Posted in Softball, Track, tagged CHS Wolves, John Fisken photos, Softball, Tenley Stuurmans, track and field on July 20, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Aaron Lucero imparts wisdom to Maya Nottingham. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Just when you think you’re done, you’re not.
Sitting here in mid-July, I’ve stumbled across three photos from the spring which, for whatever reason, were never used in-season.
So, here you go, a flashback to former glory.
Tenley Stuurmans, ready to launch.
Melanie Navarro gets low to snag an incoming grounder.
Posted in Softball, tagged Bella Whalen, butterflies, CHS Wolves, Softball, where are they now on July 13, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Bella Whalen (right) rocks the crocs with teammate and friend Sofia Peters during her Coupeville days. (Photos courtesy Tiffani Blazek)
They never lost with her in the lineup.
The pandemic erased her freshman season, but Bella Whalen swung a big bat a year later for a Coupeville High School softball squad which went 12-0 in spring 2021.
That Wolf team outscored foes 154-41, trailing just once all season.
Unfortunately, as often happens, families move and Whalen and Co. were off to Maryland, where she now attends Leonardtown High School.
Whalen now lives (and attends prom) on the east coast.
As Whalen heads into her senior year — while still pining a bit for the idea of returning to Coupeville — the irrepressible one is busy crafting a new life.
She still swings a big bat on the softball diamond, playing first base and shortstop for Wagners 18U Gold, a travel ball team.
Whalen’s season highlight was leading her squad to the championship game in a tournament held in Pennsylvania.
While she plays softball and attends class on the other side of the country now, the former Wolf ace looks back fondly at her time wearing the red and black.
“My highlights were probably coming back during Covid and getting back into the swing of things,” Whalen said. “As an athlete, it was probably my sophomore year and being a part of the undefeated season.
“Although not being able to compete at state (with the pandemic erasing any playoffs), it still was an amazing accomplishment.”
“Don’t hurt the pitcher?? Too late!”
Whalen gave back to younger athletes during her time in Coupeville, working with Central Whidbey Little League players and helping them embrace the sport she loves.
“Coaching has always been my dream, and that was ever since I was little,” she said. “The idea of teaching what I knew to kids/young adults that will further the softball program in Coupeville and Whidbey as a whole.
“Growing up I had the opportunity to have a high school student as an assistant coach for little league,” Whalen added.
“That really helped me figure out fundamental problems, or changes in mindset that’ll help me further in games, especially tougher games, and I just wanted to pass that onto girls like Taylor Brotemarkle and Mia Farris.”
One thing she didn’t pass on — but which is still remembered by many — is her secret fear.
And that fear? That Mother Nature was coming for her every spring, one gentle creature at a time.
“Something that the public doesn’t know and probably shouldn’t know … but it’s that I’m deathly terrified of butterflies,” Whalen said.
“Like so terrified. I’m sure there is a video or a photo of me during practice or during a warmup sprinting away from a butterfly as a ball was coming at me,” she added with a laugh.
“My teammate and longtime friend since minors in little league, Sofia Peters, always made sure to torment me during bus rides or practices when a butterfly came my way by stopping me or getting in my way so that the butterfly could get as close as they could before I broke down and started freaking out.”
But Whalen is strong and promises to persevere.
Whalen forms part of a murder’s row of softball stars with Izzy (left) and Savina Wells.
She still has a year of high school life left but is already looking to the future.
“As a senior I would love to finish high school strong, with good grades and of course attending all the high school events I can before graduating,” she said.
Post-high school Whalen would like to attend the University of Alabama and “major in Secondary Special Education and possibly minor in Sports Media.”
Her time spent on Whidbey helped set her up for future success, and Whalen is quick to praise mentors such as CHS Principal Geoff Kappes and his wife Christie, an influential teacher.
“Although Mr. Kappes gave me a hard time in the hallways and announcing to the whole lunchroom that it was my birthday, he always brought a smile to my face every day with the godawful dad jokes and always made me feel at home,” Whalen said.
“And for Mrs. Kappes, oh Mrs. Kappes, I love her with my whole heart, and nothing will change that.
“She was the first teacher I had on my first day of freshman year, and I’m glad I could finish out my time there with her as my chemistry teacher.
“It felt like I was closing a chapter when I said goodbye to them after I moved and I’m glad they were in my life.
“They were like my school parents, and I wouldn’t change that for the world.”
While life moves on in both Coupeville and Maryland, Whalen hopes her former town doesn’t forget her.
“I hope Coupeville remembers me as an upbeat and loud softball player, someone who would put their teammates first before anything else,” she said.
“I hope that my legacy goes beyond the high school and ends up circling within the softball community and hope to positively influence future players.”
Off to enjoy a day of Major League Baseball action.
Posted in Softball, tagged Central Whidbey Little League, CHS Wolves, senior season, Sofia Peters, Softball on July 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Sofia Peters is ready for her senior year at Coupeville High School. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
“I’m so glad I got to grow up in an amazing school.”
When fall arrives, Sofia Peters and her fellow seniors in the Coupeville Class of 2023 will kick off their final run as high schoolers.
The annual countdown towards graduation — with big events like Homecoming, prom, and awards night scattered along the way — stretches out over nine months yet will likely seem like it’s flying by for students and parents.
For Peters, who has attended Coupeville schools since kindergarten, enjoying the time left and thanking those who have helped guide her along the path is huge.
“Something that the general public doesn’t know about me is how much I really love being a student at CHS,” Peters said. “It has given me so many amazing opportunities.
“I’ve had such a great support system and so many people who made an impact on me,” she added.
That has ranged from parents Mike and Paula Peters to CHS teachers and administration.
“My parents have always believed in me and always had my back,” Sofia said.
“And (Dean of Students) Tom Black and (teacher) Kyle Nelson — those are both people who really made school feel like a safe space.
“They always believed in me and helped me realize I didn’t need to always be so serious in school or in class.”
Peters has been a standout in both academics and athletics, earning induction into the National Honor Society and swinging a lively bat while playing second-base for the high-flying Wolf softball team.
Her freshman diamond season was swept away by the pandemic, but she stayed true to her sports calling, helping Coupeville go 12-0 and 16-3 the past two seasons.
“I hit, son. It’s my thing.”
Peters showed off a slick glove while playing in the infield and often raked at the plate.
Her best day as a junior was a five-hit performance against Sultan, with two of the base-knocks going for extra-bases.
Peters actually has pulled double duty on the diamond recently, working as a volunteer coach with Central Whidbey Little League softball teams while continuing her own playing career.
She’s following in the footsteps of her parents, both of whom have devoted countless hours to helping CWLL thrive.
“Something that drew me to help coaching was that it gave me more experience with kids, and I could see and learn how to help them,” Peters said.
The Wolf senior hopes to attend college in California, with an eye on earning a degree in elementary education.
“Some positives I’ve gotten while coaching would have to be watching the players grow and develop their softball skills,” Peters said.
“A lot of the players who I’ve helped coach hadn’t ever played before and watching them grow has been a great experience for me.”
As she looks ahead to her senior year, Peters has clear goals in mind.
“I would most like to accomplish keeping my grades up and staying strong all the way through the end,” she said.
“When I leave CHS I hope people will remember how much I’ve grown throughout school. Like how I was when I was a freshman compared to how I am as a senior.”
Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged Audrianna Shaw, Basketball, CHS Wolves, Girls Soccer, Hall of Fame, Softball on July 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Coupeville’s Audrianna Shaw, a three-sport star who played her heart out. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
“She never misses a layup. Ever.”
And then Audrianna Shaw promptly bounced the basketball off the back of the rim, the orb skipping free and bringing my career as a hoops scout into serious question.
Except…
As a rival rebounder hauled in the wayward shot and turned to head back up the floor, Audri immediately spun into battle mode, a fierce look crossing her face.
Catching the unsuspecting dribbler from behind, she snaked her hand into a tiny gap, poking the ball free and snatching it up before heading in the opposite direction.
Step-step-slap-the-ball-through-the-hoop and Audri’s layup rate was back at a crisp 99.3%.
That was the one, and only time, I ever saw her miss a layup during her middle school hardwood career.
And her fast recovery to turn the moment into a win speaks to exactly the kind of athlete she has been for the past six-plus years.
Audri, who played three sports and was a key figure in all of them, never hung her head, and certainly never accepted defeat.
Instead, she attacked, attacked, and attacked some more, relentlessly giving her teams the spark they needed.
Whether she was on the soccer pitch, the basketball court, or the softball field, Audri was always one thing – a winner.
Now sure, sometimes her team came out on the short end of the final score, but you never knew it from her effort or body language.
Audri has a bright burning fire in her soul, and I never witnessed her give up on a play or surrender without first throwing haymakers every which way.
In short, she has moxie, something which should serve her well as she heads to college in Alabama, and then off to rule the world.
Giving her all. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
On the soccer pitch Audri anchored the Wolves from her midfielder position, capable of both banging home goals and playing rough-and-tumble with any rivals foolhardy enough to challenge her in the open field.
She tied for the team lead in scoring as a senior, spinning the ball past flailing goaltenders with laser-like shots, capping a stellar run which covered her entire high school career.
Once let loose on the basketball court, Audri lived to make wild dashes from end-to-end.
Weaving through traffic, before throwing up runners while on the move, she absorbed more than her share of punishment from flying elbows and grasping defenders trying in vain to slow her down.
“Get outta my way! I got buckets to score!!” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Even when she was smacked around, Audri almost always wore a huge smile as she ambled to the free throw line, where she tossed in daggers while dropping side eye at the girl(s) who fouled her.
She could be explosive on offense — leading the Wolves in scoring during her junior season — and finished her varsity time with 212 points, which lands her at #56 all-time on the scoring chart for a CHS girls program fast approaching its 50th anniversary.
But while Audri could drop buckets, she was also a scrapper on defense, a two-way weapon able to help her team at any moment of the game.
A layup? Odds are she’ll make it. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
That carried over to her spring sport of choice, where she was an integral part of the softball program.
As a freshman, Audri was one of two 9th graders on a varsity squad which went all the way to the state tourney, where the Wolves played three games in a day, including toppling powerhouse Deer Park.
Covid erased her sophomore campaign, but she and the Wolves responded by mashing the crud out of the ball once they got to return to the diamond.
Audri and Co. went 12-0 during a cut-down junior season, then finished with a 16-3 tear this spring, missing out on a return trip to state by just a game.
Patrolling center field, Miss Shaw was dynamic on defense, capable of running down balls from the left field line to the right field line.
She made life considerably easier for the girls patrolling the outfield corners, as they often got to sit back and watch Audri spear runaway balls while sprinting out of her shoes.
At the plate, she was a weapon unleashed, capable of launching rockets to the deepest, darkest parts of the outfield, followed by her legs churning as she alertly picked up extra bases by capitalizing on the slightest hesitation from fielders.
Power, unleashed. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
How dangerous could she be with a bat in her hands?
At several times during her senior season Audri changed things up during big blowout wins and came to the plate batting left-handed, instead of her normal righty stance.
It’s not easy to suddenly hit from a completely different look, and yet Audri surprised, not just making contact, but whacking the ball for line-drive hits.
Followed by her bouncing at first (or second) base, big grin washing across her face as her teammates went bonkers and Wolf coach Kevin McGranahan shook his head in silent tribute.
From middle school through high school, Audri was a fun-lovin’ ball of fire, one of the more entertaining athletes to ever wear the red and black, and one whose hustle, skill, and love of competing made for a potent combination.
I might have been wrong with my assessment she would never, ever miss a layup, but I was right that she would have a major positive impact during her prep sports days.
So today we induct Audri into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, welcoming her to our hallowed digital shrine.
After this you’ll find her at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.
I have no doubt this is but the first of many honors Audri will capture in her life, however.
Her future is as bright as her personality.
Celebrating Senior Night with mom Bonnie. (Jackie Saia photo)
Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged Basketball, CHS Wolves, Hall of Fame, Izzy Wells, Softball on June 28, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Izzy Wells? A lovely human being, and a pretty darn good athlete, too. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
She was the serene superstar.
Now, I don’t live inside the brain of Izzy Wells, so it’s possible there were fireworks going off in there every single game.
Her stomach might have been dive-bombed by butterflies, and non-stop cold sweats may have been the rule.
If so, she hides it really, really well.
Throughout her athletic career in Coupeville — from little league exploits to middle school success on to high school excellence, Izzy projected such utter calmness in everything she did.
When she was in the pitcher’s circle on the softball diamond, she could be up by 10 runs or down by five, and she had an uncanny knack to look peaceful, yet determined every time.
It’s a rare trait, one which Wells displayed both as a newbie and as a grizzled vet, and it makes for a highly successful pitcher.
“I’m gonna throw it … but you’re not gonna hit it.”
Now, the Izzinator could break off a nasty fastball which drilled a hole through a rival’s bat as it finished its journey into a waiting catcher’s mitt.
She could chuck BBs with the best of them.
But it was that calmness which flowed out of her, and around her, which centered her team and was — in my opinion at least — her greatest weapon.
Izzy never seemed to get too high or too low, with just a small smile peeking out in rare moments when her sheer awesomeness overwhelmed even her.
Even with a pandemic making the middle part of her high school days a royal pain, she had a run of success which matches up with any Wolf hurler who ever stepped into the circle.
As a freshman, she was the staff ace for a team which got stronger as the season went on, roaring from behind to smack big, bad Granite Falls en route to earning a ticket to the state tourney.
Izzy, chucking liquid heat on her home field, stared down the most-feared hitter in the league, senior slugger Samantha Vanderwel, with a crucial game on the line late in the regular season.
The first time Coupeville faced the homer-happy Tigers, it lost badly. The second time, the Wolves were nipped.
Meeting #3 ended with Izzy firing a laser, Vanderwel swinging with every ounce of her strength and hitting nothing but air, and Wolf catcher Sarah Wright screaming like a banshee in celebration.
In the circle, a slight dip of her head, a half-smile, and then Wells vanished under a dogpile of her teammates.
It was the turning point, as Coupeville roared from behind to tie for a league title, earn a #1 seed to districts — where it beat Granite again — then go on to state for a three-game run which included eliminating highly ranked Deer Park.
The pandemic robbed Izzy of her sophomore season, but she endured, leading CHS to a 12-0 mark in a cut-down junior campaign and a 16-3 record as a senior — when her catcher was often lil’ sis Savina.
Savina (left) and Izzy — how it started…
How it’s going.
Coupeville went a truly impressive 43-13 during Izzy’s time in uniform, with her morphing from a young gunslinger to an all-around weapon as her batting skills boomed in her final two seasons.
She could crank the ball deep into the prairie clouds or slap hits past diving infielders and was always one of the smarter base runners to play for the Wolves.
And yet, as talented on the softball field as she was — and that’s my enduring image of her, Izzy standing motionless in the circle, eyes narrowing ever so slightly behind her face mask as she mentally mapped out her next strikeout — she was successful in everything she did.
A volleyball spiker, a soccer ace, and Miss Dependable on the basketball court, dropping in buckets with her patented super-soft layup.
“Scuse me, pardon me, coming through to score another basket.”
Izzy rang up 204 points across four seasons of varsity ball, finishing as the #3 scorer during both her junior and senior campaigns.
She could give you some of everything on the hardwood, bringing defense, teamwork, and a strong hoops IQ to everything she did.
When I call Izzy a “glue” player, it’s a high compliment.
She helped hold things together, and, again, was always the face of calm in the heat of athletic battle, whether her team was romping to a win or fighting tooth and nail to stay alive.
Hanging out with fellow seniors (l to r) Violette Huegerich, Mckenna Somes, and Audrianna Shaw.
Through it all, the happiest I saw her was when someone close to her, from sister Savina to friends like Ja’Kenya Hoskins and Mckenna Somes, were successful in their endeavors.
Izzy rightfully earned honors of her own — up to and including being named league MVP in softball — but seeing her pride and joy in other’s accomplishments truly highlights her quiet leadership.
In the classroom she was a talented scholar, finishing in the top 10 of all graduates from the CHS Class of 2022, and, in her spare time, she is helping raise what is arguably the town’s most-popular dog.
The Wells clan, featuring a scene-stealing pup.
Looking ahead, I can’t envision any world in which Miss Wells doesn’t go on to accomplish truly amazing things in her future.
Over the course of the 10-year run of this blog, Izzy has been one of my personal favorites, and I am very happy to induct her today into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.
After this you’ll find her hanging out up at the top of the blog under the Legends tab, a designation she more than earned.
It’s for Izzy’s play on the diamond and the hardwood, the pitch and the court, for her work in the classroom or with a musical instrument in hand, and for the way she remains one of the highest-quality people to ever rep the red and black.
She was ever-more successful as she got older, but the middle of Lyle and Katy Wells three children has been a truly lovely human being every step of the way.
It was always easy to root for you, Izzy, and that will never change.
Keepin' News Independent
Whidbey Pest Control
Aleesha Cleveland
Harmony Veterinary Service
All Work Guaranteed
Keeping You Organized!
ABC Doula Service
Sherman's Pioneer Farm
Drawing Room Plans
Bayleaf
Cascade Custom Homes & Design
Coupeville Chiropractic
CK Electric Services, Inc.
Allure Salon and Spa
Island Jenn - Photographer
Harada Physical Therapy
Bailey Dirtworks
Karen Huff
Kapaws Iskreme, The Local Treat!
Cascade Motorcycle Safety
Coupeville Sports 