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Posts Tagged ‘league title’

Big win, bright future

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on May 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Scott Hilborn (left) and Sage Sharp both had two hits Tuesday in a 19-2 win. (Morgan White photos)

They closed with a vengeance, so now they sit back and wait.

Drilling 16 hits Tuesday, the Coupeville High School varsity baseball squad savaged host Darrington 19-2 to clinch at least a share of a league title.

With the win, the Wolves finish 11-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 13-6 overall.

Meanwhile, defending league champ Friday Harbor (10-1) travels to Orcas Island (6-4) Thursday in a must-win season finale.

Coupeville split their season series with the Wolverines, winning 11-8 at home after falling 3-2 on the road.

A Friday Harbor win Thursday sets up a third meeting between the schools May 12 on a neutral field in La Conner.

The winner of that game is the lone NWL team to advance to the 2B state tourney, while the loser is done.

However, if Friday Harbor loses at Orcas, Coupeville stands alone atop the NWL and punches its ticket to state without having to participate in a play-in game.

The Wolves made sure they would be in a prime position, jumping on Darrington from the first pitch.

Leadoff hitter Hawthorne Wolfe reached base on a Logger error, then his teammates cranked out four hits during a four-run top of the first inning.

Scott Hilborn, Cody Roberts, and Sage Sharp delivered the big blows, each rapping a double during the opening assault.

It was blowout city from there, as Coupeville slapped seven more runs on the scoreboard in the second and eight in the third, stretching the lead out to 19-0.

Eight different Wolves collected a base-knock in the game, with nine reaching base, as Darrington’s pitchers had nowhere to hide.

Jonathan Valenzuela reached base four times at Darrington.

CHS hurlers Hilborn, Sharp, and Wolfe were much-more effective, limiting the Loggers to just three hits on the afternoon.

Sharp’s stint on the mound was one of three positions he played in the game, as he also did duty at second base and shortstop.

That allowed the Wolf senior to finish his prep hardball career having played at least once at all nine positions on the field.

 

Tuesday stats:

Chase Anderson — 1 single
Peyton Caveness — 1 walk
Scott Hilborn — 2 doubles
Xavier Murdy — 1 single, 1 walk
Cody Roberts — 1 double, 1 walk
Sage Sharp — 1 single, 1 double, 1 walk
Jonathan Valenzuela — 1 single, 1 double, 1 triple, 1 walk
Cole White — 2 singles
Hawthorne Wolfe — 4 singles

Hawthorne Wolfe, ready to cause havoc.

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Bend? Break? Just win, baby!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 27, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Caleb Meyer and Coupeville won their 12th straight game Thursday, matching the best start in program history. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Two milestones reached, several more to go.

With a 57-47 win at Mount Vernon Christian Thursday, the Coupeville High School varsity boys basketball squad equals the best start in program history, while clinching at least a tie for its first league title in two decades.

The Wolves, now a pristine 9-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 12-0 overall, have matched the starts of the 1969-1970 and 1996-1997 teams.

With three regular season games left on the schedule, including NWL showdowns with Friday Harbor and La Conner, the CHS boys will add their first new plaque to the school’s Wall of Fame since current coach Brad Sherman was a player.

Coupeville can finish no worse than 9-2 in league play, while MVC, at 6-2 with three conference clashes left, can finish no better than 9-2.

If that happens, the schools will technically share the title, though the Wolves swept the season series against the Hurricanes, giving them an edge which can’t be denied.

One more Wolf win in league play, or one more MVC loss, however, and Coupeville sits alone atop the NWL.

The last time a Coupeville boys basketball squad claimed a league title was the 2001-2002 season, when Sherman was a junior sharpshooter rattling the rims for 275 points and Randy King was Wolf coach.

Chris Good led that team in scoring, followed by Sherman, Geoff Hageman, Sean Callahan, Casey Clark, James Meek, Brian Roundy, Dustin Vanvelkinburgh, Brian Fakkema, Rob Fasolo, and Joe Kelley.

20 years after playing on the last Wolf boys hoops team to win a league title, Brad Sherman has led this year’s team to the first level of the promised land. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

This year’s Wolf squad, which travels to Granite Falls Saturday for a non-conference rumble and a crack at the first 13-0 mark in 105 seasons, faced down one of its toughest tests Thursday night.

The game was a one-point affair with six minutes to play, but the Wolves refused to bend or crack.

Having frittered away a 14-point second quarter lead, Coupeville saw MVC tie the game up twice in the second half, but never trailed against the Hurricanes after Logan Downes slapped a rebound home to stake his squad to an early 8-7 lead.

Clinging to a 43-42 advantage with the clock headed under six to play, the Wolves stiffened on defense and swarmed to the ball.

Forcing bad passes, hitting the boards with intensity, and plucking the ball away from the Hurricane ballhandlers, CHS closed the game on a 14-5 run which drove a stake through the heart of every MVC fan in attendance.

We dine on your private school tears, and it is sweet. So sweet.

The Wolves did it from distance, with Downes and Xavier Murdy draining three-balls, with the former making the net jump off a pinpoint pass from Hawthorne Wolfe, and the latter hitting a step-back trey.

And Coupeville’s players did it at the free throw line, hitting six of eight freebies in the waning moments after getting hacked and molested on their way to the hoop.

Caleb Meyer put the cherries on top of the sundae, swishing four consecutive free throws to end things, while Grady Rickner and Downes also tickled the twines for a crucial point.

Toss in Wolfe rippling the nets for a foul shot early in the quarter — netting the 750th point of his prep career — and CHS dominated at the line.

Coupeville hit 12 of 18, while MVC was a modest 3-7.

Coupeville Middle School stars made the trek to Mount Vernon to support their high school counterparts. (Riley White photo)

The game tipped off with Xavier Murdy and Meyer in fine form, as the senior duo combined for 19 points as CHS built a 21-12 lead by the first break.

Meyer knocked down back-to-back treys, with one set up by a Wolfe steal, and things were headed in a positive direction.

Barely a minute into the second quarter, after X-Man converted off of an offensive rebound and Downes drilled the bottom out of the net on a three-ball, the romp was on at 26-12.

But then the romp was back off, at least for a bit.

Coupeville hit a dry spell, MVC went on a run, and then the Hurricanes got lucky to tighten things up considerably.

A 10-0 Hurricanes surge cut the lead, while a three-ball which beat the shot clock and halftime buzzer by about .00002 of a second pulled the host team all the way back to within 31-29.

The lid on the bucket refused to budge for the Wolves during much of the third quarter, but Coupeville’s ramped-up defense kept them in front.

A three-point play the hard way from Meyer cracked a 31-31 tie, while Downes put a rebound back up and in to push the lead to 39-35 heading into the final frame.

That set up a rough-and-tumble fourth quarter, with the game tied at 40-40, then CHS up 43-42 when it made its heroic stand.

By getting the final margin out to 10, the Wolves won by double digits for the 11th time in 12 games this season.

The only team to lose by single digits was 3A Oak Harbor in the season opener, when lil’ 2B Coupeville made a major statement (and harvested many a sweet, sweet tear) with a 70-64 win.

Sherman used seven players in the title clincher, with six scoring.

Xavier Murdy led the way with 23 points, while Meyer banked in 18 and Downes rattled the rims for 12.

Alex Murdy (2), Wolfe (1), and Rickner (1) rounded out the scoring, with Logan Martin a terror on the boards.

“Un-de-feated!!” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

 

What’s ahead:

Saturday’s non-conference game pits CHS against a 2-8 Granite Falls team, then the Wolves close the regular season with road tilts against NWL foes Friday Harbor (Feb. 4) and La Conner (Feb. 10).

Those games are important, as the three 2B schools in the conference are fighting for two playoff berths — with those slots decided not by the team’s overall record, but their mark against each other.

The league’s four 1B schools — MVC, Darrington, Concrete, and Orcas Island — go their own way in the postseason.

Coupeville is 2-0 in the four-game 2B mini-rumble, having beaten La Conner and Friday Harbor the first time around, with La Conner at 1-1 and Friday Harbor at 0-2.

Districts are Feb. 15-17, with CHS hosting.

The second-ranked 2B team from the NWL plays Auburn Adventist in a loser-out game, with the winner advancing to play the #1 seed.

Both teams in the district championship game earn a trip to state, which would be the first for the Coupeville boys since 1988.

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Number one with a bullet

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on May 7, 2019| Leave a Comment »

“Who’s the best softball team in the North Sound Conference?”

“We are!!” (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

We’re #1.

Most likely.

Capping a wild regular season, the Coupeville High School softball team thrashed host South Whidbey 18-5 Tuesday, giving them a three-game season sweep of their Island rivals.

With the victory, the Wolves clinch at least a share of the North Sound Conference title, and put themselves in position to be the league’s #1 seed to districts.

The Wolves, who have won eight of their last 10 games, finish 9-3 in league play, and are 12-7 overall heading into the postseason, which starts May 16.

Coupeville won’t know for sure until Thursday if they are the #1 or #2 seed to districts.

That day Granite Falls (8-3, 11-7) travels to Sultan (1-10, 1-13) and Cedar Park Christian (8-3, 13-4) hosts South Whidbey (2-9, 5-12).

Here are the possible outcomes, with Coupeville earning the #1 playoff seed in three of four scenarios:

**Granite and CPC lose = Coupeville is undisputed league champs.

**Granite wins, CPC loses = Coupeville finishes in a tie with Granite.

Tigers get #1 seed based on tiebreaker, thanks to beating Wolves in two of three games.

**Granite loses, CPC wins = Coupeville finishes in a tie with CPC.

Wolves get #1 seed, since they took two of three against Eagles.

**Granite and CPC win = it’s a three-way tie for the title.

Head-to-head tiebreakers don’t work here, as each team won two of three against one foe, while losing two of three against the other opponent.

In this scenario, the most likely of the four, the seeding decision comes down to a blind draw done before the season by league AD’s.

And this is where it gets golden for Coupeville, since Willie Smith beat the odds and pulled the best number, which would make CHS the #1 seed.

However it breaks down Thursday, the Wolves are headed to the playoffs with a full head of steam.

Tuesday, CHS came out locked and loaded offensively and defensively, racking up 13 hits while also pulling off a season-best three double plays in the field.

The game started with one kind of splat — Wolf lead-off hitter Scout Smith being drilled with a wayward pitch — and ended with another, as Coupeville blew up the scoreboard for eight runs in the final inning.

Before the sting of being bonked had time to ease, Smith was on the move around the base-paths.

The Wolf junior scooted to second in a hurry when South Whidbey bobbled an Emma Mathusek grounder, before shooting home on an RBI single smacked sharply to left by Chelsea Prescott.

An out later, it was time for Mollie Bailey to remind folks that while her family has been anchored on the Coupeville prairie for decades, she’s more than willing to tear it up all over the Island.

Turning viciously on the ball, she paddled the offering back up the middle, skipping it between defenders and sending Mathusek and Prescott scrambling for home.

With Smith tossing BB’s from the pitcher’s circle, Coupeville carried the 3-0 lead into the top of the third, then tacked on a few more runs.

The first run came around thanks to an absolute laser off of the bat of Wolf catcher Sarah Wright, who smoked a double to deep left.

The next score might have been even better, because it came after South Whidbey intentionally walked the scariest batter they’ve known this season.

Wolf first-baseman Veronica Crownover smashed fences-clearing home runs in both the previous games this season between the Island rivals, and the Falcons were feeling a bit gun-shy in their third tango.

Twice Tuesday they waved her to first base on intentional passes, then breathed deep sighs of relief as she stopped twisting her bat o’ death, gave the Falcon hurler a long, quietly-menacing stare, then jogged down to first-base.

Your season totals for South Whidbey pitchers: three intentional walks to Crownover, counting one in an earlier game, but none to a single other Wolf.

The Falcons still paid in the third inning, though certainly not with the same sting a grand-slam would have offered.

Mackenzie Davis, following Crownover to the plate, whipped a low, blistering shot off the pitcher’s mitt, plating one Wolf, then Nicole Laxton sent a final run across the plate on a ground-out, garnering the first of her four RBI in the game.

Up 6-0, Coupeville was humming, but hit a brief bit of trouble in the third.

Rallying from two outs and nobody aboard, the Falcons strung together three straight hits and put their own three-spot on the scoreboard.

But, while it was a stumble, it was a brief one.

The Wolves answered right back in the fourth, with Laxton crushing a two-out, two-run single to stretch the margin back to 8-3, before the entire team started throwing down stellar defensive plays.

The first came from Smith, who moved to second base in the fourth, with freshman Izzy Wells stalking to the pitcher’s circle to take the ball.

Smith pulled off a nifty double-play to end the bottom of the inning, snagging a hot chopper, tagging a runner trying to sneak by, then pegging the ball deep into Crownover’s mitt.

The two teams exchanged two-run rallies in the fifth, then both went scoreless in the sixth, keeping the Wolf lead semi-safe at 10-5.

Bailey had the big blow in the fifth, walloping a two-run double, while Prescott and Crownover pulled off their own double plays to end the fifth and sixth, respectively.

Prescott scooped up a grounder, jumped on second for one out, then nailed the runner headed to first, all in one fluid move.

Crownover went her one better, moving only a single step for her twin-killing.

Glove snapping up, she yanked a liner out of the air, then nonchalantly stepped backwards and onto the bag at first, subtly waving bye-bye-bye to a Falcon runner who had taken off at bat contact only to find herself stuck in no man’s land.

While Coupeville led the entire way, the five-run margin still might have made for some tight collars, so the Wolves erased any doubts in the top of the seventh.

The first 10 batters in the inning reached base, and South Whidbey didn’t get an out until the field ump went blind and called Prescott out after she beat out a bunt by a good three steps.

Not that it mattered, as the Wolves had pushed eight runs across in the frame at that point, with the biggest hits being yet another RBI single by the smokin’ hot Laxton and a two-run double from Smith.

“We came out and scored in the first and never looked back,” CHS coach Kevin McGranahan said. “They fought us for a little while, but, in the end, we outhit them and played good defense.”

Coupeville spread its offense around, with Prescott (three singles), Wright (two doubles), Bailey (1B, 2B), Mathusek (two singles), and Laxton (two singles) leading the way.

Smith added a double, while Coral Caveness singled.

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Party like it’s 2002!!

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , , , on April 20, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Katrina McGranahan, the reigning Olympic League MVP, was a two-way terror Friday as Coupeville smacked Klahowya and clinched its first league title in 16 years. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

“What a day for Wolf fast-pitch!”

Coupeville High School softball coach Kevin McGranahan was beaming from ear to ear Friday afternoon, and why not?

He had just watched his Wolves torch visiting Klahowya 9-4, their fifth-straight win over the Eagles in the last two seasons.

With the win, Coupeville improves to 9-3 overall, 2-0 in Olympic League play and clinches the program’s first conference title since the vaunted 2002 Wolves, who went on to finish third at state.

With Chimacum and Port Townsend shutting down their softball teams for a season due to lack of players, the Olympic League became a two-team rumble this season.

After nabbing wins in the first two games of a three-game season series (the finale is Apr. 30 at Klahowya), Coupeville has clinched a title and the #1 playoff seed from the Olympic League.

The Wolves open the double-elimination portion of the West Central District 3 tourney May 18 against the #2 team from the Nisqually League.

Win two out of three games, and CHS softball is state-bound for the third time in its history and the first time since 2014.

Klahowya will have to survive a loser-out pigtail playoff game May 15 against the Nisqually League’s #3 team to join Coupeville in the double-elimination round.

While the Eagles had sat for nearly a month between games thanks to rain and scheduling issues, the Wolves have been playing at a steady clip, including a big win Thursday afternoon at La Conner.

That quickly showed.

“These ladies went out and took control and would not be denied,” Kevin McGranahan said. “They hit from the first batter on and everyone contributed in one way or another.

“League champs and half a season to prep for the postseason,” he added. “I am so proud for all the girls, but the seniors have fought from being less than mediocre to being dominant and doing it as a team and involving everyone.”

While senior spark-plug Lauren Rose was missing, gone to a college trip in Arizona, her compatriots, center-fielder Hope Lodell and pitcher Katrina McGranahan, came up huge in the spotlight.

The duo combined to rap five hits at the plate, while McGranahan carried a shut-out into the fifth and won her duel with Klahowya’s D1-bound hurler Amber Bumbalough.

Lodell, when she wasn’t slicing hits and running wild on the bags, also anchored a strong Wolf defense, vacuuming up anything that came her way in the outfield.

The tone of the game was set in the first inning, as both teams sent five hitters to the plate, but only one scored.

Klahowya put a pair of runners aboard in the top half, including the first of two intentional walks to Bumbalough, as Wolf coaches never gave the homer-happy Eagle standout a chance to get hot early at the plate.

The Eagles couldn’t do anything with the opportunity, however, as Katrina McGranahan punched out back-to-back hitters, giving her three K’s in the inning, to strand runners at second and third.

The reigning Olympic League MVP (she succeeded two-time winner Bumbalough last season) immediately made her impact felt with the bat, as well.

With Scout Smith perched on third after a mammoth lead-off double to center and a passed ball, Killer Kat whacked an RBI single back up the middle.

While Coupeville couldn’t get any more runs across in the inning, it signaled that the Wolves, who collected 12 hits on the day, were grooving on what Klahowya pitching was offering.

From there the Wolves steadily pulled away, plating two in the second, blowing things open with four in the third, then adding a solitary run in the fourth as they built an 8-0 lead.

The second inning was kicked off by a walk to Veronica Crownover, followed by three solid base-knocks from the next four Wolf hitters.

Lodell sliced a shot to left field, curling it just inside the line, while Emma Mathusek and Smith poked back-to-back RBI singles to put a zing in the step of every Wolf fan.

The third inning was the killer, starting with a stand-up triple to the deepest, darkest regions of right field from clean-up hitter Sarah Wright.

After the Wolf catcher bolted home to score on a passed ball, the Wolves went right back to work with their bats.

Crownover and Lodell singled, Mackenzie Davis hit a hard chopper and used an unexpected burst of speed to force a Klahowya error, then it was “Mathusek Time” again.

The sophomore sensation, coming up mega-big time from the #9 slot, laced a two-run single to right and the Coupeville faithful erupted like Old Faithful going off.

Katrina McGranahan was back at it again in the fourth, walloping a triple of her own, then scooting home on a ground-out off of Wright’s bat.

The Eagles finally broke through in the fifth, plating two runners, but Coupeville’s defense, led by freshman second-baseman Coral Caveness, shut things down quickly.

With Rose out of town, Caveness got her second-straight start and was in full lock-down mode, fielding pop-ups, snagging liners and pulling off the web gem of the day.

That play came in the top of the seventh, after a Crownover RBI single stretched the lead back to 9-2.

KSS used a double and a note-perfect bunt single to put runners at the corners, briefly lighting a flicker of hope in its dugout.

Which Caveness promptly snuffed right out, pulling off one of the sweeter double plays we will see all season.

Snagging a liner on the move, she whirled and cut down the runner who had strayed off of first, driving a nearly-final stake through the heart of the Eagles.

With a seven-run lead and one out away from a league title, Kevin McGranahan went against the odds and gave Bumbalough a shot to swing away in her final at-bat in her final visit to Cow Town.

And while she hammered a two-run, inside-the-park home run to say goodbye, the Wolves ended the game on the next batter, ensuring no one will dwell too long on the tater.

The final ball was a chopper to third, where fab frosh Chelsea Prescott, who likely wasn’t alive in 2002, gathered the ball in and calmly fired it on a line to Crownover, who stamped on first and made a bit of prairie history.

Katrina McGranahan (1B, 1B, 3B) paced the Wolf offense, while Smith (1B, 2B), Crownover (1B, 1B), Lodell (1B, 1B), Mathusek (1b, 1B) and Wright (3B) helped out.

“A huge team win. Everyone has chipped in, up and down the line, in this game and through the season,” Kevin McGranahan said. “This is what we strove for. (Winning a title) feels good; they earned it.

“I couldn’t be more proud of every young lady wearing a Wolf fast-pitch uniform, varsity or JV; it takes everyone to do this.”

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Spikers make history!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on October 20, 2016| Leave a Comment »

First-year CHS volleyball coach Cory Whitmore has guided the Wolf spikers to their first league title since 2004. (John Fisken photo)

   First-year CHS volleyball coach Cory Whitmore has guided the Wolf spikers to their first league title since 2004. (John Fisken photo)

Your 2016 1A Olympic League volleyball champions. (Photo courtesy Konni Smith)

   Your 2016 1A Olympic League volleyball champions. (Photo courtesy Konni Smith)

It took Cory Whitmore 12 matches to do something not accomplished in the previous 11 seasons.

The first-year Coupeville High School volleyball coach led the Wolves to their first league title since 2004, clinching with a straight-sets win Thursday at Port Townsend.

The 25-19, 25-17, 25-23 victory lifts the Wolves to 6-0 in 1A Olympic League play, 9-3 overall.

While it has three regular season matches left, Coupeville is three games up on Chimacum and Klahowya (both 3-3), and owns tiebreakers on both schools, having already beaten them both twice.

Next up for the Wolves?

Making a run at going 9-0 in league play, a feat accomplished the past two seasons by the CHS girls’ basketball team, but never by a league volleyball team.

In 2014 and 2015 Klahowya went 6-0 and won back-to-back titles, before the league schedule was expanded to nine matches this season to sync up with baseball, softball, soccer and basketball.

The Wolves can also continue their run at the school single-season record for wins — 13 in 2004 — and get ready to open postseason play at home.

As the #1 seed from the Olympic League, Coupeville advances to the double-elimination portion of districts, an event they host Nov. 5.

They’ll need to win two matches that day, while losing no more than one, to advance to state.

To see the bracket, pop over to: http://www.olympicleague.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=2069&sport=10

The league title is the fourth in program history, following Northwest League titles in 1997, 2001 and 2004.

Kim Meche coached the first two of those teams, while Toni Crebbin was in command of the record-setting ’04 team, which also won a tri-district title and toppled the #1 ranked team in the state.

Those Wolves split four matches with arch-rival La Conner, the state champ that year, beating the Braves for the league title, but falling to them at the big dance.

Thursday night, CHS didn’t play lights out, but it stayed in control all match and put the hammer down when appropriate.

“It was good to pull out the win tonight on the road playing everyone,” Whitmore said. “The girls worked hard to be in the position to be league champions.

“To accomplish this and clinch first place is a result of that hard work and a goal met.”

The Wolves spread out the stats, with Ashley Menges (11 assists and five service aces), Lauren Rose (eight assists, four aces) and Hope Lodell (five kills, five digs) leading the attack.

Sarah Wright cranked out a season-high four kills, while senior captain Valen Trujillo led the squad with 17 digs as she continued to add to her school career record.

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