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Posts Tagged ‘Friday Harbor’

Big bats, big gloves, big win

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on March 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Sydney Van Dyke (right) racked up four RBI’s Thursday, sparking Coupeville softball to another win. (Photo courtesy Colleen Henderson-Van Dyke)

The Wolves are rolling into Spring Break on a high note.

Crushing the game in every way, the Coupeville High School softball squad ripped off its fourth straight mercy-rule win Thursday, stiff-arming host Friday Harbor 10-0 in five innings.

The victory lifts CHS to 2-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-1 overall, and the diamond queens head to the break having outscored their foes 61-9.

While practice will account for some of their time in the near future, the Wolves don’t play a game again until April 8, when they travel to Darrington.

That will give them some time to put out the flames erupting from their bats, rest fab frosh Adeline Mayne’s pitching arm, and allow stellar shortstop Taylor Brotemarkle to heal up from any bruises.

The standout senior was a defensive dynamo Thursday, with one play in particular standing out.

Chasing a bloop fly behind her, Brotemarkle collided with Wolf outfielder Haylee Armstrong and took a knee to the thigh, but still made the play, snagging the rapidly dropping ball for a crucial out.

Consider CHS coach Aaron Lucero impressed.

“Taylor had an absolutely great game defensively,” he said. “Particularly (with the) bloop fly. Tough play, web gem of a catch. She was all over today.”

With Brotemarkle sparkling on defense, and Maynes making it very hard for Friday Harbor to catch up with her wicked pitches, the Wolves were in control from start to finish.

“Another great performance from Addy,” Lucero said. “She’s been absolutely fantastic this year.

“Great mix of pitches and great framing by (catcher) Teagan (Calkins).”

At the plate, the Wolves were locked and loaded, erupting for 13 hits, with every starter getting at least one base-knock.

Coupeville jumped on Friday Harbor for three quick runs in the top of the first to set the tone, with Sydney Van Dyke cracking a two-run single and Armstrong blasting a run-scoring double.

From there, the Wolves added two in the third, again with Van Dyke and Armstrong picking up RBIs, before going off in the fourth to put the game away.

The game-clinching frame featured five straight hits to open the inning, then an RBI sacrifice from Calkins, before two more hits completed a torrid run.

Brotemarkle bashed a two-run double to prove she’s a killer on both sides of the ball, before Mia Farris lofted “a great triple.”

But it was Van Dyke, enjoying her best offensive day of the season, who delivered the mercy-rule run, picking up yet another RBI to make it a sweet 10-0.

While the hits were jumping off the bats, Coupeville also excelled by getting maximum value out of each base knock.

“Heads up baserunning by the team and we really took advantage of every opportunity,” Lucero said.

The Wolves got contributions from all 13 girls to hit the field, with Chloe Marzocca, Chelsi Stevens, and Danica Strong coming off the bench to join the fun in the latter going.

Whether starting or coming off the bench, freshman Chelsi Stevens always gives the Wolves a burst of energy. (Photo courtesy Kristi Stevens)

 

Thursday stats:

Capri Anter — One single
Haylee Armstrong — One single, one double
Taylor Brotemarkle — One double
Teagan Calkins — One single, one double
Mia Farris — One triple, one walk
Jada Heaton — One single
Ava Lucero — One single
Madison McMillan — Two singles
Danica Strong — One walk
Sydney Van Dyke — Two singles

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Winless Wolves nipped in pitcher’s duel

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on March 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Coop Cooper, seen last season, delivered a strong pitching performance Thursday, whiffing 10 on Friday Harbor. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The offensive struggles continue.

Blanked for the fourth time in five games, a largely inexperienced Coupeville High School baseball team fell 3-0 at Friday Harbor Thursday afternoon.

The Wolves, who are learning on the job, fall to 0-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 0-5 overall heading into a home non-conference game Saturday against South Whidbey, which sits at 1-3.

There were definite bright spots for Coupeville Thursday.

The three runs surrendered were the fewest by far this season, the Wolves committed a season-low one error, and starting pitcher Coop Cooper whiffed 10 batters in 4+ innings of work.

But the Wolves also went down 1-2-3 in six of seven innings, striking out 16 times against Friday Harbor sophomore hurler Jackson Feliz.

The only frame in which CHS put a runner on base was the top of the fourth, and it was a prime opportunity which didn’t come to total fruition.

With Feliz buzzing through a perfect game, the Wolves suddenly loaded the bases with no outs.

Landon Roberts ripped a liner to right field, Carson Grove got plunked by a wayward pitch, and Camden Glover dropped a bunt single down the third-base line.

For a team which has been outscored 50-3 this season, the chance to bust through was tantalizingly close.

Then the door slammed shut, with Feliz picking up another K, before inducing a double-play ground ball to end the rally.

Friday Harbor, which only had three hits on the day, had just enough offense of its own to salt away the win and claim a sweep of the two-game series between island rivals.

The Wolverines pushed a run across in the third, thanks to a walk, a single, and a wild pitch, before adding insurance tallies in the fifth and sixth.

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Bash sisters love extra bases

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , , on March 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Jada Heaton just wins. Especially on her birthday. (Photo courtesy Jennifer Heaton)

Jada Heaton’s teammates lit off some fireworks for her 18th birthday.

Peppering visiting Friday Harbor with three home runs Tuesday, the Coupeville High School softball squad kept its hot start going, rolling to a 10-0 victory.

The win, which came in six innings thanks to the mercy rule, lifts the Wolves to 1-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 4-1 overall.

Now the teams will clash again, with Coupeville making the trek to Friday Harbor Thursday afternoon, as the NWL uses a new-look spring schedule which has conference foes facing off in back-to-back games.

Tuesday’s tilt was hard-fought, but largely one-sided.

Wolf fab frosh hurler Adeline Maynes, coming off a no-hitter, almost made it two in a row, giving up just a fourth-inning single as she whiffed seven.

Friday Harbor got one other runner aboard thanks to a Coupeville error, but neither base runner made it close to tapping home plate.

Not so for the bombers in red and white, who racked up 12 hits, with half of them being for extra bases.

Madison McMillan crunched a pair of home runs, including a game-ending solo shot in the sixth, while Teagan Calkins mashed both a tater and a triple.

Toss in a triple for fleet-footed Mia Farris and a resounding double for the woman who can’t be kept off base — Taylor Brotemarkle — and the Wolf lumber was smokin’ in the rare prairie sunshine.

Softballs fear the wrath of Teagan Calkins. (Michelle Armstrong photo)

“Bats came alive today. Lot of hard-hit balls,” said CHS coach Aaron Lucero.

“Some found gaps, some found gloves, and a few found the other side of the fence!”

Both the power, and the consistency, of Coupeville’s hitting attack was something which pleases the dugout sage.

“We’re making solid in-game adjustments at the plate and really doing a nice job keeping opposing defenses off balance,” Lucero said.

Coupeville chipped, chipped, chipped away all afternoon, pushing runners across in five of six innings.

Things got off to a dynamic start when Brotemarkle punched a first-inning single, followed by Calkins launching a longball to stake her squad to a 2-0 lead.

After a scoreless second frame, the Wolves tacked on three more runs in both the third and fourth to stretch the margin out to 8-0.

McMillan went airborne for the first time with a three-run blast in the third, while the fourth featured consecutive RBI hits from Calkins, McMillan, and Farris.

A run in the fifth, with Brotemarkle driving in Chelsi Stevens, pushed the game close to mercy-rule territory, but the Wolves waited for that until the first batter in the bottom of the sixth.

That was McMillan, and the senior slugger put the final bow on things with her second round-tripper.

Now, a day to rest, refine, and reload, then the rematch.

“Friday Harbor always comes to play and today was no different,” Lucero said.

“They tried to bunt, slap, and they did put the ball in play, so hats off to them.

“Michelle (their head coach) has them prepared to fight and I expect Thursday they will ramp it up even more. We look forward to the competition.”

 

Tuesday stats:

Haylee Armstrong — One walk
Taylor Brotemarkle — Two singles, one double, one walk
Teagan Calkins — One triple, one home run
Mia Farris — One single, one triple
Jada Heaton — One walk
Madison McMillan — One single, two home runs, one walk
Chelsi Stevens — One single
Sydney Van Dyke — One single

Madison McMillan gets medieval. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

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Rough inning sinks hardball squad

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on March 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Landon Roberts works behind the plate in an earlier game. (Jon Roberts photo)

The learning processd continues.

A rebuilding Coupeville High School baseball squad fell 10-0 Tuesday to visiting Friday Harbor, the third time in four games the Wolves have been blanked.

The loss, coming in the conference opener for both teams, drops CHS to 0-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 0-4 overall.

The Wolves will get an almost immediate chance for redemption, however, as they bounce between islands Thursday, landing on Friday Harbor for a rematch with the Wolverines.

Tuesday’s game was close until the top of the fourth inning.

The visitors scraped out two runs in the second inning to claim the lead, but Coupeville had chances to get something going offensively.

The Wolves loaded the bases in the bottom of the first thanks to walks to Landon Roberts, Trent Thule, and Camden Glover, but had two runners snuffed out coming home.

Jesus Madrigal smacked a leadoff single to left in the second for his first varsity base knock, while Leo Rodriguez walked. But again, Friday Harbor escaped relatively unscathed.

Things took a brutal turn for Coupeville in the top of the fourth, as the hometown hardball heroes committed three errors, helping fuel an eight-run explosion for their rivals.

That left CHS trailing 10-0, and with just a pair of walks to its credit after that, the game was mercy ruled after five innings.

Pitchers Landon Roberts and Camden Glover did combine for 12 strikeouts on the afternoon, with Roberts picking up eight of those K’s.

It was the third time this season the Wolf hurlers have notched double-digit whiff totals.

Glover, who started behind the plate for the Wolves before coming on to pitch in relief, also gunned down a would-be base stealer with a superb throw to Thule at second.

 

Tuesday stats:

Camden Glover — Two walks
Jesus Madrigal — One single
Landon Roberts — One single, one walk
Leo Rodriguez — Two walks
Trent Thule — One walk

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Wild comeback, memorable win

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , , on February 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Current Wolves Haylee Armstrong and Capri Anter keep alive the memory of their late cousin, Adam Garcia. (Photo courtesy Michelle Armstrong)

Big time players make big time shots.

With the game on the line Tuesday, and the season hanging in the balance, Mia Farris and Haylee Armstrong proved that true.

The steady senior splashed home a game-tying three-ball under extreme pressure, while the scrappy sophomore knocked down the game-winning bucket in the final, frantic seconds, sending the Coupeville High School gym into a mad celebration.

Overcoming an extremely rough early performance, the crunch-time heroics capped a stunning late-game rally, lifting the Wolves to a 28-26 victory over visiting Friday Harbor in a loser-out District 1/2 playoff rumble.

Down 12 in the second half in a game in which its only lead of the night came on Armstrong’s bucket, the win lifts Coupeville to 10-11 on the season.

It also propels the Wolves into another loser-out game Thursday, when they will host Orcas Island in a game slated to tip off at 1:45 PM.

Win that one and Megan Richter’s squad gets a fifth and final Bi-District game Saturday (also at home), with a ticket to state up for grabs.

Tuesday’s tussle, the third meeting with Friday Harbor this season, threatened to slip away from the Wolves.

Other than two early ties, at 2-2 and 4-4, Coupeville was ice cold from the field.

There was a seven-minute stretch that started in the first quarter and ended in the latter stages of the second frame in which nothing would drop for the Wolves.

Free throws skimmed out, a startling number of field goal attempts missed the rim entirely, and the offensive flow was stagnant.

Farris finally got a jumper to drop at the 3:18 mark of the second, but then CHS went another two minutes-plus before Tenley Stuurmans ended the first-half scoring with a three-point play the hard way.

Trailing 18-9 at the half, Coupeville’s only saving grace was its defense, keyed by Teagan Calkins crashing the boards hard to pull down some of her game-high 16 rebounds.

Teagan Calkins gets dynamic in the paint. (Jackie Saia photo)

The deficit reached its zenith at 21-9 early in the third, and then, against all odds, the comeback began.

A quick 6-0 run, sparked by Danica Strong rumbling in the paint, Katie Marti going coast-to-coast, and team sparkplug Jada Heaton forcing a steal in the backcourt and turning it into a bucket, greatly helped.

Then, after Friday Harbor briefly rallied, Calkins launched an elegant three-ball from the right side, splashing it home to cut the lead to 24-18 heading into the fourth.

The final frame was a study in contrasts.

Friday Harbor, which had led all game, suddenly looked tense, and the ramped-up Wolf defense created a steady string of turnovers.

Hanging on for dear life, the visitors flinched, and flinched hard, in the final moments, committing a crucial turnover late and failing to convert on a pair of key free throws.

That left an opening for Coupeville, and the Wolves pounced.

A breakaway bucket from Farris and two charity shots by Marti made things interesting, with a Tenley Stuurmans free throw slicing the deficit to 26-23.

Nerves were on edge, every fight for a rebound was crucial, with Calkins and Madison McMillan standing tall, and Farris?

Well, they do call her “Mia the Magnificent” for a reason.

Mia Farris doesn’t miss. (Bailey Thule photo)

Taking a kick-out off of an offensive rebound, she drilled nothing but net on her three-ball, tying the game and pushing her to #50 all-time on the CHS girls’ basketball career scoring list.

But the Wolf magic wasn’t done just yet.

Tuesday was a day of celebration, but also of loss, a mix of bittersweet memories, for CHS teammates Capri Anter and Haylee Armstrong and their extended family.

The girl’s older cousin, former Wolf football player Adam Garcia, was murdered in Oak Harbor in 2014 and Tuesday would have been his 32nd birthday.

There are a lot of ways the clash with Friday Harbor could have ended.

That it finished with Armstrong flashing in from the left side of the floor, taking a pass from Calkins and banking in a game winner, the ball hesitating for a second before dropping through the net, is what feels right.

Tipped by an angel.

And then Friday Harbor’s final, futile push up court ended as suddenly as it began, the ball knocked free and snatched up by Calkins, with “The Red Dragon” hugging the orb to her chest as everything and everyone went bonkers around her.

While Coupeville’s scoring was limited, the points were divvied up, with eight of nine players to hit the floor keeping scorekeeper Christi Messner busy.

Farris topped the Wolves with seven points and now has 245 for her varsity career.

She’s the third active player to crack the all-time top 50, along with fellow seniors Marti (#37 with 317 points) and Lyla Stuurmans (#45 with 256 points).

Tenley Stuurmans (5), Calkins (4), Marti (4), Armstrong (2), Strong (2), Heaton (2), and Lyla Stuurmans (2) also scored Tuesday, with McMillan providing a spark on defense.

Jada Heaton, always hustling, always doing all the important little things. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

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