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Posts Tagged ‘late rally’

Hardball squad rallies, earns league title

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , 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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Fab frosh spark diamond rally

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on April 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Camden Glover delivered big pitches and big hits to spark a come-from-behind win Saturday. (Photo courtesy Stevie Glover)

The rally caps worked.

Sparked by big plays from freshmen Camden Glover and Coop Cooper, the Coupeville High School varsity baseball squad roared from behind Saturday, scoring four runs in the final two innings to topple visiting Orcas Island 5-4.

The victory lifts the Wolves to 3-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-3 overall, and gives them sole possession of second place in the seven-team NWL heading into spring break.

Coupeville, which trails just Mount Vernon Christian (5-0) in the race to defend its league crown, returns to action next Saturday, Apr. 8, when it travels to Concrete.

Saturday’s showdown pitted the Wolves against a very-tough Orcas squad, and Mother Nature let the showdown go on, opting not to bust out rain as expected.

The two teams delivered a pitcher’s duel early, with the game knotted at 1-1 after three innings.

Coupeville pushed a run across in the bottom of the second thanks to consecutive singles from Jonathan Valenzuela, Jack Porter, and Glover, while Orcas responded with a run of its own in the top of the third.

That tally was set up by a walk and a pair of Wolf errors, as the hometown hardball squad struggled a bit with its glovework.

Orcas crept ahead with two runs in the fourth, and another in the fifth, with another error and a wild pitch being daggers which pierced the Wolves.

Even down 4-1, CHS wasn’t ready to accept its impending loss, however.

The Wolves manufactured a run in the bottom of the fifth, with leadoff hitter Scott Hilborn earning a two-out walk, before stealing second, moving to third on a balk, and scampering home on a passed ball.

That cut the margin to 4-2, and Glover, on in relief to start the sixth, closed the game with two scoreless innings of work on the mound.

After surrendering a single to kick things off, he retired the next three Vikings in a row, setting the stage for the big rally.

The bottom of the sixth was a showcase of steady Wolf nerves, with Valenzuela and Porter nabbing walks, the latter after being plunked by a wayward pitch.

Then came the crunch time base knocks, as Glover and Cooper delivered back-to-back blows which found openings in the defense.

Glover’s single to left sliced the deficit to 4-3, while Cooper’s shot up the middle — with a little help from an Orcas error — plated two runners to give CHS a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

The Vikings didn’t go down easy, drawing two walks in the top of the seventh, but Coupeville’s young hurler wasn’t having it.

Rearing back and throwing heat, Glover got the final two outs of the game on big strikeouts, as he finished with three K’s.

Coupeville’s starting pitcher, Hilborn, rang up seven Vikings across five innings of work, giving the Wolf duo a combined 10 punchouts on the afternoon.

 

Saturday stats:

Chase Anderson — One walk
Coop Cooper — One single
Camden Glover — Two singles
Scott Hilborn — One walk
Jack Porter — One single, one walk
Jonathan Valenzuela — One single, two walks

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Late rally falls just short

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on March 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Softball sluggers (l to r) Mia Farris, Jada Heaton, and Taylor Brotemarkle are all key contributors as sophomores. (Photo courtesy Jennifer Heaton)

The rally caps almost worked.

Trailing by six runs heading into the final inning Thursday, the Coupeville High School softball squad brought the go-ahead run to the plate but couldn’t quite topple host Meridian.

Instead, the Trojans made a game-saving defensive play on a blast to center field, slipping away with an 11-9 win.

The narrow non-conference loss, coming less than 24 hours after a big home victory over South Whidbey, evens Coupeville’s record at 1-1.

“We kept our heads up and almost came all the way back,” said CHS coach Kevin McGranahan.

“Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn; tonight, we learned, and those lessons are valuable.”

The 2B Wolves, who have opened with back-to-back games against 1A foes, now return home to face Northwest 2B/1B League rival La Conner next Tuesday, Mar. 21.

Coupeville plays seven of its next nine tilts at home.

Thursday’s rumble with always-competitive Meridian started in favor of the Wolves, as they jumped on the Trojan pitcher for a quick three runs in the top of the first inning.

Teagan Calkins reached on an error and Mia Farris crunched an RBI single, before Taylor Brotemarkle and Madison McMillan plated runners while giving themselves up.

The lead didn’t hold for long, however, as Meridian took advantage of several Coupeville defensive miscues to build a 7-3 lead by the end of the third inning.

The Wolves pushed one runner across in both the fourth and fifth, with Sofia Peters smacking an RBI double and Melanie Navarro shooting an RBI single into a gap.

Unfortunately for the Wolves, Meridian tacked on two more runs in its half of the fourth, then did it again in the bottom of the sixth.

That left CHS trailing 11-5 headed to the game’s final frame, but the Wolf hitters made a solid stand in the top of the seventh.

Brotemarkle and McMillan rapped singles to set the scene, before Navarro mashed her third home run of the young season.

A day after walloping two taters against South Whidbey, the Wolf senior sent a three-run dinger sailing out of the park and Coupeville was back in business.

Singles from Allie Lucero and Peters kept the comeback alive, but Meridian found a way out at the last moment, tracking down a shot to center for the game’s final out.

Peters paced the Wolves with three hits, including a two-bagger, while Navarro (1B, HR), McMillan (1B, 3B), Allie Lucero (1B, 1B), and Farris (1B, 1B) each had a pair of base knocks.

Calkins and Brotemarkle rounded out the hit parade, with a single apiece, while Gwen Gustafson, Maya Lucero, and Jada Heaton also saw game action for Coupeville.

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Hammerheads rally, keep win streak alive

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged , , , , on May 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Allison Nastali (left) and Chloe Marzocca are part of a Central Whidbey Little League Juniors softball squad which has won five straight. (Jennifer Marzocca photo)

Don’t count ’em out.

Trailing by three runs entering the final frame Monday, the Central Whidbey Little League Juniors softball squad rallied to force extra innings, then KO’d their archrivals.

Scoring the game’s final seven runs, the Hammerheads pulled out a 15-11 win in eight innings, knocking off North Whidbey for a second-straight time, and running their winning streak to five games.

With the victory, Central Whidbey improves to 5-2 on the season.

“Well, that was wild,” said Hammerheads coach Fred Farris. “The girls were not their usual self in the field, but there is some weird voodoo at that park.

“But the heart and will to win of this group is just remarkable,” he added. “Everyone contributed in one way or another.”

Central Whidbey scored in each of the first four innings Monday, building an 8-4 lead exiting the top of the fourth.

Then, a momentary road bump.

North Whidbey scraped out four runs in its half of the fourth to knot things at 8-8, then pushed across another three in the fifth to take the lead.

After going scoreless in the fifth and sixth, the Hammerheads needed a spark in the seventh, and they got it from the booming bat of Taylor Brotemarkle.

She thumped a triple to deep right field, before Central Whidbey took advantage of a dropped third strike with Katie Marti at the plate, then walks to Allison Nastali and Teagan Calkins.

Once on the base paths, the Hammerheads seized the opportunity.

“Savvy base running, which is one of our trademarks through the years, really made a difference,” Farris said.

In the eighth, four Central Whidbey sluggers stepped up big, with Savina Wells and Brotemarkle bashing doubles, while Jada Heaton and Nastali scorched hard-hit singles.

Back on top, the Hammerheads set their Northern rivals down one-two-three in the bottom half of the inning, with Central hurler Wells closing the game by whiffing the other team’s best hitter.

“Savina was really dialed in again and came right from high school basketball practice to Volunteer Park,” Farris said. “Like Deion Sanders on a dual football/baseball day.

“She’s really become adept at mixing pitches and locations specifically to the batters.”

Savina Wells was a two-way star Monday, excelling in the pitcher’s circle and in the batter’s box. (Jackie Saia photo)

Wells was a wild woman at the plate, as well, collecting a team-high three hits, with all going for extra bases.

A pair of doubles set the stage, while a triple which carried 200+ feet to center was topped off with “a textbook slide to get under the tag.”

Brotemarkle added a triple and double of her own, with Madison McMillan crunching a triple and Calkins smoking a two-bagger.

Seven of 11 Hammerhead hitters put up a base-knock, with Mia Farris joining Brotemarkle and McMillan in the two-hit club.

Marti and Chloe Marzocca scored after walking, as nine Central Whidbey players came around to tap home plate.

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No more Muzzy!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on April 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Cole Payne (John Fisken photo)

   Cole Payne stood tall for Coupeville Saturday, delivering one of just two hits South Whidbey hurler Ricky Muzzy surrendered. (John Fisken photo)

Ricky Muzzy said goodbye to Coupeville in style.

Not that the Wolves were all that thrilled about it.

Barring a reunion in the playoffs, Saturday’s non-conference baseball game in Langley, in which Muzzy used his crafty pitching arm and explosive bat to carry South Whidbey to a 7-3 win, will be the final time the Falcon senior will stare down his Island rivals.

Facing off with a Coupeville squad that includes players he has suited up with in American Legion ball, such as Wolf catcher Cole Payne, Muzzy was lights out on the mound.

Tossing six shutout innings, the Falcon hurler limited the Wolves to just a pair of hits — a second inning single up the middle by Wolf pitcher Julian Welling and a sixth-inning base knock from Payne.

That second hit was a rocket into the gap between third and short that a diving Falcon managed to knock down at the last second, but couldn’t recover as Payne zipped down the first-base line.

Still, until he turned the ball over to his bullpen, Muzzy was in total control, while also delivering the game’s biggest hit — a thunderous two-run triple to right in the fourth that broke open a fairly close game.

Up until that point, the Wolves, after a bit of trouble in the first, had stayed close.

South Whidbey scratched out three runs in the opening inning, putting together three hits and taking advantage of a wild pitch and a passed ball.

After that, though, Welling matched Muzzy in stringing together zeros until the fourth.

With one out quickly in the books, Coupeville looked like they had caught a break when a grounder that ricocheted off of Matt Hilborn’s glove at third shot right into the outstretched arm of shortstop Hunter Smith.

But, despite a strong throw on the move from Smith, the runner won the race to the bag, and that gave the Falcons just enough inspiration to stage a game-busting rally.

A single through the gap between second and first put two on the bags, before Muzzy launched a shot that had most South Whidbey fans thinking he had crushed a three-run home run.

Coupeville’s outfield managed to momentarily stem the tide with a quick throw to hold Muzzy at third, but two more runs eventually came across before the inning was done.

Trailing 7-0 entering the seventh, the Wolves mounted their first sustained offensive show of the afternoon by keeping the ball away from South Whidbey’s superb outfield crew.

Earlier, several shots that would have dropped in against most teams were run down by Falcon fielders, including a sensational diving snag in center on a drive by Kory Score that seemed to have extra-base hit written all over it.

Finally keeping the ball down when it came off the bat, the Wolves rallied for three in the final inning and had the bases loaded when the Falcons retired the final batter.

An error on a grounder by Welling, a low, slicing single to left from Gabe Wynn and a walk to Clay Reilly juiced the bags, before Joey Lippo (walk), Hunter Smith (infield single) and CJ Smith (a single to right that dropped in front of a charging fielder) plated runners.

While the young Wolves (now 3-6 on the season) departed Langley with a loss to last year’s 1A state runner-ups, first-year CHS coach Marc Aparicio liked a lot of what he saw.

“We hit the ball hard today, but they made some great plays on us defensively,” he said. “South Whidbey’s a great team, and we all saw that. But I’m real proud of our guys.”

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