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Posts Tagged ‘SWHS Falcons’

Falcon diamond guru retires

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on May 4, 2026| Leave a Comment »

South Whidbey High School baseball coach Tom Fallon (right) is retiring after a long, successful diamond career. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

It’s been a good run.

After decades of wearing a South Whidbey High School baseball uniform, first as a player than a coach, Tom Fallon delivers his final lineup card to the ump Monday afternoon.

The Falcons host Sultan in a 4:00 PM game, bringing their season to a close.

For Fallon, who graduated from the school in 1987, it also marks a time to reflect on a lifetime spent on the diamond.

“I would like to thank all of the coaches I’ve got to compete against or share the dugouts with,” he wrote on Facebook.

“All of the volunteers that have helped thru the years.

“The student athletes that have worked so hard to compete and learn and grow.

“The parents for supporting the kids and program.

“It’s truly been an amazing 42 years of being a Falcon player and coach. GO FALCONS!!! And tight lines and long drives.”

Fallon became a paid coach for SWHS in 2000 and jumped to head coach in 2013.

He was tabbed as the Cascade Conference Coach of the Year after his first and second seasons at the helm of the Falcons, with South Whidbey advancing to state in 2014.

Then, in 2015, Fallon led the Falcons to a 2nd place finish at the 1A state tourney, with his squad beating Seattle Christian, Cascade Christian, and Cashmere to advance to the championship game.

South Whidbey came up just short in that royal rumble, falling 6-4 to Hoquiam, but still brought home an impressive chunk of hardware.

Aong with being the high school coach in Langley, Fallon also coached American Legion teams in the summer which often included Coupeville players joining their South Whidbey rivals to thrash off-Island squads.

While the Falcons and Wolves have had an often-intense rivalry over the years in many sports, Fallon’s longest-tenured CHS counterpart, Willie Smith, speaks glowingly of his former dugout compatriot.

“Very good guy and coaches the right way!!” Smith said. “Tom has always been a coach that has held a high level of accountability and excellence at South Whidbey.

“I always looked forward to games with Tom because even though we were rivals I always felt mutual respect and believed that he did an excellent job of coaching the game the right way.

“He and I had, and still have, a good relationship, because we both enjoyed the competition but understood that it was a game, played by 15–18-year-old kids that hopefully enjoyed the game as much as we did.

“South Whidbey has been very fortunate to have a coach with Tom’s integrity, class, and high level of knowledge and I wish him nothing but the best as he moves forward.”

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Light her up!!

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on April 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Ava Lucero and the ball she mashed over the left field fence. (Photo courtesy Aaron Lucero)

“That was a clinic.”

Two solid high school softball squads clashed on the sun-drenched prairie Friday, but one ended up towering over the other.

Mashing 18 hits, including 10 in the first inning alone, high-flying Coupeville ran its visiting archrivals from South Whidbey off the diamond, emerging with a 17-1 win mercy-ruled after five innings.

With the non-conference victory, the Wolves get to 14-1 on the season, while the Falcons drop to 8-5.

That opening quote came from a South Whidbey supporter, as he paid tribute to the beat-down issued by the Smash Sisters, and it summed up the day.

Wolf hurler Adeline Maynes was flingin’ fire from the pitcher’s circle, whiffing nine and getting solid defensive work behind her from young infielders Allie Powers and Cami Van Dyke and sticky-gloved centerfielder Haylee Armstrong.

The web gem of the day, however?

That was a prime-time Maynes moment, as the sophomore pitcher charged out of the circle and went airborne to pluck a bunt out of the air, snagging the falling ball before it could touch infield dirt.

But while the pitching was on point and the defense often inspired, it was the offense which once again stole a great deal of the spotlight for Aaron Lucero’s squad.

Coupeville unleashed a tsunami of base knocks in the bottom of the first, with Sydney Van Dyke crushing a two-run double off the center field wall and Ava Lucero smoking a two-run single back up the middle.

That was just the start, with Armstrong and Cami Van Dyke connecting on RBI-rich hits before Teagan Calkins got epic.

Playing in the next-to-last home game of her storied career, the Wolf senior launched a screamer to left, then let her feet run wild as she crashed home with an inside-the-park two-run tater.

By the time the Falcons finally escaped from the frame, the damage had been done, with 14 batters coming to the plate, 12 of those reaching base, and the score sitting at 10-0.

Not that the Wolves were done, as Ava Lucero led off the bottom of the second with a home run of her own, this one clearing the fence in left and waving bye-bye as it headed off towards the Prairie Center parking lot.

Having herself a day to remember, the coach’s daughter struck one more time, whacking a three-run triple to right field in the third, capping a six-RBI performance.

Deep sac flies from Maynes and Calkins, and some nimble base-running on double steals padded out the lead as the Wolves rolled into the weekend having outscored their foes 244-33 this season.

 

Friday stats:

Zariyah Allen — Two singles
Haylee Armstrong — Two singles
Teagan Calkins — One home run, one walk
Ava Lucero — One single, one triple, one home run
Olivia Martin — One double, one walk
Adeline Maynes — Two singles
Chelsi Stevens — Two singles, one walk
Cami Van Dyke — One single, two triples
Sydney Van Dyke — One single, one double

Friday they were rivals, but during travel ball season a fair number of Wolf and Falcon sluggers unite on the diamond. (Photo courtesy Jess Lucero)

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Diamond rally falls a run short

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on April 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Wolf first-baseman Riley Lawless smacked a pair of hits Friday in a rivalry game with South Whidbey. (Jackie Saia photo)

They didn’t get a hit until the fourth inning, and didn’t score until the sixth, yet almost pulled off the comeback win.

Unfortunately for the Coupeville High School baseball squad, a torrid finish couldn’t quite overcome a slow start Friday, as the Wolves fell 7-6 to visiting South Whidbey.

The non-conference loss, coming on a rare sunny spring afternoon on the prairie, drops CHS to 9-5 on the season while the upstart Falcons improve to 3-11.

Friday’s fracas was a pitcher’s duel for most of the day, with eight of the 13 runs not being scored until the final inning-and-a-half.

South Whidbey did put together a five-run rally in the top of the third, however, accounting for the only scores until the late going, and that was tough to overcome for the scrappy Wolves.

The big blows were a pair of two-run doubles from Levi Batchelor and Weston Dill, and they staked the Falcons to a lead they never relinquished.

Meanwhile, Coupeville put four runners aboard through the first three innings — all on walks — but came away empty-handed.

In the fourth, the Wolves got another walk, this one from Trent Thule, before Riley Lawless broke up the no-hitter. Once again, however, the runners were stranded far from home.

Steve Hilborn’s squad finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth, pushing three runs across to tighten things up.

Two runs came home on Falcon miscues, while Lawless smoked an RBI single to the left side of the infield to account for the other score.

South Whidbey proved resilient, tacking on two insurance runs in the top of the seventh to go up 7-3, then turned out to need both runs as the Wolves rallied hard in their final at-bats.

Chase Anderson led off the bottom of the seventh by getting drilled in the back, then stole second and third before scooting home on a Camden Glover RBI single.

An RBI groundout from Thule cut the deficit to 7-5 and a bases loaded walk to Killian Shaw made it a one-run game, but South Whidbey hurler Easton Niemi came out of the bullpen to end the game with a strikeout, allowing longtime Falcon coach Tom Fallon to exit with another win.

 

Friday stats:

Chase Anderson — One walk
Coop Cooper — One single
Camden Glover — Two singles, one walk
Carson Grove — One walk
Riley Lawless — Two singles, one walk
Aiden O’Neill — One single
Leo Rodriguez — Two walks
Killian Shaw — One walk
Malachi Somes — One single
Trent Thule — Three walks

Camden Glover, here crashing in to score in an earlier game, reached base three times Friday afternoon. (Julie Wheat photo)

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All the pins, all the portraits

Posted in Wrestling, tagged , , , , on January 23, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Amelia Forbes has the eye of the tiger. (Marquette Cunningham photos)

He’s here for the pins, and the clicks.

Coupeville High School senior Marquette Cunningham is a busy guy this winter.

While attending class at CHS, he and fellow Wolf Deven Ogden train, travel, and compete as wrestlers with South Whidbey since their home school doesn’t have its own mat program.

Also, when he’s not grappling, Cunningham pulls double duty as a photographer, snapping pics of his new teammates, such as the portraits captured above and below.

Our photographer is also ready to wage war on the wrestling mat.

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Pins or clicks, Marquette Cunningham a winner

Posted in Wrestling, tagged , , , , on January 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Marquette Cunningham, man of many skills.

Marquette Cunningham is bridging the gap between Central and South Whidbey.

Along with fellow Coupeville High School student Deven Ogden, he’s traveling to Langley to compete as a wrestler this winter, taking advantage of an agreement between CHS and SWHS since the Wolves don’t have their own grappling program.

In between bouts, Cunningham, who shoots for the CHS Yearbook, is also staying busy as an intrepid photographer, snapping images of his new teammates as they toil on the mats.


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