Chris Tumblin (top left, in shades) is joined by (clockwise) Dolores and Dave Engle and Cole and Morgan Payne.
Let the fireworks explode.
We’re kicking off 2017 with a robust group of inductees as we welcome the 80th class into the Coupeville Sports Hall of Fame.
Two brothers who were quiet warriors through good times and bad, the unofficial mom and dad of Wolf Nation and the only local coach to have won a state title all come together for this landmark New Years Day induction.
So, with that, we welcome Dolores and Dave Engle, Morgan and Cole Payne and Chris “Rumblin” Tumblin to our little digital wonderland.
After this you’ll find the five-pack up at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.
We’re kicking things off with the Engles, who are among the most faithful, and good-natured, Wolf fans in all the land.
If there’s a fundraiser, the duo are there to support it.
If there’s a game, they will be in the stands, especially if one of their many children or grandchildren are involved.
And yet, it’s pretty safe to say that Dolores and Dave view everyone in town as their unofficial family, and treat everyone with a rare kindness, whether related by blood or not.
Over the course of Coupeville Sports 52-month run, they have been as supportive of my work as anyone, and their quiet words of praise, always delivered with a smile, have meant a great deal to me.
Especially since it has come from two people who I have a great deal of respect for myself.
The idea of inducting Dave Engle sprang from former CHS football coach Tony Maggio, but I knew Dave needed to go in alongside his wife.
It is truly a thrill to honor Mr. and Mrs. Engle, for all that they have done for our school and town and for simply putting a smile on all of our faces every day.
Joining them in the Hall are the Payne brothers, who, as much as any athletes I have covered, exemplify putting hard work, dedication and love of team ahead of personal accomplishment.
Morgan was a standout basketball and baseball player, a blue collar guy on the hard-court and a hit machine with a slick glove on the diamond.
He was a key member of the 2010 Central Whidbey Little League junior baseball squad that won a state title (under the guidance of Tumblin) and went on to craft a stellar high school career.
The elder Payne brother didn’t waste much time talking when it was time to play, but his actions spoke loud enough to be heard all across the prairie.
Of all his many accomplishments, my favorite will always be the day he dashed home from second, sliding through a wall of half-frozen mud to lift CHS to a wild, come-from-behind extra innings win over Nooksack Valley.
That afternoon was the most brutal affair I have endured on the prairie (and yes, I was stupidly wearing shorts…), full of howling wind, cold, slicing rain and an improbable 9-8 Wolf win.
As Morgan slid past the tag and whacked his hand on the plate, it signaled more than a victory.
It meant the seven fans still in attendance after four ungodly hours of frozen Hell were free, free at last, thank God almighty. Morgan Payne — my hero, always.
His younger brother was more talkative (at least in public), a slick-talkin’, fast-walkin’, big-game-winnin’ supernova who overcame 22,089 injuries to shine as a football, tennis and baseball star.
Cole was a missile on the gridiron, launching himself airborne in a mad quest to separate ball carrier from ball, and it was that wild man attitude that may have cost him a chunk of his prep career.
He was a superb hoops player who never got to play for CHS, as frequent football injuries conspired to prevent him from pulling on a basketball jersey.
Payne made up for it by bringing his A-game to the diamond, where he capped his career by earning 1A Olympic League MVP honors last spring.
It was a fitting tribute to the slugging catcher who led Coupeville to its first baseball league crown since 1990.
Our final inductee, Tumblin, is already in the Hall as a contributor, for a superb string of quotes. Today, though, he gets the big call-up, honored for his work as a baseball coach.
Many know him for his years as Willie Smith’s right hand man in the dugout at CHS, but it’s hard to top being a state champ.
Pulling together a rag-tag bunch of youngsters (OK, they were actually pretty talented and formed the core of Coupeville baseball for years to come), Tumblin shocked the little league world in 2010.
While many of Central Whidbey’s foes drew from much larger regions, allowing them to have true all-star teams, the prairie diamond men never flinched, pulling off one come-from-behind win after another.
Through it all, the man who kept the future Wolves on point was the laid-back EMT with the sly wit, a man who knew when to praise and when to prod his young charges.
Whether Central Whidbey was stumblin’ or rumblin’ that year, they couldn’t have had a better coach than Tumblin.
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