Posted in Softball, tagged CHS Wolves, CMS Wolves, Melanie Wolfe, plunked, Softball on May 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Melanie Wolfe can sense where this is going. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
“We love free bases!!”
That chant emerges like clockwork from high school softball dugouts when a batter earns a walk.
But when the hitter gets that free pass by taking a wayward pitch off a body part, there’s an added bit of noise from her fellow players.
Wear the pitch, earn the respect.
And she was right.
Taking one for the team.
“Proud mom moment right here!”
Posted in Baseball, Softball, tagged baseball, cake day, CHS Wolves, Senior Night, Softball on May 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Diamond men (l to r) Piotr Bieda, Scott Hilborn, and Jonathan Valenzuela celebrate Senior Night. (Morgan White photo)
There was cake, and foreign flags, and two big wins.
Coupeville High School parents went all out Saturday, as Wolf baseball and softball celebrated Senior Night.
CHS crushed visiting La Conner on both sides of the road, mixing domination in with emotion.
Along the way, the Wolves said goodbye to five softball sluggers and three diamond men, with the majority of those players having gone the entire way in red and black.
Sofia Peters leads off the softball honorees. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Jonathan Valenzuela (Morgan White photo)
Melanie Navarro (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Piotr Bieda (Morgan White photo)
CHS baseball flew the Polish flag to honor its foreign exchange student. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Allie and Maya Lucero. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Scott Hilborn (Morgan White photo)
Gwen Gustafson (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
We’re gettin’ cake, said all the fans. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Posted in standings, tagged baseball, CHS Wolves, girls tennis, league standings, Northwest League, Softball on April 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Djina Radenovic and Co. play for a league title this coming week. (Jackie Saia photo)
The calendar turns and things get serious.
The arrival of May marks the start of the stretch run for Coupeville High School spring sports teams, with league titles and possible postseason glory at stake.
Wolf softball, baseball, and girls’ tennis all sit atop the Northwest 2B/1B League standings, while track and field has been dominant, especially on the boy’s side.
The CHS netters, who have clinched at least a tie for the conference crown, can claim sole possession with a win Tuesday at Friday Harbor.
Miss there, and they’ll get another crack May 12, when the Wolverines travel to Whidbey for Coupeville’s Senior Night.
Wolf softball only plays once in the week ahead, but everything hinges on the outcome.
The sluggers travel to Friday Harbor Thursday, and the stakes are simple.
Win, and the Wolves clinch a playoff berth. Lose, and a May 12 non-conference road game at South Whidbey is the season finale.
CHS baseball was supposed to play twice, but non-league rival Sultan bailed on a Monday trip to Whidbey, so the hardball squad will wait until Thursday, joining softball for its island-to-island trek.
Win, lose, or draw, the diamond squad has clinched the #1 seed for the District 1/2 tourney for 2B schools, where they’ll need one victory May 13 to punch a ticket to state.
What is at stake this coming week is the NWL title.
Coupeville is a half-game up on 1B Mount Vernon Christian, with the teams having split their two-game season series.
MVC has games left Tuesday with Concrete and Thursday with Orcas Island as the Hurricanes angle to stay even with the Wolves.
While the first three sports are nearing the end of the regular season, track is the first to step into the postseason, with a trip Wednesday to La Conner for the league championships.
That starts a three-meet run for glory, with districts and state up next.
As we head into a (possibly) dramatic week, a look at current standings for teams which tally wins and losses:
Northwest League baseball:
| School | League | Overall |
| Coupeville | 12-1 | 14-4 |
| MV Christian | 11-1 | 12-3 |
| Friday Harbor | 7-5 | 7-7 |
| Orcas Island | 6-7 | 9-7 |
| Darrington | 5-8 | 6-8 |
| La Conner | 3-10 | 4-12 |
| Concrete | 0-12 | 0-12 |
Northwest League girls tennis:
| School | League | Overall |
| Coupeville | 2-0 | 2-4 |
| Friday Harbor | 0-2 | 0-3 |
Northwest League softball:
| School | League | Overall |
| Coupeville | 10-1 | 13-5 |
| Friday Harbor | 8-1 | 11-4 |
| Darrington | 5-4 | 6-5 |
| Orcas Island | 5-5 | 5-9 |
| La Conner | 2-8 | 2-14 |
| Concrete | 0-11 | 0-13 |
Posted in Softball, tagged CHS Wolves, La Conner, Senior Night, Softball, Taylor Brotemarkle on April 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Wolf sluggers (l to r) Madison McMillan, Mia Farris, and Jada Heaton combined to reach base six times in Saturday’s home finale. (Jennifer Heaton photo)
Love and success for everyone.
Coupeville’s younger players paid emotional tributes to their senior leaders Saturday, while the generations came together to cruise to another big softball victory on the prairie.
Playing at home for the final time this spring — and FINALLY getting decent weather — the Wolves romped to a 17-2 win over visiting La Conner, while trying not to embarrass a Braves program working hard to build for the future.
Coupeville exits the weekend sitting at 10-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 13-5 overall, having won 10 of its last 11 games.
The Wolves travel to Friday Harbor next Thursday, May 4, with the winner claiming the one playoff berth offered to 2B teams in District 1, then close the regular season May 12 with a non-conference road rumble at South Whidbey.
La Conner’s softball team is a work in progress, and their players are hard-working and scrappy.
But they are still well off the pace set by Coupeville, which was demonstrated once again Saturday afternoon.
With all five of its 12th graders in the starting lineup on Senior Night, the Wolves put all 11 hitters on base in the first inning but settled for a 6-0 lead.
Teagan Calkins and Taylor Brotemarkle swatted home runs to left, with the second of those taters also scoring Mia Farris, but CHS accounted for all three outs in the inning by having runners intentionally leave base early.
Coupeville pushed seven more runs across in the second frame, with Farris and Brotemarkle crunching two-run base knocks, and the (polite) rout was on.
CHS coach Kevin McGranahan got field action for all 16 players on his roster, with 15 reaching base, and pulled the strings perfectly to keep the game going until the teams had played five innings.
The Wolves notched a lone run in the third to make it 14-0, gave back two tallies in the fourth, then closed things out with three more scores in their half of the inning.
Coupeville seniors unite on the prairie, with the batter, the player in the on-deck circle, and everyone on base being grizzled vets. (Katrina McGranahan photo)
The game marked the home swan song for Wolf seniors Sofia Peters, Allie Lucero, Gwen Gustafson, Melanie Navarro, and Maya Lucero.
That group lost their freshman season when spring sports were cancelled for Covid, then only played 12 games as sophomores due to ongoing pandemic restrictions.
But they hung tough, continued to work, and have played vital roles as the Wolves have gone 41-8 during their time in the program.
And they aren’t done yet.
Saturday stats:
Haylee Armstrong — One single
Taylor Brotemarkle — One double, one home run, one walk
Teagan Calkins — One single, one home run, one walk
Mia Farris — One single, two walks
Gwen Gustafson — One single, two walks
Jada Heaton — One walk
Layla Heo — One walk
Allie Lucero — Three walks
Maya Lucero — One single, one walk
Chloe Marzocca — Two walks
Madison McMillan — One single, one walk
Melanie Navarro — One single, two walks
Sofia Peters — Three walks
Bailey Thule — One walk
Melanie Wolfe — One walk
Posted in Softball, tagged Capri Anter, CHS Wolves, Darrington, JV, Softball on April 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Cousins Haylee Armstrong (left) and Capri Anter, just 8th graders, promise a bright future for Wolf softball. (Jackie Saia photo)
“We did great!”
Coupeville High School JV softball coach Katrina McGranahan came away from Thursday’s road trip to Darrington pleased with what she witnessed.
Her Wolves rapped out 16 hits on their way to a 17-7 win, but getting field time for her young players was the biggest victory.
With most of Coupeville’s foes not fielding JV squads, McGranahan and Co. went 2-0 in limited action.
CHS was supposed to have one more contest for its second team, but a game next week at 2A Sedro-Woolley was canceled due to the potential host team having a lack of players.
That was even more reason for the Wolves to take advantage of Darrington being ready, willing, and able to play Thursday.
Coupeville was missing several players due to illness, but shuffled its roster, sliding a few varsity players down to fill gaps in the lineup.
Wolf 8th graders Capri Anter and Haylee Armstrong both saw time in the pitcher’s circle, with the duo combining to whiff four Loggers.
Coupeville’s three varsity hurlers — Allie Lucero, Maya Lucero, and Gwen Gustafson — are all seniors, leaving plenty of opportunity for the young guns to claim that role going forward.
“Capri did a great job,” McGranahan said. “She was able to hold her own right from the start and stayed solid the entire time.
“Haylee also got some much-needed work in. They both have potential so they need all the time they can get to practice!”
Coupeville pounced from the get-go, raining down six runs in the top of the first and never looking back.
While Darrington narrowed the gap to 7-6 after three frames, the Wolves roared right back into killer mode, slapping five runs on the board in both the fourth and fifth innings.
Along with bashing a ton of hits, CHS took time to work on the finer points of the game.
“Darrington was a decent JV team,” McGranahan said. “They put the ball in play and ran the bases and made the outs.
“But it just wasn’t comparable with what our team was, and for that reason the girls got to work on some skills that tend not to get any work.
“They were batting lefthanded, slap hitting, bunting, and push bunting,” she added. “These were all skills that we have practiced before but never really get the chance to use in games!”
Thursday stats:
Capri Anter — Two singles, one double, one walk
Haylee Armstrong — One triple, one walk
Teagan Calkins — Three singles, one walk
Gwen Gustafson — Three singles
Layla Heo — Two singles, one walk
Melanie Navarro — One walk
Sofia Peters — Two singles
Bailey Thule — One single, one triple, two walks
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