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Wolf frosh dazzles Redhawks!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged 1A Olympic League, Aaron Curtin, Aaron Trumbull, baseball, CHS Wolves, Hunter Smith on May 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Wolf freshman Hunter Smith tossed five solid innings on the mound and crunched a two-run double in a 12-2 win at Port Townsend. (John Fisken photos)

Aaron Trumbull had another big day, knocking in four runs with his quick bat.

The other Smith brother can fling a fastball, too.

A game after Coupeville High School junior CJ Smith was superb on the mound against Klahowya, younger brother Hunter took the ball Friday and shut down Port Townsend.

The Wolf freshman struck out seven over five innings, while not surrendering an earned run, as CHS rolled to a 12-2 victory.

The win gave the Wolves a three-game season sweep of the Redhawks and lifted them to 4-3 in the Olympic League, 8-8 overall.

Coupeville closes the regular season with a home game against Chimacum Tuesday and a road game at Klahowya Thursday.

Win one of those games and the Wolves clinch the #2 seed in the league and a home playoff game May 9.

Playing a Port Townsend squad mired in last place, Coupeville went out and did exactly what they needed to do — step on a team and step on them hard.

The Wolves rediscovered their hitting mojo and put good aluminum on the ball all day.

“I was pretty excited about how we got our runs,” said Wolf coach Willie Smith. “We got 11 hits on the day and I would say that the majority of our outs were all well-hit balls that were either line drives, deep drives, or hard grounders.”

With the Redhawks playing solid defense, Coupeville responded by running the bases aggressively and pushing for runs.

After chipping away with a run in the first (Carson Risner knocked in Cole Payne, who had singled and stole second) and another in the second (Aaron Trumbull walked, stole second and scored on an error), the Wolves exploded in the third.

Raining down seven runs in the inning, CHS batted around, with Aaron Curtin starting the inning with a walk and closing the offensive attack nine batters later with an RBI on a sac fly.

In between his plate appearances, the Wolves got a two-run double from Hunter Smith, RBI singles from Trumbull and Julian Welling and a two-run single from Josh Bayne.

“It was nice to see us actually produce runs through solid hits rather than rolling over on grounders and allowing the other team to make errors to get our runs,” Willie Smith said.

Port Townsend scratched out two runs in the fourth, using a walk, Coupeville’s lone error and a two-run triple to get a rally briefly started.

But, as soon as the damage began, Hunter Smith snuffed the fire right back out, striking out the next Redhawk to strand the runner at third.

Determined to catch the earliest ferry back to the Island, the Wolves banged home three more in the fifth to put the game on ice.

Cameron Toomey-Stout walked and stole second, Gabe Wynn singled and stole second (a recurring theme on the day), then Hunter Smith walked to juice the bags for Trumbull.

Swinging a wicked hot bat all afternoon, the senior promptly lashed a shot to right center to bring home all of his younger teammates, capping a four-RBI day.

Coupeville spread out its offense, with every player who drew an at-bat reaching base via hit or walk.

“I was very happy with our approach at the plate,” Willie Smith said.

The hardball guru was also quite pleased with his young hurler and how he handled the in-game pressures.

“Defensively, it was a lot of Hunter; he did a great job of locating his fastball and keeping them off balance with a solid curve.”

“He got two sliding catches in left field from Aaron Curtin, but I’m pretty sure he was just showboating!,” he said with a laugh.

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“Baseball can be very humbling!!”

Posted in Baseball, tagged 1A Olympic League, Aaron Curtin, baseball, CHS Wolves, Hunter Smith on April 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Wolf hurler Aaron Trumbull was effective Monday, but the defense behind him, and his team’s offensive attack, were not. (John Fisken photo)

It has been a season of inconsistency for the Coupeville High School baseball squad.

When the Wolves are good, they’re very, very good. And when they’re not, they can drive a coach to distraction.

“As we found out today, baseball can be a very humbling game,” said CHS hardball guru Willie Smith. “One minute you make a great play, hit the ball hard, hustle out a hit, then the next … is today.”

Taking several steps backward, the Wolves came out flat (“a disturbing trend in the last few games”) and were anemic on offense and wild on defense, allowing host Chimacum, winless in 12 prior games this season, to stroll to a 7-3 win.

The loss, the team’s third in the last four games, dropped CHS to 7-7 overall, 3-2 in Olympic League play.

It was also not the confidence builder the Wolves might have wanted heading into their rematch Wednesday with Klahowya (13-0, 3-0), the state’s #1 ranked 1A team.

Playing a Cowboy squad they might have expected to roll, the Wolves instead scuffled for most of the afternoon, almost pulled out a win, then fell apart again at the dispiriting end.

Coupeville hurler Aaron Trumbull was effective on the mound, but his defense sputtered behind him, leading to three unearned runs and a quick deficit to overcome.

The Wolves finally got on the board in the fourth, when Aaron Curtin singled, stole second and came around to score on a ground-out from Trumbull.

Briefly rallying, Coupeville tied it up at 3-3 with two runs in the top of the sixth.

Curtin cracked a double to right, before Carson Risner reached base when Chimacum juggled his hard-hit ball.

Cameron Toomey-Stout, running for Risner, stole second to set up fellow frosh Hunter Smith, who delivered a two-run single back up the middle.

Coupeville looked like they might get more, with Clay Reilly eking out a walk, but the Wolves stranded two (“our downfall of late”) and couldn’t break the tie.

As quickly as things went the way of the Wolves, they took a u-turn, however.

Chimacum immediately rebounded with a four-run rally in the bottom of the inning, with one play perfectly capturing all of Coupeville’s agony in one horrifying snapshot.

An RBI singled plated one Cowboy, then the Wolves threw the ball away twice on the play.

After failing to get a second runner coming home, Coupeville airmailed the ball back into center, allowing the hitter to come all the way around.

A ragged defense and a sudden lack of punch at the plate — Curtin (2), Hunter Smith (2) and Risner (1) accounted for the team’s five hits — both worry Willie Smith.

“We need to figure out how to hit the ball again and we don’t have much time to get it done,” he said. “Some have some minor things to fix, many have mental things to fix; either way we have to get it done and that will be mine and our coaches jobs.

“Right now, it’s about getting back to being consistent and playing strong defense again; if we can do that we will be alright, if not, well then we will have an early May.”

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Hunter Smith makes a splash!!

Posted in Baseball, Softball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, Hunter Smith, John Fisken photos, McKayla Bailey, Softball on April 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Hunter Smith swings through the raindrops. (John Fisken photos)

McKayla Bailey, AKA “Stevie Wonder” (ask her mom…) makes the slick play at short.

A muddy (but safe) Aaron Trumbull slides across home.

Hailey Hammer initiates the “Rocket Launcher.”

Smith, now in the sweet, sweet sun, tracks down a pop-up.

“Hi, I’m Jae LeVine and I approve these photos … but mainly this one!”

Everything came raining down Thursday.

Wins, wins and more wins, plus a fair amount of that liquid stuff from the heavens.

Playing through rain, wind and fairly miserable conditions (with just a wee bit of sun), both the Coupeville High School softball and baseball squads thrashed Port Townsend.

As they did so, travelin’ photo man John Fisken dodged the bombs from the skies to snap some stirring pics.

The photos above (and you might notice the softball ones came AFTER the rain) are courtesy him.

To see more (purchases help fund college scholarships for CHS senior student/athletes) pop over to:

Softball — http://www.olympicleague.com/index.php?act=view_gallery&gallery=8600&league=21&page=1&page_name=photo_store&school=24&sport=0

Baseball — http://www.olympicleague.com/index.php?act=view_gallery&gallery=8601&league=21&page=1&page_name=photo_store&school=24&sport=0

P.S. — Plug in the code EB86014962 when you order before May 8 and they’ll give you 15% off.

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Freshman fuel rainy day romp!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged 1A Olympic League, baseball, CHS Wolves, Hunter Smith, Julian Welling on April 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Julian Welling held Port Townsend to two hits over four innings, earning his first win as a varsity pitcher. (Johgn Fisken photo)

Freshman Julian Welling held Port Townsend to two hits over four innings Thursday, earning his first win as a varsity pitcher. (Johgn Fisken photo)

Get in. Get out. Move on.

That was the mantra for the Coupeville High School baseball squad Thursday, as it drilled visiting Port Townsend 12-2 on a cold, windy, wet afternoon on the prairie.

A win is a win, especially one that snaps a two-game losing streak, and Wolf coach Willie Smith was happy to take it. He just wasn’t all that impressed by it.

“Uninspired” is how he described a win that improved Coupeville to 7-6 overall, 3-1 in Olympic League play.

“A game where you’re just glad to be done with because it’s hard to garner any positives out of a game like this,” Smith said.

Then, giving it some thought, he did latch on to one positive — a fairly easy win over a weaker opponent allowed him to play his young guns for most of the day.

With freshmen and sophomores dominating the lineup, he was able to rest his older stars.

That could be useful as the Wolves head into the final two weeks of play.

With a non-conference game Friday at Meridian now cancelled, Coupeville has five regular season games remaining. All are league contests, and two are against undefeated Klahowya.

With that in mind, Smith held out his big three pitchers (Aaron Curtin, Aaron Trumbull and CJ Smith), opting to use Julian Welling on the hill instead.

The freshman responded, earning his first varsity win by tossing two-hit ball over four innings.

Hunter Smith closed out the game, called early thanks to the ten-run mercy rule, with a nearly flawless fifth.

Welling’s fellow frosh walked the first batter he saw, then closed out the game one-two-three.

At the plate, Coupeville combined eight hits with nine Redhawk errors to pile up their runs.

While he was grateful for the help, Willie Smith would have liked to have seen his hitters take more control of the game.

“We didn’t really tear the cover off the ball,” he said. “Yes, the pitching was not good, yes, the velocity was below average, and yes, we need to be better at the plate.

“We are just not getting good wood on the ball right now and that is a bit concerning, but these guys are good hitters and are capable of putting together better at-bats than what we’ve been doing.”

The Wolves scored one in the first (an RBI single from Hunter Smith), two in the second (a two-run single from CJ Smith), three in the third (five errors and an RBI single from Welling) and three more in the fourth (keyed by Clay Reilly’s RBI single).

Coupeville capped off a game in which it scored in every inning by tacking on three more in the fifth, with Hunter Smith and Trumbull notching RBI singles.

In addition to Welling and the younger Smith brother, the Wolves got solid work from freshmen Joey Lippo and Cameron Toomey-Stout and sophomore Jonathan Thurston.

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Young guns sparkle in close loss!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged Aaron Curtin, baseball, CHS Wolves, Friday Harbor, Hunter Smith, Joey Lippo on April 19, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Clay Reilly swings away Saturday. (John Fisken photo)

Some losses don’t sting as much as others.

While the Coupeville High School baseball squad was tripped up by one bad inning Saturday and fell 5-3 to visiting Friday Harbor, Wolf coach Willie Smith was fairly OK with the result.

“As losses go, this was one that really doesn’t affect us mentally and a lot of young kids got to step up and played very well for us,” said the seasoned hardball guru.

With a battle for first place in the 1A Olympic League looming Tuesday, when the Wolves (6-5 overall, 2-0 in league) travel to Klahowya (10-0, 1-0), Saturday’s non-conference tilt was more about staying (or getting) healthy and giving the young guns some playing time.

Senior hurler Aaron Curtin was lights-out, as he has been all season, shutting Friday Harbor down for the first four innings.

He struck out seven and surrendered just two hits, but then gave way to his relievers to stay primed for Klahowya.

With the change in pitchers, Coupeville’s fate veered in a new, walk-strewn direction.

Aaron Trumbull walked four of the seven batters he faced, including twice walking in runs, and his defense fell apart behind him, booting a pair of ground balls, allowing Friday Harbor to put together a five-run rally in the fifth.

That erased a solid start for the Wolves, who had jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

Coupeville struck for two in the first, with Josh Bayne (single) and Curtin (fielders choice) coming around when a Friday Harbor outfielder misplayed Trumbull’s fly ball to left.

The Wolves tacked on another run in the third when Curtin got to trot home for free after a balk.

Several other offensive chances were snuffed out by solid Friday Harbor glove work.

Hunter Smith was robbed of a double when the center fielder made a diving catch of his line drive.

Later, Gabe Wynn, who had singled for his first varsity hit, was doubled up at first after Joey Lippo’s liner down the baseline at third was miraculously snagged.

With the freshmen fully in control of the lineup in the latter innings, Coupeville kept it close and showed the promise of a bright future.

Hunter Smith replaced Trumbull on the mound in the sixth and retired all six batters he faced, whiffing two.

He also teamed up with Lippo on a bang-bang play in the field that brought a smile to their coach’s face.

A hot grounder into the second base hole seemed on its way to the outfield, but Lippo ran it down, pivoted and made the throw to his pitcher, who was covering the bag at first with Trumbull having been pulled away by the grounder.

“Just like we practice!,” said Willie Smith.

Coupeville had one last shot at a rally in the bottom of the seventh. CJ Smith eked out a one-out walk and Curtin smoked a shot to deep right.

Unfortunately, his moon ball dropped right into a waiting outfielder’s glove to end the game.

While he would have gladly accepted a victory, Willie Smith was impressed with what he got from the young end of his bench.

“Some really great stuff from our young guys: Cameron Toomey-Stout started in left, Julian Welling at third, Joey played well in the field and swung it well, and Hunter debuted on the mound and gave us another strong pitching option.

“One bad inning does us in and is a good reminder that it only takes one inning in this game,” he added. “But I feel real confident and relaxed heading into the Klahowya game.”

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