Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Meridian’

Diamond men duel with big city boys

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on March 21, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Riley Lawless rumbles down to first. (Julie Wheat photos)

The final score doesn’t tell all.

While Meridian tacked on some runs late to make its 16-7 win Saturday over visiting Coupeville seem more lopsided, the diamond clash was mostly a back-and-forth affair.

And while the non-conference loss drops the Wolf baseball squad to 1-1 on the season, delivering a strong effort against a traditional power, especially one repping a larger student body, is a true positive for Steve Hilborn’s team.

Coupeville, which kicks off Northwest 2B/1B League play next week with a home-and-away series against Friday Harbor, got on the board first Saturday.

The Wolves picked up four of their 10 walks in the top of the first, with Carson Grove gliding home to score on a passed ball.

While Meridian responded with five runs of its own in the bottom half of the frame, CHS picked up two tallies in the second to cut things back to 5-3.

Free passes were again key to Coupeville’s offensive efforts, with Chris Zenz, Chase Anderson, and Grove showing off eagle eyes at the plate.

Camden Glover capped things with an RBI single, one of three base-knocks the senior had on the day.

Off to a sizzlin’ start, he’s racked up seven hits across just the first two games.

From there, both teams picked up a run, before Meridian pushed five runs across in both the fourth and fifth innings to widen the gap.

Even as the game threatened to slip away, the Wolves continued to scrap for runs, however, scoring three in the top of the fifth.

Leo Rodriguez smacked two hits Saturday in Bellingham.

The big blow was a two-run double to left field off the bat of Leo Rodriguez, as he put together one of his best performances in a Wolf uniform.

On the mound, Coupeville split duties between hurlers Coop Cooper, Glover, Grove, and Anderson, with the latter making his first appearance on the baseball diamond since his sophomore season.

Now a senior, Anderson transitioned to track and field as a junior, earning two medals at the state meet, and he competed in this year’s opening track meet Wednesday in La Conner.

Saturday, he picked up two strikeouts in an inning of work, while Cooper (5), Glover (1), and Grove (2) made it 10 K’s for the team.

 

Saturday stats:

Chase Anderson — One walk
Camden Glover — Three singles, one walk
Carson Grove — Two walks
Riley Lawless — Two walks
Leo Rodriguez — One single, one double, one walk
Killian Shaw — One single
Trent Thule — Two walks
Chris Zenz — One walk

Read Full Post »

Roll on, mighty mashers!

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on March 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Ava Lucero celebrated her birthday Saturday and helped lead her team to another big win. (Photo courtesy Jess Lucero)

They’re punching above their weight class and landing knockout blows.

Capping a four-game run against bigger schools, the Coupeville High School softball squad dismantled host Meridian 11-0 Saturday afternoon.

The non-conference road win, coming against a well-respected 1A rival, lifts the 2B Wolves to 3-1 heading into the start of conference play.

Coupeville, which hosts Friday Harbor Tuesday in a Northwest 2B/1B League tussle, has beaten a pair of 1A schools and a 2A foe, while losing by just a run to a 3A opponent.

And Saturday’s victory was a case of complete domination.

Freshman hurler Adeline Maynes was on point, tossing a five-inning no-hitter while ringing up 10 strikeouts.

Meridian got two runners aboard thanks to Wolf errors, but other than that, the Trojans had little positive to show for their day.

The game was close for a bit, as Coupeville pushed two runners across in the second but still found itself clinging to a 2-0 lead heading into the fourth.

Those first tallies were created by Jada Heaton and Capri Anter picking up RBIs, but otherwise, the Trojans were dodging bullets.

“Bit of a slower start than I would have liked,” said CHS coach Aaron Lucero, “But we kept working away offensively and then really opened up in the top of the fifth.”

Coupeville plated three runners in the fourth to push the margin out to 5-0, before dropping the hammer with a six-run rally in the fifth frame.

Walks to Teagan Calkins and Madison McMillan got the game-busting surge going, with Sydney Van Dyke driving in a run on a sacrifice.

After that, the hits came fast and furious, with Mia Farris, Heaton, Haylee Armstrong, and Taylor Brotemarkle all bashing RBI singles.

International superstar Taylor Brotemarkle is mobbed by her fans. (Photo courtesy Kimberly Brotemarkle)

“Our players did a good job making plate adjustments to Meridian’s pitcher as the game went on,” Lucero said.

“Offensively we made the plays we needed to. As always, we put a lot of pressure on their defense offensively when on the bases.”

All nine Wolf hitters reached base in the win, with seven picking up hits, the kind of balance any coach loves to see.

“The team is really working towards execution and always ‘doing the little things’,” Lucero said.

“Capri hit the ball hard at the plate, Jada had a solid day, Mia had an absolutely perfect bunt on a set bunt and run play, and several others hit the ball hard that just found leather.

“Another good team win.”

 

Saturday stats:

Capri Anter — One double
Haylee Armstrong — One single
Taylor Brotemarkle — One single, one double
Teagan Calkins — One single, one walk
Mia Farris — One single, two walks
Jada Heaton — Two singles
Ava Lucero — One walk
Madison McMillan — One walk
Sydney Van Dyke — Two singles

Read Full Post »

Diamond men launch new campaign

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on March 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Coop Cooper is a veteran leader on a young Wolf hardball squad. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There’s bound to be some bumps in the road.

After back-to-back trips to the 2B state playoffs, the Coupeville High School baseball squad finds itself in a rebuilding year.

The Wolves have just 11 players total, with four freshmen and two 8th graders, while only three guys in the lineup were letter winners a season ago.

So, Tuesday’s season opener, an 18-0 loss to visiting Meridian, a tough 1A foe with a history of excellence, is not completely unsurprising.

The trick for Steve Hilborn’s very raw Wolf team will be to let things go, learn from the loss, and bounce back quickly with a road trip to Port Townsend to play East Jefferson coming up Thursday afternoon.

The tilt with Meridian was supposed to be game #2 on the season, but a weekend road trip to Blaine was washed away by Mother Nature.

The weather on the prairie was fairly tranquil Tuesday, but the visiting Trojans were a rough and tumble bunch.

Meridian outhit Coupeville 10-1 and took advantage of eight Wolf errors to jump out to a big lead and never look back.

Up 6-0 after the top of the first inning, the Trojans methodically tacked on runs in each frame, forcing the mercy rule to be enacted after the bottom of the fifth.

Coupeville’s best offensive output came in the bottom of the first, but the hometown hardball heroes couldn’t keep a brief rally going.

Senior Landon Roberts lashed a leadoff single, but it would be the only base knock for the Wolves on this day.

Walks to Carson Grove (who was hit by a pitch) and Jayden Little filled the bags, but Meridian escaped without surrendering a run.

Coupeville’s offense sputtered through the next three innings, with the Wolves going 1-2-3 in each frame.

Down to their final at-bats, the Wolves put two runners aboard in the bottom of the fifth, with Phin Rhodes reaching on an error and Roberts eking out a walk, but that was where things ended for CHS.

One definite positive for Coupeville came via the strikeout, as four Wolf hurlers combined to record 13 K’s.

Roberts led the way with six, while Grove whiffed three and Camden Glover and Coop Cooper each recorded two.

Meridian’s other two outs came on fly balls to the outfield, as the Trojans didn’t record a single out on a groundball.

Riley Lawless, Trent Thule, Chris Zenz, Leo Rodriguez, and Jesus Madrigal rounded out the Wolf roster, joining Rhodes in making their CHS baseball debuts.

Read Full Post »

Long day, positive play

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on October 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Ari Cunningham flies into action. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Saturdays are for team building.

Giving up half their weekend break, Coupeville High School JV volleyball players and coaches spent Saturday at a tournament in Bellingham, and the benefits were many.

“It was actually a pretty good day!” said CHS coach Ashley Menges.

“It was a long one, early morning, and a lot of playing time for everyone.

“We had a lot of really good conversations throughout the day and learned a lot of lessons.”

Coupeville split its players into two squads, with Menges and fellow coach Scout Smith each taking one.

Both units played strongly, with the first group claiming second place in its bracket.

“Overall, really good day all things considered, and the girls played REALLY well,” Menges said.

“They were super focused throughout the day, implementing change immediately. I’m super happy with how the day went!”

Read Full Post »

Trojans walk past Wolves

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on March 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville sluggers Peyton Caveness (left) and Landon Roberts endured a less-than-balmy “spring” day on the prairie Monday, kicking off a new season of Wolf baseball. (Sherry Bonacci photo)

March 11 is too dang early to be playing baseball on the prairie.

When you have off and on rain spatters, occasionally fiendish wind gusts, and an all-around soul-draining coldness that lingers for two-hours-plus, and you tell yourself, “Well … I’ve certainly seen worse,” I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

But this is Cow Town, so you suck it up, buttercup, and move on, thankful at least that you finally got some gloves, which help a bit.

I’ve covered high school baseball games in Coupeville since the ’90s, so Monday’s dank, dark season opener against Meridian was nothing out of the ordinary.

Which has never stopped me from complaining.

But anyways, to the diamond action itself, instead of this detour into my one-man play “It’s Too Dang Cold Out Here!!”

What we, the huddled masses saw, was a 20-6 non-conference win for the visiting Trojans, as they took full advantage of a lot of free passes.

It was the type of game where Coupeville slipped behind 8-0, put together one stellar inning to cut the margin down to 8-4, then gave up 12 more runs as pitch after pitch caught a ride on a wayward breeze and slipped just outside the strike zone.

Like the weather itself, there were a few bright rays of sunshine for the Wolves, but too many dark clouds to make the day a complete winner.

The good news?

Clean up some small stuff, like walks, passed balls, and wild pitches, and Coupeville has the potential to go off on another run like they did a season ago when their journey went all the way to the state tourney.

At which point we had one 60-degree day, and we’ve never stopped talking about it.

Monday’s melee on the prairie began at a hair past 4:00 PM, though the angry skies made things look like it was already time for the cows to go back in the barn.

Lanky lefty Landon Roberts got the start on the mound for the Wolves, and opened and closed the top of the first by whiffing Trojan hitters.

In between, however, Meridian scraped out a run thanks to walks and a sac fly, grabbing a lead it would never relinquish.

Roberts blanked the Trojans in the second, but a couple of soft infield choppers and more free passes allowed the visitors to stretch things out to 4-0 through three frames.

Coupeville struggled at the plate in the early going, getting just a Camden Glover walk and a Peyton Caveness single through the first four innings.

Meridian tacked on two runs in the top of the fourth and two more in the fifth, again without making much contact, and the Wolves found themselves in an 8-0 hole.

That was when CHS Athletic Director (and longtime former Wolf baseball guru) Willie Smith wandered in for a peek at the new-school diamond men.

Which seemed to light a fire under his school’s sluggers, as they erupted in the bottom half of the fifth inning.

Walks to Johnny Porter and Aiden O’Neill set the table, and Coupeville got its first run of the season thanks to Porter scooting home on a Meridian error.

Caveness and Yohannon Sandles promptly ripped back-to-back base-knocks, with the former sliding in with an RBI triple and the latter poking an RBI single into a gap.

Three more walks — eked out by Jack Porter, Glover, and Coop Cooper — forced in another run, and at 8-4 the Wolves were in full-on rally mode.

Unfortunately, that was where the good times came to a sudden halt, with the Trojans making a nice defensive play to rob Coupeville on a liner which looked like it was heading to pay dirt.

The score got skewed in the sixth, as Meridian racked up walk after walk to turn an 8-4 lead into a 20-4 margin, but the Wolves continued to fight.

Down to its final at-bats, Coupeville pushed two more runs across in the sixth.

Roberts and O’Neill whacked singles, while Sandles clubbed an RBI double, earning a huge round of applause from his fervent fan club in the stands.

The Wolves were only outhit 7-6 on the day, but gave up 24 walks, with Coupeville pitchers hitting Trojan batters eight times.

The “best” wayward pitch smacked off a Meridian thigh, making a sound sort of like a cow being hit by a stun gun.

That baby echoed, is what I’m saying.

Coupeville used five pitchers in the game, with Roberts, Caveness, O’Neill, 8th grader Carson Grove, and Cole White combining for seven strikeouts.

Caveness and Sandles led the Wolf hit parade with two apiece, while Roberts and O’Neill collected the other base-knocks.

Glover walked three times, with Cooper, O’Neill and both Porter boys also nabbing a free pass.

After a few days off, Coupeville gets back at it with a road trip to South Whidbey Friday, before hosting North Mason Saturday.

The Wolves are slated to play six of nine games in March at home.

Toss in the trip to Langley and they don’t leave The Rock until Mar. 26, when they venture off to Orcas Island.

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »