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Posts Tagged ‘little league’

Halle Black shows off the first of many trophies. (Photos courtesy Mandi Black)

She is the bright future of Coupeville sports.

Halle Black, the daughter of former Wolf stars Allen and Mandi (Murdy) Black, is deeply connected to the prairie.

She has parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents, even a lil’ brother, who are all either talented athletes or passionate sports supporters — or both.

As spring has morphed into summer, Halle, who has already made a mark for herself as a basketball player, has embraced the softball life her mom once lived.

As Mandi wrote on Facebook:

What a LONG first sb season, 3 teams, 3 sets of coaches, multiple different positions played and a trip to state!

I am so proud of how passionate you are, in anything you try Halle!

You’re so coachable and your competitive side is starting to shine, and this mama cannot wait for all our future sports seasons!

A softball season that began in a Central Whidbey uniform ended with a trip to the big dance for Halle as the lone prairie rep on a North Whidbey squad.

While there she, like her new teammates — who should probably all talk to their parents about moving to Coupeville where they can get proper media coverage — endured oppressive heat and the chance to play big city all-star teams.

They may not have won a state title, but they set the path for future success and did it with class and a never-say-die attitude.

There were countless young girls and boys who ventured onto the diamond to play baseball and softball this spring on Whidbey.

All should be commended for making the commitment, whether they were first-timers or are already grizzled vets while still in grade school.

Today, though, we offer a special shout-out to Halle and make her our poster girl for the movement.

Be proud of what you and your friends accomplished, Miss Black. And come back next season, and the season after that, ready to achieve even more.

While never forgetting that basketball, where your old man made his name as a hoops hotshot with a torrid shooting touch, is still God’s Chosen Sport.

If Coupeville athletics, and Coupeville Sports the blog have a future, and they do, it’s thanks to your generation.

Never stop reaching for greatness and never stop having fun out there.

The bright future.

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Samuel Wolfe

Samuel Wolfe is a winner.

From twirling no-no’s as a little league pitcher to earning awards for his films as an adult, the Northwest native is lighting up the world.

He blazed a trail of success as a young man, setting the bar for younger siblings Hawthorne, Melanie, and Camilla, who have all found their own triumphs in Coupeville.

Jump back 20 years, to mid-July 2004, and Samuel Wolfe was unhittable.

Chucking the ball for the North Whidbey Little League 11-12 All-Stars, he set down all 18 Central Whidbey hitters he faced in a playoff game.

Employing a four-seam fastball and a nasty curve, Wolfe whiffed 13 of those batters, with most of his rivals being unable to even get the bat on the ball.

After a fly ball to start the game, the young hurler simply overpowered his opponent, with Central Whidbey having no answers for the flame thrower.

Wolfe continued to excel in sports growing up, playing baseball and football, before finding a new passion as a filmmaker.

He currently works as part of a three-man Fishboat Media team based out of Port Townsend, which recently won its first Emmy award.

The honor, bestowed by the Northwest Chapter of the National Academy for Television Arts & Sciences, was for a video campaign called “This is Maritime Washington.”

Wolfe and associates Tyler Rowe and Jeremy Johnson documented the experiences of those living and visiting Washington state’s saltwater shores, and the campaign claimed top honors in the PSA – Single Spot or Campaign category.

Navigating the 3,000+ miles of coastline which make up the Maritime Washington National Heritage area, the trio put together a seven-story series.

Numerous interviews were conducted, with Fishboat Media working with the Swinomish Tribe, Washington State Parks, the ferry system, and Haven Boatworks among others.

With one Emmy in hand (and a previous nomination for his commercial campaign work for the city of North Bend), Wolfe is off to new adventures.

Fishboat Media was tabbed to create a five-part short-form docuseries for the Cascade PBS Origins series which will tell the tale of the last reef netters working the Salish Sea.

Wolfe was chosen from a pack of filmmakers, with the announcement coming during the closing ceremony of this year’s Seattle International Film Festival.

The plan is to focus on the Kinley family, who are the last Native permit holders from the Lummi Nation.

Cascade PBS will cover production costs, through a $40,000 grant, while providing technical and editing support, with the plan for the series to release on its platforms in March 2025.

This will be the third go-round for the series, which helps regional filmmakers document communities which they belong to.

Previous seasons have focused on Vietnamese and Afghan refugees and their experiences after resettling in Washington state and growing up Black in Seattle.

 

For more info on Samuel Wolfe and a chance to watch his Emmy-winning series, check out Fishboat Media at:

Home

 

Or listen in on a podcast at:

http://thetrialreporter.com/podcast-meet-samuel-wolfe-origins-season-three-filmmaker.html

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It’s like the Bad News Bears, just without the bad news. (Photo courtesy Barbi Ford)

Santa Claus was a coach.

Coupeville legend Paul Messner, on the far right, is captured in his days as a softball guru in this photo which arrives courtesy his daughters.

Hop back to the days of Lee’s Lions and see how many future responsible adults you can ID.

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Coupeville’s homer-happy baseball sluggers rule the diamond in ’77. (Photos courtesy Sarah Lyngra)

It’s a lil’ slice of the “good ol’ days.”

The photos above and below, which come from a series of pics being digitized by Sarah (Powell) Lyngra, capture Coupeville’s hardball giants of 1977.

They were shot by her parents, David and Beatrice Powell.

And, thanks to former Wolf great David Ford, we can ID 10 of 12 players and half the coaching staff!

While the guy with the beard in photo one is one of our mysteries, the man in the cowboy hat is Bill Losey.

Back row (l to r):

Mystery Boy #1, Craig Anderson, Byron Fellstrom, Charlie Tessaro, Mark Smith, and Greg Fellstrom.

Front row:

Davin Bailey, Mystery Boy #2, John Beasley, Scott Losey, Rusty Bailey, and Caleb Powell.

Like a movie still from the “Bad News Bears.”

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Adyson Morales digs in at the state tourney. (Jackie Saia photos)

They fought to the last swing, and the last click of the camera.

The Whidbey Island All-Star juniors softball squad claimed a district title, then finished fourth at state despite missing key players with injury and illness.

Along the way, team mom Jackie Saia (whose daughter, Teagan Calkins, was on fire at the plate) snapped away, and the pics above and below are courtesy her.

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