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Posts Tagged ‘RPI’

Sluggers maintain strong RPI rankings

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on April 29, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Cami Van Dyke guns down a runner. (Julie Wheat photo)

They’re #1 and #7.

With Liberty (Spangle) taking a loss to Freeman Tuesday, every softball team in 2B has two or more losses — except Coupeville, which sits at 15-1 heading into action Wednesday against visiting Orcas Island.

But while the Wolves have the highest win percentage among the 47 schools playing the diamond game in their classification, they are tripped up a bit by their opponent’s winning percentage when it comes to tallying RPI rankings.

Coupeville currently lands at #7 when the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association and its Ratings Percentage Index have the final say.

That’s up one slot from last week and can only be helped by the rise of Forks, the only team to take a game from the Wolves this season.

Those Spartans, who split a home doubleheader with CHS, are on a nine-game winning streak to get to 11-3 and crack the top 10 for the first time in the latest rankings.

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Rampaging Wolves impress computer overlords

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on April 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »

“So, we’re just gonna let the computers take over then? That worked so well with Skynet…” (Julie Wheat photo)

The computers agree yet disagree.

On the one hand, two different ranking systems have looked at the Coupeville High School softball squad, which sits at 12-1, and offer their approval, lauding the Wolves as a top 10 program among 2B schools.

But on the other hand, the tech wizards don’t totally jibe with where they put the Smash Sisters.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association currently has Aaron Lucero’s squad sitting at #8, which is down from a high of #4, thanks to one narrow loss to traditional power Forks.

Meanwhile, Evans Rankings, a solo effort in which noted number cruncher Matt Evans feeds data into Newman — a power-mad computer possibly bent on world domination — has Coupeville at #6.

What does it mean for the Wolves?

Keep your collective heads down, move on to the goal of picking up two more victories at home Thursday and Friday against Concrete and South Whidbey, and let things land where they may.

Win on the field and the rest will handle itself.

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Smash Sisters rise in RPI rankings

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on April 15, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Teagan Calkins has guided CHS softball to a 9-0 start this season. (Jackie Saia photo)

They’re on an upward path.

After returning from Spring Break with a 10-0 win over visiting La Conner Tuesday on the windswept prairie, the undefeated Coupeville High School softball squad continues to get love from the number crunchers.

The Wolves, now 9-0 heading into road trips to La Conner Thursday and Forks Saturday, moved from #8 to #5 among 2B schools in the latest RPI rankings from the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

The Ratings Percentage Index is one part hype machine, one part helpful info nugget, as the rankings are “one tool utilized by the seeding committees to determine first round bracket pairings into the state tournaments.”

Though first you have to punch that state ticket for it to really matter.

Coupeville’s smash sisters have beaten schools from 3A (Oak Harbor), 2A (Lakewood), 1A (East Jefferson and Meridian), 2B (Friday Harbor and La Conner), and 1B (Darrington) thus far.

The Wolves join Liberty (Spangle) as the only 2B squads still unbeaten as the regular season nears the halfway point.

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RPI rankings favor Wolves

Posted in Baseball, Softball, tagged , , , , on April 8, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Adeline Maynes is the point of the spear for an 8-0 Wolf softball squad. (Jackie Saia photo)

The WIAA has entered the chat.

Wednesday marked the first time the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association has released Rating Percentage Index (RPI) numbers for spring sports.

And as soon as they did, Coupeville High School made a nice splash, with its undefeated softball squad landing #7 in the 2B rankings.

Meanwhile, the Wolf baseball squad shows up at #19 (out of 47 schools), with the WIAA crediting Steve Hilborn’s team with being 5-2, even though they’re really 6-2.

That’s not an error, but a quirk, as Coupeville’s season-opening victory against 3A Oak Harbor technically came against the Wildcats JV and the RPI rankings don’t count varsity teams beating JV teams, regardless of classification.

Aaron Lucero’s softball sluggers have no quirks on their own schedule, as they beat Oak Harbor’s varsity and sit at 8-0 as Spring Break unfolds.

The Smash Sisters have won six of those eight by 10+ runs and are one of just two 2B softball teams to still have a spotless record, joining #3 Liberty (Spangle), which is 11-0.

And actually, now there is a second quirk, as when the RPI rankings were first revealed Wednesday, Colfax was also undefeated and ranked #4 as shown in this photo.

Then the Bulldogs fell 8-4 to 2A Pullman in an early afternoon game, and slid from #4 to #8, while Adna, River View, Toutle Lake, and Coupeville all jumped a spot.

In the end, how important is RPI? Depends on who you ask.

The rankings are “one tool utilized by the seeding committees to determine first round bracket pairings into the state tournaments.”

So, there’s that, though first you have to punch your ticket to the dance for it to really matter.

Until then, it’s all about bragging rights.

So, yeah, it’s kinda a big deal for the easily hyped-up such as myself.

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Sluggers crack top four in state rankings

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on May 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Capri Anter unleashes. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Don’t stop until you get to the top.

Continuing their meteoric rise, the Coupeville High School softball squad moves up three slots this week in the final Washington Interscholastic Activities Association RPI rankings.

The Wolves, who are 17-1 heading into Thursday’s District 1 tourney in Mount Vernon, currently sit at #4 among 2B schools.

A week ago, CHS was #7, and before that Aaron Lucero’s sluggers spent back-to-back weeks ranked at #9.

Coupeville, which is one win away from advancing to state for the first time since 2019, is the only 2B softball squad left with just a single loss on its record.

That lone defeat came by a razor-thin 5-4 margin to 3A Oak Harbor way back on March 15.

RPI, or Rating Percentage Index, is a statistical system used to rank teams and is based on a team’s winning percentage, as well as its opponent’s winning percentage and its’s opponent’s opponents winning percentage.

When the state tourney seeding committee meets Sunday to set the bracket, RPI is one of the tools it will use.

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