s sits out baseball, leaving South Whidbey as the only other 1A squad), Coupeville will play 15 league games against 2A schools (three each against Cedarcrest, Lakewood, Sultan, Granite Falls and Archbishop Thomas Murphy).
That higher level of competition, which ends when Coupeville jumps to the 1A Olympic League next year, will toughen up the Wolves.
“For baseball, it has been a very good league for us,” Smith said. “We have been able to be fairly successful in the league and have developed some pretty good rivalries.
“I think our league is going to be extremely tough this year; all teams except for Lakewood and Sultan are returning the majority of their key players and a lot of them,” he added. “Murphy is always the team to beat and will be again this year, but Cedarcrest, Whidbey, and Granite all have a very good returning group of players, so it will be a huge challenge each week.”
And a challenge is what the baseball guru and his battle-hardened players, who have their eyes firmly set on a top-four finish at the state tourney, seek.
“Our expectations are pretty high, and I think, legitimate. Our goal is to have the league championship run through us this year,” Smith said. “We exceeded a lot of people’s expectations last year and our kids turned the corner mentally when we started to expect to win every game and didn’t like it if we didn’t.
“With those expectations out there, our team realizes that we will need to put in the work, physically and mentally, to achieve those,” he added. “But the kids have had a great off-season and put in some good work so far in practice.”
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