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Posts Tagged ‘La Conner’

Win big, win with class

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on April 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolf sluggers (l to r) Madison McMillan, Mia Farris, and Jada Heaton combined to reach base six times in Saturday’s home finale. (Jennifer Heaton photo)

Love and success for everyone.

Coupeville’s younger players paid emotional tributes to their senior leaders Saturday, while the generations came together to cruise to another big softball victory on the prairie.

Playing at home for the final time this spring — and FINALLY getting decent weather — the Wolves romped to a 17-2 win over visiting La Conner, while trying not to embarrass a Braves program working hard to build for the future.

Coupeville exits the weekend sitting at 10-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 13-5 overall, having won 10 of its last 11 games.

The Wolves travel to Friday Harbor next Thursday, May 4, with the winner claiming the one playoff berth offered to 2B teams in District 1, then close the regular season May 12 with a non-conference road rumble at South Whidbey.

La Conner’s softball team is a work in progress, and their players are hard-working and scrappy.

But they are still well off the pace set by Coupeville, which was demonstrated once again Saturday afternoon.

With all five of its 12th graders in the starting lineup on Senior Night, the Wolves put all 11 hitters on base in the first inning but settled for a 6-0 lead.

Teagan Calkins and Taylor Brotemarkle swatted home runs to left, with the second of those taters also scoring Mia Farris, but CHS accounted for all three outs in the inning by having runners intentionally leave base early.

Coupeville pushed seven more runs across in the second frame, with Farris and Brotemarkle crunching two-run base knocks, and the (polite) rout was on.

CHS coach Kevin McGranahan got field action for all 16 players on his roster, with 15 reaching base, and pulled the strings perfectly to keep the game going until the teams had played five innings.

The Wolves notched a lone run in the third to make it 14-0, gave back two tallies in the fourth, then closed things out with three more scores in their half of the inning.

Coupeville seniors unite on the prairie, with the batter, the player in the on-deck circle, and everyone on base being grizzled vets. (Katrina McGranahan photo)

The game marked the home swan song for Wolf seniors Sofia Peters, Allie Lucero, Gwen Gustafson, Melanie Navarro, and Maya Lucero.

That group lost their freshman season when spring sports were cancelled for Covid, then only played 12 games as sophomores due to ongoing pandemic restrictions.

But they hung tough, continued to work, and have played vital roles as the Wolves have gone 41-8 during their time in the program.

And they aren’t done yet.

 

Saturday stats:

Haylee Armstrong — One single
Taylor Brotemarkle — One double, one home run, one walk
Teagan Calkins — One single, one home run, one walk
Mia Farris — One single, two walks
Gwen Gustafson — One single, two walks
Jada Heaton — One walk
Layla Heo — One walk
Allie Lucero — Three walks
Maya Lucero — One single, one walk
Chloe Marzocca — Two walks
Madison McMillan — One single, one walk
Melanie Navarro — One single, two walks
Sofia Peters — Three walks
Bailey Thule — One walk
Melanie Wolfe — One walk

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Hardball heroes romp to Senior Night win

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on April 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Cole White picked up two RBI Saturday as Coupeville strolled to a 14-1 win. (Morgan White photo)

Precision pitching, precision hitting.

Sparked by a five-inning no-hitter from hurler Scott Hilborn, the Coupeville High School varsity baseball squad pounded out 15 base knocks Saturday, routing visiting La Conner 14-1.

The Senior Night win, coming on an afternoon when the Wolves honored Hilborn, Jonathan Valenzuela, and foreign exchange student Piotr Bieda, gives CHS 10 wins in its last 11 games.

Now 12-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 14-4 overall, Coupeville sits alone in first place, a half-game up on idle Mount Vernon Christian.

The Hurricanes are 11-1 in NWL play, with two conference tilts left to play, while the Wolves finish the regular season with a road trip Thursday to play Friday Harbor.

Coupeville was supposed to have a home non-league rumble with Sultan Monday, but that game was suddenly canceled by the Turks, who are scrambling to finish their own conference schedule.

The Wolves, playing Saturday under sunny skies and with no prairie wind buffeting them for the first time all season, closed their home campaign in style.

Chase Anderson, lashin’ lasers.

Scott Hilborn retired the first 10 hitters he faced, surrendering only a pair of walks in the late going.

He whiffed 10 Braves, with La Conner eking out its lone run in the fourth inning thanks to a walk, a stolen base, a wild pitch, and an RBI groundout.

Coupeville was ahead 9-0 at the moment the Braves finally got on the scoreboard, having pushed five runners across the plate in the first, three more in the second, and a lone tally in the bottom of the third.

The Wolves responded to La Conner scoring by tacking on five more runs in the fourth, pushing the game into mercy-rule territory.

All nine CHS players to see action in the game scored, with seven of them recording hits.

Freshman Chase Anderson had the hottest bat, peppering La Conner with four hits, while Jack Porter blasted a pair of doubles while racking up a team-high four RBI.

 

Saturday stats:

Chase Anderson — Four singles
Peyton Caveness — Two walks
Coop Cooper — One single
Camden Glover — One single, one walk
Scott Hilborn — Two singles, one double
Jack Porter — One single, two doubles
Jonathan Valenzuela — One single, one double, one walk
Cole White — One single

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Big swings, tons o’ runs

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on April 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolf slugger Madison McMillan abuses the softball. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Kevin McGranahan stayed busy on a milestone day.

Amid a flurry of lineup changes, his Coupeville High School varsity softball team bashed host La Conner 24-7 in a six-inning affair Thursday afternoon.

The victory, McGranahan’s 90th as CHS head coach, lifts the Wolves to 5-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 7-4 overall heading into a weekend non-conference doubleheader at Onalaska.

The rumble with the Braves came with its own hurdles, as La Conner is winless and while Coupeville wanted to win, it wanted to do so with class and a sense of fair play.

So that kept McGranahan hopping, as he got action for 16 players, including starting three girls who normally come off the bench.

“I mixed up the lineup and tried to get players at least two innings and a couple at-bats for everyone,” he said.

Mixing and matching players left and right, while trying to give scorekeeper Gordon McMillan carpal tunnel syndrome, the CHS softball guru kept things interesting.

Fifteen different Wolves, including three 8th graders, reached base, as Coupeville piled up 14 hits and 17 walks, though McGranahan’s squad limited their base-stealing and taking extra bases.

South Korean foreign exchange student Layla Heo made her first varsity start.

Coupeville jumped out to an 8-0 lead, gave some runs back in the middle innings thanks to some walks and one well-cracked double, then fired up the bats to put things out of reach.

Freshman catcher Teagan Calkins lit up dad Shawn’s Facebook Live stream right from the start, launching a long triple to deep center field to lead off the game.

She soon scampered home on a wild pitch, heading for the camera with a grin on her face, a star made for prime time, as the Wolves slapped six runs on the board in the top of the first inning.

Madison McMillan cracked an RBI double which went to the heavens, high-fived the sun, then dropped back to the field, while her teammates took advantage of La Conner errors to get the offense rolling.

But the Braves proved resilient, limiting Coupeville to just a single run apiece in both the second and third, before scraping together a rally to get within 8-5.

The Wolves pushed it back to 13-5, scoring twice off of wild pitches, once on a bases-loaded walk to Bailey Thule, and twice on a booming double from Calkins snazzy, still-fairly-new bat.

La Conner hung tough, cutting things to 13-7 by the end of the fourth, before McGranahan went back to his starters to emphatically close things out.

CHS pitcher Maya Lucero, who tossed two scoreless innings to open the game, came back around to fling two more lights-out frames, while twin sister Allie pasted a three-run double.

Mia Farris, Sofia Peters, and Gwen Gustafson all had big run-scoring hits in the latter stages of the game, with a nine-run sixth inning finally tipping things into mercy-rule land.

With the win, McGranahan gets to 90-42 as Wolf softball coach.

He’s in his seventh season at the head of the diamond program, though it would be his 8th campaign if the pandemic hadn’t completely erased the 2020 schedule.

 

Thursday stats:

Capri Anter — Two walks
Haylee Armstrong — One walk
Taylor Brotemarkle — Two walks
Teagan Calkins — One double, one triple, one walk
Mia Farris — Two singles, one double, one walk
Gwen Gustafson — Two singles
Jada Heaton — One double
Allie Lucero — One single, one double
Maya Lucero — One single, two walks
Chloe Marzocca — One single
Madison McMillan — One double, two walks
Melanie Navarro — Three walks
Sofia Peters — One double, one walk
Bailey Thule — One walk
Melanie Wolfe — One walk

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Wolves run over Braves

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on April 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Chase Anderson flies for home. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Speed kills.

So, good thing the fastest team on the diamond Thursday was Coupeville, and not La Conner.

Sparked by 19 steals, the Wolf varsity baseball team ran away with a resounding 12-2 win over the host Braves, handing them a key league win.

With the victory, CHS gets to 5-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 7-3 overall.

That keeps the Wolves right on the heels of 1B powerhouse Mount Vernon Christian, which is 6-0 in NWL action, while also pushing them to 3-0 against their fellow 2B schools.

League title or not, Coupeville’s playoff fate is determined entirely by how it does against La Conner and Friday Harbor, and Thursday’s win gets the Wolves halfway to a sweep of that six-game royal rumble.

CHS spaced out its runs against the Braves, scoring in six of seven innings, while using three pitchers to shut La Conner down.

Camden Glover got the start and tossed two scoreless innings before giving way to fellow freshman Chase Anderson, who whiffed seven batters across three frames.

Senior hurler Scott Hilborn wrapped things up, striking out five while working the sixth and seventh.

The Wolves jumped on the Braves for two runs in the top of the first, after starting things off with two outs and no one aboard.

Jack Porter poked a single to give Coupeville its first runner, before Jonathan Valenzuela and Glover eked out walks to juice the bags.

Taking full advantage of his opportunities, Peyton Caveness smacked a two-run single to left field, and the Wolves were off and rolling.

Back-to-back RBI singles from Hilborn and Anderson keyed a three-run rally in the second, while the third inning was the only time the Wolves failed to score.

La Conner briefly rallied in the bottom of the third, plating a pair of runners to cut the margin to 5-2, but that was it for the Brave offense.

Working methodically, and running the bases like crazy, Coupeville pushed three more runs across in the fourth, one in the fifth, two more in the sixth, and a final tally in the seventh.

“I love it when a plan comes together!”

Hilborn and Anderson delivered back-to-back RBI singles for a second time, while the run in the fifth came courtesy of a rare triple steal.

The last big crunch of the game came off of Glover’s bat, with the fab frosh walloping an RBI double to left.

CHS was strong in all facets of the game, with Hilborn gunning down a runner at the plate, and Anderson teaming up with Cole White and Glover to pull off an inning-ending double play.

Eight different Wolves garnered a steal in the speed-fest, with Aiden O’Neill, Hilborn, and Anderson notching four apiece.

 

Thursday stats:

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

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Everyone plays, everyone wins

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on March 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Mia Farris picked Princeton to beat Arizona in the NCAA men’s basketball tourney (seriously), and hammers homers on the softball diamond. Truly a woman for all seasons. (Jackie Saia photo)

It was a tasty appetizer.

The full meal arrives Saturday, when the Coupeville High School softball team hosts a doubleheader in which it will square off with top-level rivals Forks and Granite Falls.

In preparation for those tilts, the Wolves romped to a 20-2 win over visiting La Conner Tuesday in the Northwest 2B/1B League opener for both programs.

The victory, which lifts CHS to 1-0 in conference action, 2-1 overall, was a savage affair.

Or could have been, as the Wolves did everything in their power not to unnecessarily embarrass the overmatched Braves.

Ten of the 12 outs Coupeville recorded came via things such as leaving the base early, as La Conner was only able to record two putouts on its own.

Wolf coach Kevin McGranahan also went all the way down his bench, giving an at-bat to all 16 eligible players, with 8th graders Haylee Armstrong, Capri Anter, and Melanie Wolfe making their high school softball debuts.

Anter got the spotlight role, coming on in relief of senior hurler Allie Lucero to chuck 2.1 innings from the pitcher’s circle.

“Great day for softball and a lot of needed reps for the younger players,” McGranahan said. “The veteran players were extremely supportive.”

Those older Wolves keyed an explosive 17-hit, 13-walk performance, with the big plays coming from the very start.

Chloe Marzocca, ready to get medieval on the softball. (Jackie Saia photo)

Leading off in the bottom of the first inning, Mia Farris clouted an inside-the-park home run, launching a long shot which dropped over the head of the centerfielder and rolled to the fence.

Not content to stop there, the Wolves added another dinger before the opening frame was done.

Melanie Navarro, who is on a tear to rival any put together by a Wolf softball slugger, walloped a grand slam, the ball clearing the fence at its furthest point from the plate.

The socko slam was the fourth tater for the senior in three games, with three of those four landing outside the fence.

Navarro has lashed a longball in every game this season, with two against South Whidbey in the opener, followed by shots against Meridian and La Conner.

Along with the pair of home runs, the Wolves got doubles from Gwen Gustafson, Madison McMillan, Sofia Peters, Chloe Marzocca, and Anter.

Up 5-0 after one inning, Coupeville pushed the lead to 10-0 after two, 17-2 by the third, and settled for the 20-2 romp.

Allie Lucero and Anter combined to whiff nine La Conner batters, while giving up just a single hit on the afternoon.

In addition to the players previously listed, Taylor Brotemarkle, Jada Heaton, Maya Lucero, Teagan Calkins, Bailey Thule, and foreign exchange student Layla Heo saw action against La Conner.

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