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Posts Tagged ‘Port Townsend’

It’s the thrill of victory!!

Posted in 1A Olympic League, tagged , , , , , on April 20, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   CHS girls tennis, sparked by players like McKenzie Bailey, has been dominant over the past three seasons. (John Fisken photo)

It’s not always about wins and losses, except when it is.

There are many ways to look at the success or failure of a high school sports program — titles, players who move on to compete in college, improvement shown by the current players, size of the fan base and on and on.

But ultimately they play games to decide a winner.

And while we can argue all day long in favor of other things, that’s what sits there in black and white forever.

I acknowledge there are a lot of hidden factors in win/loss records.

Who did you play, for one?

In scheduling, did you punch upwards and maybe absorb losses against bigger schools, AKA “moral victories”, or punch downwards against smaller schools and fluff up the ol’ record a bit?

Did you have one great year and that was enough to balance out some weaker campaigns, or were you consistent, but maybe never reached the mountain top?

A lot of ifs, ands and buts, and to go through all of them would require much more patience and research on my part (and a lot more rambling for you to read).

For the moment, here’s what we’re going with.

I went back through the entire run of the 1A Olympic League, which began with the 2014-2015 school year and is currently heading towards the finish line on Year 3.

I went with each team’s complete record, league and non-league, through games played Apr. 19, 2017.

Spring is obviously not done and winning percentages will change, but, in three of four sports (baseball, girls tennis and boys soccer), the all-time front runner can’t be caught this year.

Softball, which is the closest sport in the Olympic League by far, could change. If so, we’ll talk about that another day.

I went with 10 of the 11 sports Coupeville plays (track win/loss records from dual meets are arbitrary and worthless), so no swimming or wrestling or gymnastics.

And what did I find?

Klahwoya girls soccer, which won a state title in 2015 behind the 1-2 punch of Izzy Severns and McKenzie Cook, has been the most successful program in any sport.

Hardly surprising.

But, as good as the Eagle booters have been, they do not boast the biggest advantage over their league rivals.

When you compare records, both Coupeville girls tennis and girls basketball have a far bigger edge over the second-best school in the league in their sport when you compare winning percentages.

Another interesting tidbit?

Klahowya, which has the best winning percentage as a school, owns the best record in four sports (girls and boys soccer,  volleyball and baseball).

That allows the Eagles to edge out Coupeville (girls basketball, girls and boys tennis), Port Townsend (football, boys basketball) and Chimacum (softball).

But, Klahowya also has the worst record in both girls and boys basketball.

Port Townsend (3) and Chimacum (5) split the other cellar dwellers, while Coupeville is the lone school NOT to have any of its programs mired in last-place.

And one final bit of quirkiness.

In boys basketball, Coupeville and Chimacum have virtually the exact same record over the past three seasons. Same losses and the Cowboys have just one more win.

And yet Chimacum won back-to-back league titles before falling to Port Townsend this winter, piling up league wins while the Wolves were far better against non-conference foes.

You just shrug your shoulders and move on, I guess.

Records from Sept. 2014 to Apr. 19, 2017:

Volleyball:

School W/L Win Pct.
Klahowya 32-19 .627
Chimacum 21-27 .438
COUPEVILLE 18-27 .400
Port Townsend 12-30 .286

Football:

School W/L Win Pct.
Port Townsend 24-7 .774
Klahowya 18-10 .627
COUPEVILLE 9-21 .300
Chimacum 2-27 .069

Girls Soccer:

School W/L Win Pct.
Klahowya 46-10-3 .805
COUPEVILLE 20-21-5 .489
Port Townsend 8-34-3 .211
Chimacum 8-32-1 .207

Boys Tennis:

School W/L Win Pct.
COUPEVILLE 14-16 .467
Klahowya 16-22 .421
Chimacum 2-30 .063

Girls Basketball:

School W/L Win Pct.
COUPEVILLE 46-19 .708
Port Townsend 19-39 .328
Chimacum 20-42 .323
Klahowya 12-46 .207

Boys Basketball:

School W/L Win Pct.
Port Townsend 27-34 .443
Chimacum 20-41 .328
COUPEVILLE 19-41 .317
Klahowya 12-47 .203

Softball:

School W/L Win Pct.
Chimacum 31-19 .620
Klahowya 29-19 .604
COUPEVILLE 24-24 .500
Port Townsend 0-37 .000

Girls Tennis:

School W/L Win Pct.
COUPEVILLE 23-9 .719
Klahowya 12-24 .333
Chimacum 7-22 .241

Baseball:

School W/L Win Pct.
Klahowya 40-10 .800
COUPEVILLE 25-28 .472
Chimacum 14-30 .318
Port Townsend 1-38 .026

Boys Soccer:

School W/L Win Pct.
Klahowya 40-9-4 .792
Port Townsend 19-20-3 .488
COUPEVILLE 11-27-2 .300
Chimacum 4-32 .111

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Kill ’em, but with compassion!!

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on March 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Mikayla Elfrank is a woman for all positions. Coupeville’s starting shortstop, she can also catch, and, as of Friday, pitch. (John Fisken photos)

   Sarah Wright (left) had three hits, while Nicole Lester thumped a resounding double in a 22-0 win.

Friday was tricky for Kevin McGranahan.

The Coupeville High School softball coach approaches every game, especially league clashes, aiming for a win.

But he also realizes the situation Port Townsend is in, and wanted to be compassionate in how his high-flying team delivered a beat-down while on the road.

He headed home with mixed feelings after watching his undefeated Wolves romp to a 22-0 win, which moved them into a first-place tie with two-time defending Olympic League champ Chimacum.

“I am not proud of the score; I am super proud of all the girls,” McGranahan said. “But I feel like I ran up the score.”

The win lifts Coupeville to 2-0 in league play, 4-0 overall heading into a non-conference home doubleheader with Blaine Monday.

The 2A Borderites will carry a 1-5 record down from the Canadian border.

CHS has four non-conference games before they welcome Chimacum (2-0, 3-1) to town for a first-place showdown.

The Cowboys, who last played Mar. 24, will sit a staggering 17 days before playing Port Townsend and Coupeville on back-to-back days April 11-12.

When Coupeville thumped Port Townsend Friday, they handed the RedHawks their 40th straight loss.

In three games this season, PT has been outscored 58-0 and the road to rebuilding the program is a long one.

Faced with that, McGranahan went all the way down his bench, gave substantial playing time to his freshmen and had two players — Scout Smith and Mikayla Elfrank — pitch for the first time in a varsity game.

At no time was a normal varsity lineup all on the field at the same time and the Wolves downplayed their normal aggressive running style, but the bats still barked, no matter who was swinging.

“We had hot bats again and started early and often,” McGranahan said. “Their pitchers struggled and our hitters were on it when they threw strikes.”

The biggest blow wasn’t intended to happen, but before the coach could call for a bunt from his slugging daughter, Katrina McGranahan “got a rare strike and hammered it.”

The junior basher deposited the ball over the center field fence for a grand slam, marking the second straight game a Wolf has gone yard.

Sarah Wright laced a three-run double to kick off the game, as Coupeville scored in every inning.

After putting up four in the first and three in the second, the Wolves dropped seven more in the third, before coasting home with four-run bursts in the final two innings.

The game was called after five innings due to the mercy rule.

Nine different Wolves rapped out a hit, led by Wright (1B, 2B, 2B) and Katrina McGranahan (1B, 1B, HR) with three apiece.

Lauren Rose and Jae Levine added two hits each, Kyla Briscoe thumped a triple and Nicole Lester whacked a double.

Tamika Nastali, Melia Welling, Emma Mathusek, Mackenzie Davis, Veronica Crownover, Tiffany Briscoe, Hope Lodell and Robin Cedillo all shared time on the field, as well, as CHS went 16 players deep.

“Total team effort and the young girls really shined today,” Kevin McGranahan said.

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Hot bats, cool arm!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on March 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Dane Lucero went the distance Friday, tossing a three-hit gem in a 9-1 win at Port Townsend. (John Fisken photo)

Maybe Dane Lucero is the new CJ Smith.

Like the former Wolf ace, Lucero, a Coupeville High School sophomore, adopts an easy-going style on the mound, disguising his emotions beneath a placid exterior.

Add in the fact he’s been virtually untouchable when taking the ball this season, and the comparisons grow.

Friday, Lucero was flawless for much of the game, with especially effective moments at the beginning and end, pitching the Wolves to a 9-1 win at Port Townsend.

The conference victory, coming in Chris Smith’s debut as varsity head coach, lifts Coupeville to 1-1 in Olympic League play, 5-3 overall.

CHS sits in a tie with Chimacum (1-1), a game off of Klahowya (2-0), with seven league clashes left on the schedule.

Port Townsend (0-2) is currently mired in the cellar.

Smith, who moved up from his position as JV coach after Marc Aparicio resigned Thursday due to work conflicts, got stellar stuff from his hurler.

Lucero retired the first nine RedHawk hitters, faced the minimum batters through four innings, and closed the game by striking out the side in the seventh.

He scattered three hits and two walks, was never in trouble, and whiffed six batters total.

“We had solid pitching from Dane,” Smith said. “We played solid, error-free, defense behind him.

“Defensively, Matt Hilborn (SS) and Joey Lippo (2B) were sharp making a number of plays behind Dane. Good, clean baseball game.”

Coupeville gave Lucero plenty to work with, with six players combining to rap out nine hits as the Wolves scored in five of seven innings.

The Wolves plated two in the first, three in the second and another in the third as they built a 6-0 lead.

Another run in the top of the sixth stretched the margin to 7-0, and, after Port Townsend scraped out its only run in the bottom of the inning, CHS added two more in the seventh.

In a game where eight of Coupeville’s nine hits were singles, the biggest blow was an RBI triple off the bat of senior Taylor Consford.

Matt Hilborn, Julian Welling and Consford had two hits apiece, Jake Hoagland, Lucero and Jake Pease also punched singles and Lippo pilfered home off of a double steal.

The Wolves play five of their next six against non-conference foes (facing Chimacum at home April 12), then make their playoff run with six straight league games to close the regular season.

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Not their day!!

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , on March 31, 2017| Leave a Comment »

  Wolf captain Uriel Liquidano sacrifices his head for the team. (John Fisken photo)

There was one truly electrifying play in Friday afternoon’s Coupeville vs. Port Townsend soccer showdown.

Unfortunately, it was pulled off by the visiting RedHawks, and not the Wolves.

Just about six minutes into the Olympic League clash, the guys in red took control of the ball right in front of their own net.

Then, bing-bang-boom, they pulled off a rare coast-to-coast run, using a string of slick passes to pierce the Wolf defense on a run straight up the gut, finishing their jaunt with the ball landing with a plop in the right corner of the net.

In a sport where the ball usually shoots off in a new direction every 0.2 seconds, as it skips off of knees, elbows or groins, pulling off the equivalent of a straight-ahead basketball fast break is fairly rare.

But, like I said, wrong team, wrong result, and it set up a 3-0 win for Port Townsend, which left the home fans a little crestfallen.

It was the second straight game Coupeville has failed to score, and the loss drops the Wolves to 1-2 in league play, 2-4-1 overall.

They sit in third place, trailing Klahowya (3-0) and Port Townsend (2-1), but still a game up on Chimacum (0-3).

CHS plays six of its final eight regular season games against league foes, but first gets a non-conference game Monday at Vashon Island.

After its Sports Center goal, Port Townsend added two far more ordinary scores to pad its lead.

The RedHawks hit a shot from the right side with 15 minutes left before the break, then got lucky early in the second half.

Coupeville was called for an inadvertent handball in the box, giving Port Townsend a gift-wrapped penalty kick which it converted.

The Wolves struggled to get their offense going, though did have a couple of near-misses from Zack Nall and William Nelson.

After watching his team play lethargically at times (having a half day at school leading into Spring Break seemed to sap a lot of energy early on), CHS coach Kyle Nelson was able to find a bright spot.

It came from the continued emergence of his defenders, many of whom are young, fairly inexperienced or both.

“We’re continuing to build a solid back four and they’re coming together,” Kyle Nelson said. “We saw some really good plays from them, especially in the second half.

“They’re gaining experience and confidence, and we’re happy to see that.”

 

To see more photos from this game (purchases fund college scholarships for CHS student/athletes), pop over to:

http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/2017-Coupeville-Boys-Soccer/20170331-vs-Pt-Townsend/

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Let the thumping commence!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , , on March 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Mollie Bailey (John Fisken photo)

   Mollie Bailey pumped in six points Monday as the Wolf 8th graders rolled to a huge win. (John Fisken photo)

Somebody send the fire department to Port Townsend, cause the joint just got torched.

Well, on the basketball court, at least, where the Coupeville Middle School girls basketball squads went nuclear on Blue Heron.

Rattling home buckets from every angle, while getting 14 girls in the scoring column, the Wolves reached the halfway point of the season Monday with a pair of feel-good routs.

The 7th grade squad clamped down on defense en route to a 45-9 romp, while the CMS 8th graders singed the nets to a 62-14 tune.

The victories lifted the 7th graders to 3-2 on the season, while the 8th graders sit at 1-4.

Both teams return to action next Monday, Mar. 13, when they host Chimacum.

7th grade:

Defense was the name of the game, as Coupeville refused to let its hosts get into double digits.

Up 12-2 after one quarter, the Wolves stretched things out to 26-4 at the half and 39-8 after three.

Audrianna Shaw and Ja’Kenya Hoskins both outscored Blue Heron by themselves, tallying 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Kylie Van Velkinburgh scorched the nets for eight, while Samantha Streitler (4), Anya Leavell (4) and Alanna Mihill (2) rounded out the scoring attack.

Adair DeJesus, Katelin McCormick and McKenna Somes all saw floor time as well for the on-point Wolves.

“We played very hard and as a team!,” said CMS coach Megan Smith. “I’m very proud of each and every one of them.”

8th grade:

With only four 8th graders on their roster, the older squad turned to four 7th graders to balance its roster, and one of those younger players, Izzy Wells, poured in 18 to pace the Wolves.

Genna Wright banged home 16, Chelsea Prescott tickled the twines for 14 and Mollie Bailey knocked down eight.

Meanwhile, Heidi Clinkscales, Katelyn Painter, Abby Mulholland and Isabella Velasco each added a bucket.

With the game out of hand early (14-2 after one and 26-6 at the half), CMS 8th grade coach Ryan King mixed and matched his roster, making sure every Wolf got a bucket.

“So proud of my girls. They have worked hard all year long and today they came out on fire and never looked back,” King said. “Every single one of them played amazing.

“They all stepped up. Our goals for this game were to play shut down defense, attack the basket, win the rebound game and most importantly, I wanted everyone to score,” he added. “We reached all our goals and I was so happy to see all of them score.”

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