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Posts Tagged ‘Orcas Island’

Have bats, will mash

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , , on April 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Ask not for whom the bat tolls. It tolls for thee. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

“Today we put the league on notice! We are keeping the crown!!”

Coupeville High School softball coach Kevin McGranahan was feeling good Saturday, and why not.

Having travelled to Orcas Island to face a decent Vikings squad, the Wolves opened a can of unholy whup ass on their hosts, blowing them out 22-0 in a game mercy-ruled after three innings.

Led by out-of-the-park home runs from Mia Farris and Haylee Armstrong, CHS solidified its hold on first place in the Northwest 2B/1B League, jumping to 7-1 in conference play.

Now 10-5 overall, the Wolves have won seven of their last eight games.

Fueled by tasty noodles, Madison McMillan and Co. are on a winning tear. (Jennifer Marzocca photo)

Saturday, Coupeville dominated in every aspect of the game.

Senior hurler Gwen Gustafson struck out nine, not allowing her defense to get a single out on its own.

The Vikings did scratch out one hit and two walks, but that paled in comparison to Coupeville ringing up 16 base knocks and seven free passes.

Two of the biggest blows came from the sweet-swinging Farris, who clobbered an RBI triple and a grand slam home run — all in the first inning.

CHS rolled out to a 9-0 lead after one frame, tossed three more runs on the board in the second, then emphatically ended things with a 10-run burst in the third.

Armstrong, an 8th grader playing like a seasoned pro, joined Farris in the long ball club, belting a two-run shot that was still climbing as it cleared the fence in left center.

Powered by her mom’s flowers, 8th grader Haylee Armstrong smashed her first high school home run Saturday. (Michelle Armstrong photo)

 

Saturday stats:

Capri Anter — One walk
Haylee Armstrong — One home run
Taylor Brotemarkle — Two singles
Teagan Calkins — One single, one double, one walk
Mia Farris — One double, one triple, one home run
Gwen Gustafson — One single, one walk
Allie Lucero — One single, one double
Maya Lucero — One single, one double
Chloe Marzocca — One walk
Madison McMillan — Two singles, one walk
Melanie Navarro — One single
Sofia Peters — Two walks

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Wolf diamond dogs chomp Vikings

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on April 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Scott Hilborn drops the hammer. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

All in all, a pretty dang good week.

Sparked by another stellar pitching performance from senior Scott Hilborn, the Coupeville High School varsity baseball squad toppled host Orcas Island Saturday, heading back to the ferry with a 4-2 win.

That gives the Wolves three Northwest 2B/1B League wins over the last five days and keeps them a half-game out of first place.

CHS sits at 9-1 in conference action, with four NWL games left to play, while Mount Vernon Christian is 10-1 with three left on the schedule.

The Wolves, now 11-4 overall and winner of seven of their last eight games, face the league’s bottom three teams next week.

They travel to Concrete (0-9) Tuesday, trek to Darrington (4-6) Thursday, then host La Conner (1-9) Saturday on Senior Night.

After that comes a non-conference rumble with Sultan and the regular-season finale against league rival Friday Harbor, before Coupeville heads to the district playoffs as a #1 seed.

Facing a solid Orcas Island team Saturday, Hilborn was in control from start to finish, scattering three hits while whiffing nine Vikings.

Coupeville jumped in front 2-0 in the top of the second inning, putting together three straight hits from Jack Porter, Peyton Caveness, and Cole White.

Caveness slammed a double, while the second Wolf run came zipping home on a fielder’s choice groundout off the bat of Johnny Porter.

For quite a bit, that two-run lead was all Hilborn needed, as he retired the first seven hitters he faced, and got out of a teeny-tiny jam in the fourth thanks to a double play started by Jonathan Valenzuela.

Even on the coldest of days, Jonathan Valenzuela’s defense is red-hot. (Morgan White photo)

But Coupeville’s own bats went cold for a couple of innings, and Orcas finally cracked the code in the bottom of the fifth.

Two Viking hitters embraced the pain and let themselves be drilled by wayward pitches to get things started, with Calvin Saxe whacking a two-run single to left to knot things up at 2-2.

The Wolves have been resilient all season, however, and they quickly responded, pushing two runners of their own across in the top of the sixth to retake the lead.

Chase Anderson and Valenzuela connected on back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, while Jack Porter came up with a mammoth two-out hit.

Orcas committed an error on Porter’s RBI single, allowing a second Wolf to race home, and the deed was done.

Hilborn retired six of the final seven hitters, setting the Vikings down 1-2-3 in the seventh to send local fans back to their cars with tear-stained faces.

Or at least I’d like to think so.

 

Saturday stats:

Chase Anderson — One single
Peyton Caveness — One double
Jack Porter — Two singles
Landon Roberts — One single
Jonathan Valenzuela — One single, one walk
Cole White — One single

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JV plays tough to the (premature) end

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on April 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

A day after his birthday, Landon Roberts whiffed three batters in an inning of work on the mound. (Morgan White photo)

The ferry waits for no man.

Even if they’re in the middle of playing a baseball game.

That’s a cold, hard fact for people who live on islands, so Saturday’s JV baseball game between visiting Coupeville High School and host Orcas came to an early end after three innings.

That allowed the Vikings to hold on for a 5-2 win against a young Wolf squad just finding its rhythm.

“All in all, we are happy to get a few innings in before we had to abruptly call the game,” said CHS coach Jon Roberts.

“I truly wish we could have played at least five innings. I think we could have clawed our way back into it.

“However, we will never know if that would be true.”

The Wolves, now 0-4-1 on the season, started strongly, scoring two runs in the top of the first.

All three of Coupeville’s hits came in that inning, with Marcelo Gebhard and Jack Farrell ripping singles and Aidyn McDermott crunching a double.

Both runs came in on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Seth Woollet, while the inning ended when Orcas gunned down a runner headed home.

“An exciting start!” Jon Roberts said. “The opposition pitcher had just played the field on varsity. We were making contact and scoring runs.”

Unfortunately for Coupeville, its first-inning hits would be its only base knocks in the game, though the Wolves did draw three walks across the final two innings.

Orcas only recorded one hit on the afternoon but took advantage of a series of free passes to push four runs across in the first, and another one in the second.

CHS mixed its pitchers, with Yohannan Sandles getting the start, before Myca Clarkson and Landon Roberts followed him to the mound.

The final two hurlers both whiffed three Vikings apiece.

Coupeville’s JV returns to action next Thursday, April 27, when it travels to Darrington.

 

Saturday stats:

David Dominici — One walk
Jack Farrell — One single
Marcelo Gebhard — One single
Matthew Gilbert — One walk
Aidyn McDermott — One double
Skylar Sand — One walk
Yohannon Sandles — One walk

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Big bucks, big bats

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

Melanie Navarro and Co. are clicking on offense. (Jackie Saia photo)

The bats are barkin’.

The defense and pitching were a little on the suspect side Saturday, but it mattered not, as the Coupeville High School varsity softball squad rained down base knocks en route to demolishing visiting Orcas Island.

Rapping out 17 hits — including home runs from Mia Farris and Teagan Calkins — the Wolves built an 11-1 lead, gave back nine runs, then finished off a 23-10 rout.

Scoring in all four innings in which it hit, CHS bounces back from its first conference loss since rejoining the Northwest 2B/1B League in 2020 and gets to 2-1 in NWL play, 4-3 overall.

Plus, with Mother Nature holding off on the expected rain, the Wolves were able to raise money for cancer awareness.

Raising money for the fight against cancer. (Susan Farris photo)

Coupeville brought in $488 from in-person donations for the WhidbeyHealth Foundation, with more money on its way through online contributions.

The Wolf sluggers wore different colored socks, to represent the many forms of cancer, and raffled off multiple gift baskets during the event.

The Wolves make for a colorful bunch. (Photo courtesy Kevin McGranahan)

On the field, CHS came out swinging hot, pushing across eight runs in the bottom of the first.

Up 8-1 after one, and 11-1 through two, the Wolves then hit a road bump in the top of the third.

Orcas only picked up two hits in the frame, but seven walks and a Coupeville error allowed the Vikings to go on a nine-run tear and suddenly things were close at 11-10.

That lasted for about half a second, however, as the Wolves responded by scoring six runs in their half of the third and another six in the fourth.

Wolf relief pitcher Maya Lucero came on to shut the Vikings down, giving up just a lone single through the final two innings, and it was time to put a W in the book and gather for the post-game sing-along.

Coupeville’s offense came from all directions, with 10 Wolves getting at least one hit, with three doubles, two triples, and those two round trippers the highlight.

Maya Lucero picked up a team-high five RBI, while Gwen Gustafson (4) and Jada Heaton (3) also showed a knack for plating their teammates.

For Wolf coach Kevin McGranahan, it wasn’t a flawless performance, but it did net the end result he wanted to see.

“Well, a win is a win,” he said. “We played the same inconsistent defense; without looking too close at the book I would guess maybe two of their 10 runs were earned.

“The only thing keeping us afloat right now is our offense, which is very aggressive and swinging big bats.”

The Wolves get three practices to get back into sync before welcoming Cedar Park Christian-Bothell to Whidbey Thursday, Apr. 6.

That non-conference clash, set to start at 4 PM, is a reschedule of a game postponed Friday by a poor weather forecast.

 

Saturday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — One single, one triple, two walks
Teagan Calkins — One home run, two walks
Mia Farris — One single, one home run
Gwen Gustafson — One double
Jada Heaton — Three singles
Allie Lucero — One single, two walks
Maya Lucero — One single, two doubles, one walk
Madison McMillan — Two singles, two walks
Melanie Navarro — One triple
Sofia Peters — One single, two walks

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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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