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Posts Tagged ‘Vashon Island’

Staying alive!!

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , , on May 20, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Hope Lodell had four hits across two playoff games Friday. (John Fisken photo)

The dream lives.

After escaping a wild and wacky opening day at the West Central District 3 softball tournament, Coupeville High School has a simple plan for day two.

Win two straight games and the Wolves are headed back to state for the first time since 2014.

CHS, which sits at 18-4 after splitting a pair of games Friday, plays Seattle Christian (9-7) in a loser-out game at 11:15 AM Saturday at Sprinker Fields in Tacoma.

Win and the Wolves play the loser of the championship game between Chimacum (11-4) and Bellevue Christian (16-1) at 3:15 PM for 2nd place and District 3’s final slot to the state tourney.

If it does play twice Saturday, Coupeville will at least have a reasonable break between games.

On day one, the Wolves, after a 90-mile drive on a school bus, played two extra innings in their opening game, rallying in the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off 10-9 win over Vashon Island.

Having already gone past the projected start time for game two, they hopped on to a different field without any real break and ran into a fresh Bellevue Christian squad.

Trailing just 4-3 heading into the fifth, Coupeville ran out of energy a bit in the late going, eventually falling 9-3.

The Wolves Olympic League rivals, Chimacum and Klahowya, both faced Seattle Christian, with very different results.

Klahowya was bopped 10-3 in a loser-out game, while the Cowboys emulated Coupeville by going to extra innings, falling behind, then rallying for a walk-off win.

Chimacum scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to beat the Warriors 9-8.

For Coupeville, two very different games.

Game 1:

Facing off with a team they whomped 13-5 in the regular season, the Wolves looked to be headed for a similar finish, jumping out to a 7-1 lead after five innings.

Using a lot of walks, smart base running (Mikayla Elfrank scored from first on a play where she stole second, then kept on going when the throw was airmailed), and a couple of well-timed hits, Coupeville was cruising.

The knockout punch came in the bottom of the fifth, when the Wolves put together three bases-loaded walks and a booming two-run double off the bat of Lauren Rose to plate five runs.

Things were peachy, until they weren’t.

Vashon suddenly found a bit of a groove at the plate, scoring three in the sixth and another three in the seventh, while Coupeville went cold.

Rose played a key role on defense, gunning down a runner at the plate in the sixth, while Tamika Nastali chased down a troublesome fly to stop the bleeding in the seventh.

Tied 7-7, the two teams battled through a scoreless eighth (Vashon stranded a pair of runners while CHS went 1-2-3), then exchanged body blows in the ninth.

Thanks to a quirky softball rule that’s intended to help end games, both teams started the inning with a “free” runner at second, and both teams brought that runner around.

Vashon tacked on another run, exiting the top of the ninth having scored eight unanswered runs to take a 9-7 lead.

Enter “The Surgeon.”

With the bases juiced and one out in the bottom of the ninth, Hope Lodell ripped a two-run single to tie the game and give Coupeville new hope.

The Wolves capitalized immediately, as Tiffany Briscoe and Nastali drew back-to-back walks.

The first one re-loaded the bags, while the second one sent the Coupeville bench and fans into hysterics, as it forced in the game-winning run.

Rose and Lodell paced the Wolves in the opener, both rapping a pair of hits, while Veronica Crownover, Sarah Wright and Nastali added a base-knock apiece.

Game 2:

Making an immediate u-turn and returning to the diamond, the Wolves ran into Bellevue Christian’s well-rested Katie Pippel, one of the most successful pitchers in the state.

Going 1-2-3 in both the first and second against her, Coupeville fell behind 3-0, then rallied in the third.

It started with a bunt single off of Lodell’s bat, followed by a walk to Briscoe and another bunt single, this one by Rose.

A passed ball plated Coupeville’s first run, before Wolf pitcher Katrina McGranahan smoked a two-run single off of her rival to knot the game back up.

Pippel escaped the inning, getting Wright to ground-out, but CHS had her back on the ropes in the fourth.

A walk to Elfrank and another single from Lodell had the Wolves feeling good, only to see the inning end suddenly when a liner to shortstop turned into a double play.

Coupeville was still just one play away, though, trailing only 4-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth.

It was then, for the first time, that one team looked like it was playing in its 14th inning with no break, while the other team was not.

BC tagged McGranahan for four hits in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four to turn a taut game into a bit of a runaway.

That sucked a bit of the life out of the Wolves, and Pippel retired the final seven hitters in order.

Lodell finished with two hits for the second straight game, while Rose and McGranahan added Coupeville’s other two base-knocks in the nightcap.

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JV sluggers play from dawn to dusk!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on March 26, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Jake Pease had multiple hits, caught and made his high school pitching debut Saturday in a road doubleheader. (John Fisken photo)

“The short story is that we ran out of pitching, and our bats found leather when theirs found grass.”

Coupeville High School JV baseball coach Chris Smith had a short bench Saturday, but he still got his Wolves to battle valiantly through a doubleheader on sunny Vashon Island.

While the varsity squad was getting damp back on Whidbey, the Wolf JV played in a relative heat wave, holding the lead in both games before falling 6-4 and 14-5 to the Pirates.

The losses drop the young guns to 1-2 on the season.

“It was a long day and a grind on the field, which is what we like,” Smith said. “I was very proud of our pitchers, who knew they were going into this doubleheader with very little to no support in relief.

“Both Nick Etzell and Elliott Johnson should be commended on their strong pitching performances,” he added. “They both made valiant efforts and pitched a good game, maintaining a Coupeville lead into the 4th and 5th inning, respectively.”

Etzell went five innings in the opener, with Gavin Knoblich coming on to throw in relief, then Johnson teamed with Knoblich and first-time pitcher Jake Pease in the nightcap.

Coupeville notched a quick two runs in the top of the first in game one and held that lead until Vashon struck for five in the bottom of the fourth.

Not content to go down easily, the Wolves got two back in the sixth, but couldn’t quite catch up.

Game two might look like a rout if you just look at the score, but it was far from that.

With Johnson in command on the mound, CHS was on top 5-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. Then Vashon struck, racking up 11 runs in a two-inning span to seal the deal.

Etzell and Pease led the way offensively for the Wolves, rapping out multiple hits, with Etzell scoring twice in both games.

“Our guys battled the whole way,” Smith said. “It was good baseball, even better than the score reflected.

“Everyone demonstrated a never-say-die attitude and we went down swinging,” he added. “Well, not literally; our last out of the second game was a strikeout looking, but you get my point.”

Coupeville played tough defense all game, with several plays bringing a smile to Smith’s face.

The Wolves pulled off a slick double play (Etzell to Pease to Kyle Rockwell) in game one, and twice gunned down runners at the plate in game two.

On both those plays, Etzell was the cutoff man and laid the ball perfectly in Cameron Dahl’s waiting glove behind the plate.

“We made some plays that demonstrated some defensive brilliance,” Smith said. “I love that!”

The hardball guru was also pleased with the hustle and effort he got from a trio of bench players — Johnny Carlson, Seth Weatherford and Gavin Straub.

“We got a lot of support and heart from our bench,” Smith said. “They stood ready in the dugout, waiting for their moment to shine and shine they did.”

Carlson “lost both of his cleats in separate strides as he stormed down the left field line after a double,” actually running out of his shoes.

Weatherford “made a huge out in right catching a hard line drive that he charged in to gobble up” and Straub “put the bat on the ball in both of his AB’s and did everything humanly possible to reach safely.”

Ulrik Wells, Jacob Zettle, James Vidoni and Shane Losey rounded out the Wolf roster, with Wells smacking a single in game two.

While he wanted to come away with wins, Smith couldn’t fault his team’s effort or desire.

“In the end (assistant coach) Mike (Etzell) and I walked away bummed we couldn’t squeak out a win,” he said. “But content that we played “Baseball” and part of baseball is knowing how to deal with the disappointment.

“We will move on and work to get better,” Smith added. “I was proud of this team because they delivered on our expectations for them to “Play Hard, Play Smart, Play Together and Have Fun!

“At the end of the day that is all I really ask or expect!”

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Have bats, will thump!!

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , , on March 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Freshman Mackenzie Davis had a pair of RBI singles Saturday and was a defensive spark-plug in her debut as a high school catcher. (John Fisken photo)

Let the hits rain down.

With eight different players getting at least one base-knock Saturday, the Coupeville High School JV softball squad had plenty of offense to keep their faithful fans warm on a cold, chilly afternoon on the prairie.

By the time they were done knocking Vashon Island around, the Wolves had rung up 14 hits, one for every run they scored in a 14-7 win.

The offensive explosion, which included a pair of doubles from Scout Smith and a resounding inside-the-park grand slam off the bat of Veronica Crownover, lifts the young CHS players to 1-0 on the season.

Coupeville actually spotted the visiting Pirates a three-run lead after the first half inning, and still trailed 4-2 headed into the bottom of the third.

Then the fireworks went off.

A nine-run, seven-hit, 15-batter affair, the bottom of the third went on longer than some entire games do. And the Wolf fans wouldn’t have had it any other way.

An infield single from Tamika Nastali and a walk to Kyla Briscoe set the stage, then Wolf catcher Mackenzie Davis started the barrage.

Rifling an RBI single down the first-base line, she dropped the ball flawlessly in front of an oncoming outfielder, kick-starting a run of five straight Coupeville hits.

Melia Welling dumped a ball between the catcher and pitcher and zoomed into first, Nicole Lester whacked a shot to center, Jae LeVine crushed the ball to the same spot (but even deeper) and Emma Mathusek whipped a frozen rope into right-center.

All that was mere prelude, however.

After Smith walked to juice the bags, still with just one out, Crownover turned on a pitch and drove it to the base of the wall in center.

A couple of inches higher and her home run trot would have been conducted at half-speed as someone hopped the fence to retrieve the ball.

Instead, with the ball still in play and her teammates running wild in front of her, Crownover hit the jets and came crashing around third.

As she stamped on home, beating the throw, dad Darren pretended he wasn’t a cop who had just witnessed someone break the speed limit right in front of him.

Up 10-4 at that point, with all the air having been punched out of the Vashon players, Coupeville cruised home, adding a few more runs along the way.

Crownover and Davis both delivered late-game RBI singles, while the Wolves also scored twice off of double steals.

Smith led the hit parade, collecting two doubles and a single. She also collected a pair of walks, successfully reaching base all five times she came to the plate.

Backing her up, LeVine, Crownover, Davis and Nastali had two hits apiece.

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Smith stifles state champs!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on March 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Hunter Smith tossed six scoreless innings and racked up four RBIs Saturday in an 8-2 win over defending state champ Vashon Island. (John Fisken photo)

Vashon Island was the toast of baseball a year ago.

The Pirates took out Meridian, Nooksack Valley, Overlake/Bear Creek and defending state champion Hoquiam en route to taking home the trophy as the best 1A team in all the land.

Maybe it’s a good thing they didn’t face Hunter Smith along the way.

The Coupeville High School hurler got his crack at the Pirates Saturday and thoroughly bushwhacked them, tossing six scoreless innings and driving in four runs to spark an 8-2 win.

The non-conference victory, the third straight for the Wolves, lifts them to 3-2.

Coupeville has a busy week ahead, with two of three at home.

The Wolves host non-conference foe Sultan Monday, then open defense of their Olympic League crown with a home game Wednesday against Klahowya and a road trip Friday to Port Townsend.

Now, if we’re being totally fair, we’ll acknowledge this year’s Vashon squad is not the same as last year’s, since the Pirates lost nine players to graduation.

But until someone takes away the title, they will still enter every game this year bearing the moniker “defending state champs,” so it is what it is.

And Vashon flat-out had no luck against Coupeville’s junior ace, who welcomed the Pirates to Whidbey by setting them down one after another.

Smith whiffed ten, while giving up just a single in the second and a walk in the fifth, cruising home with an 8-0 lead.

Vashon managed to scrape together two runs in the seventh against Wolf reliever Matt Hilborn, but he settled down quickly and ended any hopes of a late-game rally.

Coupeville jumped on the Pirates quickly, scoring two in the first and another two in the second.

The opening runs came courtesy an RBI double from Clay Reilly and an RBI single by Jake Hoagland, before Smith struck in the second with a two-run single.

Two innings later, Smith was right back at it, this time crushing a two-run double to run the score to 6-0.

Reilly and Dane Lucero plated runners in the fifth to cap Coupeville’s scoring.

While Vashon couldn’t buy a hit most of the day, the Wolves collected six base-knocks, with four of them being of the extra-base variety.

Smith, Reilly and Ethan Marx all had doubles, while Reilly also tripled.

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She has the Wright stuff!!

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on March 25, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Sarah Wright had three hits, four RBI and two dazzling defensive plays Saturday in a 13-5 Coupeville win. (John Fisken photo)

It took them a little while to get going, but then … wowza.

Heading into the bottom of the fifth inning Saturday, the Coupeville High School softball squad had just a lone infield single to its credit, and trailed visiting Vashon Island 4-2.

16 batters, seven hits and 11 runs later, the Wolves were finally done with their half of the inning and ready to coast home with a 13-5 win.

The non-conference victory lifts Coupeville to 2-0 on the season as it prepares to open Olympic League play.

The Wolves host Klahowya Wednesday, Mar. 29, then travel to Port Townsend Friday, Mar. 31.

With a rain-out in between, CHS had been off a full week since its opening day win, and maybe that contributed a bit to their early lack of offense.

More likely it was the Vashon pitcher, who had three speeds — slow, slower and slowest — and used them to effectively blunt the Wolf bats.

While Coupeville scraped out two runs in the third on a bases-loaded walk to Lauren Rose and an RBI ground-out from Katrina McGranahan, it wasn’t connecting on many solid hits.

Sarah Wright beat out an infield chopper in the third, but that was it until the floodgates opened in the fifth.

With the rain which had been threatening all game finally beginning to consistently fall, the Vashon hurler looked cold and miserable, at one point having her teammates blow on her throwing fingers.

Seizing the moment, the Wolves pounced.

Rose reached on an error and McGranahan stroked a single into the gap between third and short to set the table, before Wright began the onslaught with a thunderous two-run double to deep center-field.

That knotted the score up at 4-4, but the hit parade soon blew that up sky high.

Hope Lodell lashed a two-run single off a fielder’s glove, joltin’ Jae LeVine crunched a two-run single to center, a passed ball plated yet another run, and boom, it was Wright’s second turn at the plate in the inning.

Wiggling her eyebrows slightly in anticipation, she dropped the hammer, sending the ball careening wildly into the right field corner, where it hit pay-dirt and skipped free.

By the time the ball came flying back in, Wright was on third, her extended family (which was huddled along the first row of rain-slickened seats) had gone appropriately bonkers and two more runs were plated.

If Vashon thought the agony was done, the Pirates were mistaken, though.

The next two hitters, Mikayla Elfrank and Veronica Crownover, whacked back-to-back RBI extra-base hits to cap an inning in which all nine Wolves reached base at least once.

While she didn’t get a hit in the inning, the most grateful Wolf might have been left fielder Tiffany Briscoe, who walked her first time up in the fifth.

Why grateful, you ask?

Because this free pass, her third straight walk on the afternoon, was the first time she didn’t get plunked with a pitch. With two bruises already forming, missing out on the trifecta was cause for internal celebration.

When the Wolves weren’t raining down runs, they played solid defense behind McGranahan, who whiffed five Pirates from the pitcher’s circle.

Wright, Coupeville’s catcher, gunned down a runner at third and nailed another at home after thinking quickly.

With the ball wet from the rain, a pitch skidded past her glove, and the Vashon runner at third bolted for home.

Spinning quickly, Wright played the rebound off the backstop to perfection, then whirled and caught the airborne, and startled, runner with the tag right as she started to drop into a slide.

LeVine added a nifty double play, ending the sixth by snaring a grounder in between second and first, tagging the runner going by, then pivoting and dropping a perfect throw into Crownover’s glove at first.

Toss in stellar work by the outfield, as Briscoe, Lodell, Robin Cedillo and Tamika Nastali ran down nearly everything which came their way, and Coupeville was clicking on all aspects of the game.

The game also marked the varsity debut of freshman Scout Smith, who started at third and lashed a wicked liner in her first at-bat, only to have a Vashon fielder steal a double away with a lunging catch.

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