Hailey Hammer (left) and fellow Hall inductees Denny Zylstra (top) and, from the 2009-2010 CHS boys’ hoops squad, Hunter Hammer (left) and Dalton Engle.
Hammer Time takes over the Hall.
As we celebrate the 20th class to be inducted into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, we welcome 14 prairie legends, led by the brother/sister combo of Hunter and Hailey Hammer.
Hunter, who is already stationed up top, under the Legends tab at the top of the blog, enters the Hall for a second time as part of a stellar squad.
Meanwhile, lil’ sis finally gets her due for being one of the most consistent stars I had the pleasure to cover first-hand for their entire scholastic careers.
Hailey, joined by softball guru (and CHS grad) Denny Zylstra and the 2009-2010 Wolf boys’ basketball squad, leads us off today.
She was that rarity, even in a small town, an athlete who played three sports a year all four years, while never knowing what it was like to play in a JV contest.
Hammer was a fixture on the Wolf varsity in volleyball, basketball and softball from the moment she stepped onto the CHS campus.
12 letters (and a ton of awards) later, she went out like the ultimate boss.
You couldn’t have scripted her final moment any better, even if you tried.
Playing in her final regular season softball game this past May, Hammer found her team trailing La Conner 4-1 going into the bottom of the seventh.
Teammates Hope Lodell and Robin Cedillo had pulled off back-to-back defensive gems in the top of the inning to keep things close, but, as the Wolves came up for their final at-bats, Hammer was far down in the lineup.
Coupeville would need a miracle to get their star slugger the swan song she so richly deserved.
And then, against all odds, it happened.
Kailey Kellner, who had only a handful of at-bats previously, legged out a triple, Cedillo got plunked and stole second, Lauren Rose dropped in an RBI single and Tiffany Briscoe reloaded the bags with a frozen rope down the line in left.
Reality started to trump fairy tale, though, as La Conner got a force at home and a pop-up and seemed on the verge of escaping with a 4-2 win.
And then Hollywood took over for good.
Bases juiced, two outs, one swing to cap her career, Hammer sent a shot off the base of the fence in center to clear the bags, win the game and cause her mom to (momentarily) lose her mind.
As she stood alone at second, the sun glimmering across the prairie over her shoulder, in the brief moment before her teammates mobbed her, a small smile played on Hailey’s lips.
She had always been a star, a quiet leader, a rock, but, in that moment, she became the kind of legend they will talk about for generations.
Her fellow inductee Zylstra spent generations on the diamond.
A 1958 CHS grad, he was a three-sport (football, basketball, baseball) star for the Wolves and continued to play most of his sports well into his 40’s.
In his post-high school days, he also began to play softball, pitching his team to second place in the state at the age of 41.
Along with playing, Zylstra put in 50 years as a softball coach, with stints at Skagit Valley College, Oak Harbor High School and, on his final go-around, back at his alma mater.
A straight-shooter and one of the nicer guys I’ve known on the sports beat, Denny could go in as a player or as a contributor (he manned the concession booth for CHS softball and was a frequent presence at Wolf sporting events of all kinds), but, today, we honor him for his coaching.
He touched the lives of countless athletes, inspiring and teaching them, and his impact on Whidbey Island sports will be felt for decades to come.
Joining the duo is perhaps the most underrated CHS sports team ever, the 2009-2010 boys’ basketball squad.
Quirks of fate prevented them from getting a chance to raise a banner in the gym, but that shouldn’t take anything away from their season of excellence.
The Wolves went 16-5 that year, finishing second in the 1A/2A Cascade Conference at 9-3.
Along the way they gave league champ King’s (11-1) its only conference loss in a 65-64 thriller, went 3-0 against Island rivals and were an especially impressive 7-1 on the road.
Coupeville not only swept a two-game series from league rival South Whidbey, but beat the big city boys as well, knocking off Oak Harbor 66-61.
Which is why the Wildcats probably now refuse to schedule the Wolves…
Averaging just a hair under 61 points a game, Coupeville opened their season with a 50-point savaging of Darrington.
The Wolves won eight games by double-digits and closed the regular season on an 8-1 tear before having their only truly cold-shooting night of the season in a loser-out playoff opener against Nooksack Valley.
That unexpected loss prevented CHS from putting together a deep playoff run, but what came before more than makes those Wolves worthy of remembrance.
So, together again, as a team, they enter our little hall, ready to run and gun one more time.
Welcome to the stage:
Randy King (coach)
Jason Bagby
Chad Brookhouse
Dalton Engle
Ben Hayes
Hunter Hammer
Erik King
Tyler King
Nevin Miranda
Ian Smith
Tim Walstad
JD Wilcox
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