Jonathan Valenzuela | Coupeville Sports

Posts Tagged ‘Jonathan Valenzuela’

They’re winners, every season

Posted in Milestones, tagged Allison Wenzel, CHS Wolves, Dominic Coffman, Jonathan Valenzuela, state championships on May 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Dominic Coffman (left) and Jonathan Valenzuela celebrate during their junior hoops season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They are part of an elite fraternity.

Having earned their ticket to a state championship event this spring, Coupeville High School seniors Dominic Coffman and Jonathan Valenzuela are the first Wolf boys to go to the big dance in three sports in more than three decades.

The duo both started for a CHS football team which clashed with Onalaska this fall – the first Wolf gridiron squad to make the state playoffs since 1990.

Jonathan Valenzuela relaxes after a game. (Davin Houston photo)

Jump back to their junior campaigns, and Valenzuela and Coffman came off the bench for a Coupeville boys’ basketball team which carried a 16-0 mark to state.

When Brad Sherman’s program broke through in the winter of 2022, winning league and district titles before vying with top-seed Kalama and Lake Roosevelt at state, it was the first such trip for the school’s male hoops stars since ’88.

Now, this spring, Valenzuela is one of Coupeville’s top hitters for a baseball team slated to play Toledo Saturday in Castle Rock.

The last visit to state for the Wolf diamond dogs was 2014.

Dominic Coffman hangs out with mom on Senior Night. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Coffman is slated to be in Yakima May 25-27 for the state track meet, where he will compete in the high jump and 4 x 100 relay.

Last year he qualified in the same events — though the season finale was in Cheney — bringing home a 2nd place medal for his work with the relay squad.

While Valenzuela and Coffman are the first Wolf boys to make it to state in three sports in quite a while, Coupeville’s female athletes have done it several times during that time frame.

Allison Wenzel — the power of the braid compels you. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Allison Wenzel, who graduated in 2018, went to the state basketball tourney as a sophomore, made it to volleyball’s big dance as a junior, then PR’d in the discus at state as a senior.

Before that, Wolf girls earned state berths in volleyball, basketball, and softball during the 2001-2002 school year, with numerous players such as Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby, Sarah Mouw, and Tracy Taylor appearing on all three teams.

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Wolf baseball punches state ticket

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, bi-districts, CHS Wolves, Friday Harbor, Jonathan Valenzuela, state tournament on May 14, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville High School seniors Jonathan Valenzuela (left) and Scott Hilborn were nine-year-olds the last time Wolf baseball went to state. (Morgan White photo)

Party like it’s 2014.

Thrashing Friday Harbor 11-0 Saturday in Arlington in a game mercy-ruled after five innings, the Coupeville High School baseball squad continues to rack up honors.

With the victory, the Wolves, now 16-5 on the season, add the District 1/2 title to their Northwest 2B/1B League crown, while earning a trip to the big dance for the first time in nine seasons.

The last time a CHS hardball squad went to the state tourney, Willie Smith was still head coach, current assistant coach Morgan Payne was in the starting lineup, and Coupeville was nipped 2-1 by Rochester in a first-round loss.

This time around, the Wolves are one of 12 teams still alive in the hunt for the 2B crown.

They will learn their opening opponent and the location of the game Sunday when the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association seeding committee releases its bracket.

First round and quarterfinal games will be played May 20 at various sites, with the semifinals May 26 and the title game and 3rd/4th place game May 27.

The May 26 and 27 games are set for Johnson-O’Brien Stadium at Ephrata High School.

The first two rounds of state are single elimination, with the top four seeds earning a first-round bye.

To see the bracket — without teams in place yet — pop over to:

http://www.nw1a2bathletics.com/m2/tourn.php?act=vt&tid=3930

Wolf coach Steve Hilborn strolls off with the hardware. (Shannon Hamilton photo)

Coupeville baseball had to wait a bit longer than expected to earn its tenth trip to state, with bi-districts delayed thanks to Friday Harbor having issues with the state ferry system.

Once the Wolverines, the #2 seed from District 1, arrived in Arlington, they jumped all over District 2’s Northwest Christian (Lacey), running them off the field 16-0 in a loser-out game.

The day’s second game was also a blowout, but this time Friday Harbor was the one being battered senseless.

Coupeville hit the field hot and never relented, scoring in all four innings in which it sent batters to the plate.

The Wolves slapped three runs on the board in the first, netting all the runs starting pitcher Scott Hilborn would need.

Jonathan Valenzuela lashed a two-run double to center to get CHS going, then came around to score on a Friday Harbor wild pitch.

Hilborn, who struck out eight while limiting the Wolverines to just a pair of hits and a lone walk, was fairly flawless, while his defense removed one brief threat with a slickly turned double play.

From 3-0, Coupeville pushed its lead out to 7-0 through two, then made it 10-0 after three, and 11-0 coming out of the fourth frame.

The Wolves finished with 13 hits in four innings worth of at-bats, with seven different hitters racking up at least one base knock.

Chase Anderson drops a bunt for a hit. (Morgan White photo)

Aiden O’Neill and Peyton Caveness crunched RBI doubles in the second, then both came around later to swat RBI singles.

The last of O’Neill’s run-scoring hits plated courtesy runner Landon Roberts to close the scoring, before Hilborn ended the game with three straight strikeouts.

Coupeville’s stellar season has come courtesy of a young team, as seven of the 11 players sent into Saturday’s game by first-year CHS head coach Steve Hilborn are freshmen or sophomores.

Scott Hilborn and Valenzuela are the only seniors, while starters Chase Anderson, Coop Cooper, Camden Glover, and O’Neill are 9th graders.

Saturday stats:

Chase Anderson — Two singles
Peyton Caveness — Two singles, one double
Camden Glover — One walk
Scott Hilborn — Two singles
Aiden O’Neill — One single, one double
Jack Porter — One single
Johnny Porter — One walk
Jonathan Valenzuela — One single, one double, one walk
Cole White — One single

League champs. Bi-District champs. Ticket to the big dance punched. (Morgan White photo)

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Hardball squad rallies, earns league title

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, Friday Harbor, Jonathan Valenzuela, late rally, league title on May 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Steve Hilborn loves it when a plan comes together. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They earned it.

On their second long road trip in as many days, the Coupeville High School varsity baseball squad rallied from behind twice Thursday to upend host Friday Harbor in a high-scoring, high-tension affair.

In the end, the Wolves headed back to the ferry carrying an 11-8 win and a share of the Northwest 2B/1B League title.

Steve Hilborn’s crew wraps the regular season at 13-1 in conference action, matching the record put up by Mount Vernon Christian.

The Wolves and Hurricanes split their two-game season series but go in opposite directions for the playoffs.

MVC opens the 1B district tourney this Saturday, while Coupeville, now 15-5 overall, is off until May 13.

That’s when the 2B playoffs go down at Lakewood High School in Arlington.

Northwest Christian (Lacey) and Friday Harbor face off in a loser-out game at noon that day, with the victor squaring off with top-seeded Coupeville at 2:00 (or thereabouts) in a loser-out, winner-to-state clash.

Chase Anderson and the Wolves dive into playoff action May 13. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The week-plus gap between the regular season finale and postseason opener gives the Wolves some time to rest and add up all the stats they threw down against Friday Harbor.

Coupeville rapped out 12 hits Thursday, with eight different batters garnering at least one base knock apiece.

Friday Harbor, by contrast, collected eight hits, but none after the fourth inning, as Wolf relief pitcher Jonathan Valenzuela tossed 3.2 innings of no-hit ball to get the win.

The senior hurler came on in support of freshman Chase Anderson, and promptly ended most of the Wolverines hopes and dreams, whiffing five and retiring the final seven hitters he faced.

The game was a classic back-and-forth affair, the kind which can drive coaches to inhale Tums.

Coupeville had the early advantage, building a 4-2 lead with the game headed to the bottom of the fourth inning.

Scott Hilborn tapped home to open the scoring in the top of the first, taking advantage of a wild pitch, before Valenzuela came around in the second to deliver a two-run double to center field.

Tack on an RBI double off of Anderson’s bat, and a couple of nice defensive plays from Hilborn behind the plate, and the Wolves were looking good.

Then things got sticky for a bit, as Friday Harbor put together five straight hits in the bottom of the fourth to reclaim the lead at 7-4.

That was where Valenzuela ambled in to pitch, promptly closing the inning by striking out the first guy to challenge him, before inducing a groundout.

CHS jumped right back on their hosts, scoring three in the top of the fifth, but Friday Harbor scratched out a run in the bottom of the frame to go back in front 8-7.

The Wolves got consecutive hits from Peyton Caveness, Cole White, Aiden O’Neill, and Scott Hilborn to launch their first comeback, and the bats stayed hot for the visitors.

Fab frosh Camden Glover smoked an RBI single to left in the sixth to bring the game to 8-8, then it was time for Cole White to grab the white-hot spotlight.

Riley’s big brother laced a game-busting two-run single to center to put Coupeville on top for good, before the Wolves added an insurance run thanks to one of Friday Harbor’s five errors.

Jonathan Valenzuela deals. (Morgan White photo)

That set up Valenzuela to close out the game, and help his team match MVC, which shattered Orcas Island 11-1 earlier in the day in their own finale.

Throwing heat and smiling as the Wolverine hitters went down in flames, he wrote another chapter in a senior year which has included multiple big moments.

Valenzuela played key roles for football and baseball teams which won league titles, while also banking in a nearly-halfcourt buzzer-beater in basketball which made all of La Conner sob salty tears.

Thursday stats:

Chase Anderson — One double
Peyton Caveness — Two singles
Coop Cooper — One walk
Camden Glover — One single
Scott Hilborn — One single, one double, one walk
Aiden O’Neill — One single
Jack Porter — One single, one double, one walk
Jonathan Valenzuela — One double, one walk
Cole White — Two singles

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The bats were barkin’

Posted in Baseball, tagged baseball, Camden Glover, CHS Wolves, Concrete, hit attack, Jonathan Valenzuela, road win on April 25, 2023| 1 Comment »

Jonathan Valenzuela, ready to ruin the pitcher’s day. (Morgan White photo)

A hit for you, a hit for you, and what the hey, three hits for you.

With 10 different players picking up at least one base knock Tuesday, the Coupeville High School varsity baseball squad rapped out 20 hits en route to cracking host Concrete.

Erupting for 12 runs in one inning alone — with all but one tally coming with two outs — the Wolves decimated the Lions 18-1 in a game mercy-ruled after five frames.

Winners of eight of its last nine games, Coupeville gets to 10-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 12-4 overall.

The victory pulls the Wolves dead-even with Mount Vernon Christian (10-1, 11-3), which was idle Tuesday, for possession of first place in the NWL.

The two teams, who split their two-game season series, each have three league games remaining on their schedules.

Next up for Coupeville is a road trip to Darrington (5-6, 6-6) Thursday and a home clash with La Conner (2-9, 3-11) Saturday on Senior Night.

Tuesday’s romp in Concrete was actually close for two innings, with the Wolves up 3-1 headed to the top of the third.

CHS pushed three runs across in the first, courtesy a two-run double to left from Jonathan Valenzuela and an RBI single off the bat of Cole White.

But the Wolves came up empty in the second frame, with a would-be base thief thrown out at second.

Coupeville returned the favor quickly, with freshman catcher Chase Anderson gunning down a too-slow Lion runner in the bottom of the inning, and then he and his teammates went medieval on their hosts.

A fielder’s choice groundout from White bumped the lead to 4-1, but left Coupeville one out from ending the top of the third a bit prematurely.

Never fear, however.

From that point on, 12 straight Wolf hitters reached base safely, using a mix of seven hits, four Concrete errors, and one hit batsman.

Jack Porter eyeballs the pitcher. (Morgan White photo)

The biggest blows were a two-run triple to right field by Jack Porter and a two-run single by Coop Cooper, with eight different Wolves picking up an RBI in the inning.

Freshman Aiden O’Neill capped the 12-run explosion by flying home to score on a wild pitch, making it 15-1, while the scorekeeper lost feeling in their writing hand.

Coupeville coasted in from there, tacking on a two-run single from Peyton Caveness in the fourth and an RBI single from Johnny Porter in the fifth.

While the Wolves played whack-a-mole with Concrete’s pitching, the CHS hurlers were almost as dominating.

Camden Glover whiffed four in two innings of work, then turned the ball over to Valenzuela, who closed with three no-hit frames while setting five down on strikes.

Wolf coach Steve Hilborn got action for everyone on the bench, with Seth Woollet, Jaje Drake, and foreign exchange student Piotr Bieda picking up at-bats.

Tuesday stats:

Chase Anderson — Three singles
Peyton Caveness — Two singles
Coop Cooper — One single
Camden Glover — Three singles
Scott Hilborn — One single, one triple, one walk
Jack Porter — One triple
Johnny Porter — One single
Landon Roberts — Two singles
Yohannon Sandles — One walk
Jonathan Valenzuela — Three singles, one double
Cole White — One single