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Posts Tagged ‘Softball’

Vipers enjoy Fun in the Sun

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on July 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville softball sluggers (l to r) Capri Anter, Ava Lucero, and Sydney Van Dyke celebrate their awesomeness. (Photos courtesy Grant Van Dyke)

They lit off some fireworks.

Closing with three straight wins this weekend, the Island Vipers 14U softball squad captured a title at the Fun in the Sun tournament in Kent.

The sluggers, who boast players from all three Whidbey high schools, swept both games they played Sunday in bracket play to clinch the crown.

A 7-1 win over a squad from Sammamish sent the Vipers to the championship game, where they nipped the Washington Rage from Moses Lake 8-7.

The hot finish came on the heels of a third-place finish in pool play, as Whidbey held its own with top-ranked rivals.

After opening losses to squads from Woodinville and Seattle, the Vipers drilled a team from Puyallup 8-0 to start its turnaround.

Sunday’s title tilt started off with a bit of a clang, as Whidbey fell behind 4-0.

But the Vipers never faltered, rallying time and again.

“The players did a great job of embracing never being out of the fight and kept chipping away and playing aggressive softball,” said assistant coach Aaron Lucero.

“Chaos on the base paths mixed with timely hitting and effective small ball.”

With two outs and the potential winning run at third, Jolene Coleman came up huge, lacing a hard-hit shot past the shortstop to plate her teammate and capture the crown.

The Vipers awarded three game balls, one to Coleman for her timely base knock and one each to the pitching and catching duo of Adeline Maynes and Ava Lucero, who survived the heat and thrived.

“All my players know my rock and marshmallow speech and they were all rocks,” Aaron Lucero said.

“To come from behind from a pretty good hole in the championship game to winning on a walk off speaks volume of this team and the character that they have.

“I’m extremely proud of them. It was truly an entire team effort.”

 

Weekend stats:

Shea Allison — Three singles, one double, two walks
Capri Anter — One double, one triple, five walks
Haylee Armstrong — Four singles, three doubles, two walks
Jolene Coleman — Six singles, one triple
Emma Cushman — One walk
Lena Heggenes — One single, one triple, two walks
Ava Lucero — One single, two walks
Adeline Maynes — Three singles, one walk
Chelsi Stevens — One single
Cameron Van Dyke — One double
Sydney Van Dyke — One double, one home run, two walks
Abby Whitney — One single
Sophie Ziegler — Three singles, two doubles, one triple, one walk

 

Tryouts this Saturday:

The Vipers are looking to “round out their roster and add a second team to the club.”

Tryouts for both 14U and 16U teams will be this Saturday, July 13 at 10 AM at Rhododendron Park in Coupeville.

All girls ages 12-16 are welcome, though they can’t be older than 16 as of Dec. 31, 2024.

If your player can’t be at Saturday’s tryouts, you can set up a private tryout by contacting coach Grant Van Dyke at Islandvipers@yahoo.com.

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Sluggers dazzle on the diamond

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on July 5, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Ready to tear up the diamond.

Another weekend, another tournament.

The Island Vipers 14U softball squad, which brings together players from all three Whidbey high schools, has been busy this summer.

Last weekend, the diamond dandies competed at the NSA state tourney in the Tri-Cities, while this weekend the sluggers are off to Kent for Fun in the Sun.

The Vipers open pool play Saturday.

At the state tourney, which drew 30 teams, Whidbey went 1-2.

“Good play throughout the weekend with a lot of positives,” said assistant coach Aaron Lucero. “The team did a great job of manufacturing runs when we needed and being aggressive — we call it create chaos on the basepaths.

“We continued to focus on the little things, such as situational awareness, two strike hitting, and getting the ball in play to advance runners.

“They’re developing and continuing to learn, which will benefit all the high schools on the island as we have players attending all three.

“We played some talented teams that pushed us hard which only makes us better.”

 

State tourney stats:

Shea Allison — One double, two walks
Capri Anter — Two singles
Haylee Armstrong — One single, one double
Jolene Coleman — One walk
Lena Heggenes — One single, one double
Ava Lucero — Two walks
Kennedy Strevel — One single, one walk
Cameron Van Dyke — One walk
Abby Whitney — Two singles
Sophie Ziegler — One single, one triple

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Thunder strikes in Canada

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on July 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville masher Madison McMillan rapped out hit after hit in Canada last weekend. (Jackie Saia photo)

“Adversity is what we fought, not the other teams.”

Battling with banged up bodies, the Whidbey Thunder U18 select softball squad still managed to split six games at the Canada Cup last weekend, coming within a play or two of making a major impact.

The diamond dandies narrowly lost their opener 2-1 to a team which went on to claim second in the tourney, then ripped off three straight wins to get back into contention.

After finishing 3-2 in pool play, the Thunder fell 8-7 in extra innings in the quarterfinals of the championship bracket, ending their run for the moment.

In that swan song, Whidbey rallied from a 6-3 deficit in the final frame, scoring the tying run with two outs on the board to force an international tie breaker.

Another run in the top of the eighth put the Thunder on top, before their rivals pushed two across in the bottom half of the inning to win the thriller.

“It was a very hard game to lose,” said Whidbey coach Matt Suto. “But I was very proud of all the girls in the effort and drive and the willingness to never give up to put us in the position to win the game.

“It’s a game of inches and we just happened to be just out of reach to lose a tough one.”

The Thunder spent the weekend banged up, with Coupeville stars Taylor Brotemarkle (knee) and Teagan Calkins (ankle) getting hurt in on-field action.

“It was small injuries,” Suto said. “It was banged up here, banged up there, but we still managed to show the heart and desire to try and win this tournament.”

The diamond guru praised Thunder pitchers Grace Swenson, Zoe Abbott, and Ramona Ryder as a “trio of greatness,” with Coupeville’s Madison McMillan “being a brick wall at third base.”

Whidbey’s outfield of Layla Suto, Hayden Davies, and Ramona Ryder “all played extremely well,” with a first-time addition showing up and showing out at catcher.

“Lynden’s Olivia Paolo fit on this team like she’s been with us all year,” Suto said. “She played stellar behind the plate and was an asset wherever she played.”

Even with injuries slowing them down, the Thunder continue to impress their coach.

“This group of girls is something special,” Suto said.

“Even though we would trail in some of the games we never gave up and we would just show the Canadian teams that the American teams never stand down from a challenge.

“I say it time and time again, I am very fortunate to be able to coach a group of young ladies like this and watch them at the very best.”

The Thunder return to action July 10-14 when they hit the road for the Cascades National Championship in Olympia.

“We hope to be healthy and put on a clinic,” Suto said.

“I know these girls can put on a clinic because I just watched it; when they hit, they are unstoppable; when the defense is on, they look better than the Mariners.

“I am so proud of these girls.”

 

Weekend stats:

Zoe Abbott — One single, one walk
Taylor Brotemarkle — One triple
Teagan Calkins — Three singles, one walk
Hayden Davies — One single, one double, four walks
Anna Friedrichs — One single, one walk
Jayme Kallio — Five singles, one double
Rylan Kononen — Eight singles
Madison McMillan — Six singles, one double, four walks
Olivia Paolo — Seven singles, two doubles, one walk
Ramona Ryder — Four singles, two doubles, three walks
Layla Suto — Four singles, two doubles, two walks
Grace Swenson — Five singles, two walks
Loto Tupu — Five singles, one triple, one walk

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Voter-approved levy fuels multiple projects

Posted in Everything changes, tagged , , , , on June 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Improvements to Coupeville’s softball field could be coming. (Bailey Thule photo)

Capital projects are rolling forward as summer begins.

Using money from a levy approved by voters in February 2022, the Coupeville School District continues to make improvements to multiple areas.

The new CHS tennis courts, which sit between the high school gym and the softball field, are finished, but still in the process of being “cured.”

They will open to the public July 22.

“This was a challenging project, but we are pleased with the outcome,” said outgoing Coupeville Superintendent Steve King.

“I am pleased that our students and community will be able to enjoy this facility for years to come.”

The district has also finished work on its new transportation building next to the high school — hence the moving of the tennis courts.

“Our staff members deserve a respectable place to work and have their meetings in,” King said.

“Thankfully, we now have a great new building for the team, and we will be able to change the bus flow out of the transportation garage to improve capacity and safety for our vehicles.”

Over the summer, parking lot lines will be repainted at the school, with signs replaced in the parking areas.

Also, floors in the Multipurpose Room at Coupeville Elementary School will be replaced.

Two other projects are at different points, with replacement of the seating in the secondary school’s Performing Arts Center underway.

“It has been over twenty years since the original seats were installed in this facility,” King said. “Our seats were breaking and being able to use the seats on a regular basis has become challenging.

“We have currently taken out the old seats and new seats are being installed in the next couple of weeks.

“Our school community will see great improvements in the PAC when they return to school in the fall.”

Finally, the district is moving forward with plans to improve its softball field, which was built in the early 1990’s at a time when CHS, like most schools statewide, still played slow pitch.

With the change to fast pitch, balls are harder and far more likely to escape the current backstop.

Whether it’s cars on Terry Road being bonked — some while driving past the field — or the trailer park across from the field being under assault by wayward flies, safety is a concern.

The district has submitted plans that will “make significant improvements to our softball field that will greatly improve the facility and will also make it much safer,” King said.

The Historic Preservation Commission of Coupeville, which needs to give its approval for the project to move forward, will consider the issue at a July 11 meeting.

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Vipers sizzle in first summer tourney

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on June 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Ava and Aaron Lucero celebrated Father’s Day by winning a tourney title. (Jess Lucero photo)

“Do the little things.”

It’s the mantra for the 14U Island Vipers softball squad, and it’s already paying off.

The squad, which brings together players from Coupeville, Oak Harbor, and South Whidbey, claimed first place in the silver bracket this weekend at the School’s Out Invite in Sedro-Woolley.

The Vipers went 3-2 in their first tourney of the summer, claiming back-to-back wins Sunday in bracket play to snag the title.

Three towns, one island, one first-place team. (Kristi Stevens photo)

The first of those bracket victories came with a little controversy attached, with Whidbey’s young sluggers rising to the moment in style.

The Vipers were up 6-5 when the game hit a time limit, and then all heck broke loose.

Their opponents, who were violating National Softball Association rules by not having a paper book, claimed their GameChanger stats showed the game knotted at 6-6.

When the ump waved the challenge off, groundskeepers took the field, the next team moved into the dugout for its game … and the opposing coach had a meltdown in the handshake line.

The Vipers, who could have walked off with the win, instead chose to have the game be resumed, so there would be no doubt of the victory.

After consultation with the tourney director, the head ump, and any opposing coaches not crying like a toddler who dropped his cupcake, the game was picked back up under International Tie Breaker rules.

Bearing down with “great defense and pitching,” the Vipers preserved the tie, even gunning down a runner at the plate on a passed ball.

Coming to the plate in the bottom half of the frame, Whidbey promptly scored, “leaving no doubt we won,” said assistant coach Aaron Lucero.

While that win was the fieriest, what Viper coaches Grant Van Dyke, Lucero, and Mason Strevel were most pleased with was their team’s solid play through all five games.

“Many notable plays throughout the weekend and contributions from everyone,” Lucero said. “Truly a team effort.

“I’m extremely proud of the team and their focus,” he added. “They never wavered even through the chaos.”

Whidbey gets back at it two weeks from now, when it travels to the Tri-Cities for the NSA state tourney.

Chelsi Stevens is just here to terrorize rival pitchers. (Kristi Stevens photo)

 

Weekend stats:

Shea Allison — Three walks
Capri Anter — One single, one double
Haylee Armstrong — Two singles, two walks
Jolene Coleman — One single, six walks
Emma Cushman
Lena Heggenes — Two singles, one double, one walk
Ava Lucero — One single
Adeline Maynes — Three singles, two doubles, two walks
Chelsi Stevens — One single, three walks
Kennedy Strevel — One single, one walk
Cameron Van Dyke — One single, one walk
Sydney Van Dyke — Three singles, two walks
Abby Whitney — One single, one double
Sophie Ziegler — One single, one double, three walks

Haylee Armstrong (and Pops) bask in the glow of victory. (Michelle Armstrong photo)

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