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Posts Tagged ‘Wade Schaef’

All hail the birthday boys!!

Posted in Baseball, Boys Basketball, Boys Tennis, Football, Happy birthday, Track, tagged , , , , on June 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Paul Messner, with his three daughters, and young guns Wade Schaef (center) and Jared Helmstadter all share a birthday.

Paul Messner, with his three daughters, and young guns Wade Schaef (center) and Jared Helmstadter all share a birthday. (John Fisken photos)

Some days are just bigger than others.

In terms of Coupeville High School sports, June 26 is the real deal.

Two current Wolf stars, junior-to-be Jared Helmstadter (tennis, basketball, track) and just graduated Wade Schaef (football, baseball) celebrate birthdays today.

Topping the list is the patriarch of one of Coupeville’s legendary sports families — the one, the only, the Santa, Paul Messner.

Daughters Barbi (Messner) Ford, Christi Messner and Aimee (Messner) Bishop have all had their moments in the athletic spotlight, and granddaughter Breeanna Messner was just named as the CHS Female Athlete of the Year to cap her senior season.

Whether you’re celebrating your 17th birthday, or your 67th, it’s a good day to be a Wolf.

Well played, gentlemen. Well played.

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Wolves silence Falcon bats!!

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on March 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Wolf catcher Jake Tumblin called a good game Thursday, as CHS pitchers (John Fisken photo)

  Wolf catcher Jake Tumblin called a good game Thursday, then chipped in at the plate with two hits and three stolen bases. (John Fisken photo)

Church was in session Thursday, and the sermon was all about denial.

Coupeville High School hurler Aaron “Church” Curtin was flingin’ smoke, and backed by an opportunistic defense, he shut down visiting South Whidbey to a 6-1 tune.

The second straight win over their Island arch-rivals, it lifted the Wolves to a glossy 2-0 on the young season and clinched the tie-breaker between the only two 1A schools playing baseball in the Cascade Conference.

While Coupeville still has another 18 regular season games to play, 16 in league play (including a game in Langley Friday), it doesn’t hurt to know that, if it comes down to it, the Wolves will have an edge when playoff berths are decided.

“Well, it certainly helps, but we still need to finish ahead of them in league, so a long ways to go until it’s completely secured,” said a low-key CHS coach Willie Smith.

If Curtin keeps pitching like he did in his first outing of the season, following on the heels of strong work from Ben Etzell in the opener, it’s just going to get better for Coupeville.

“Aaron pitched a heckuva game,” Smith said.

Curtin struck out six over six innings and effectively scattered five hits, spacing them out where they did little damage.

When the Falcons did get bat on ball, the Wolf defense was ready.

Etzell went airborne to snag a screaming liner, then doubled a runner off of second for an inning-ending double play.

Then Wade Schaef topped him with “an ESPN highlight reel play,” laying out on a dead run to grab a liner at his shoestrings, snatching away a huge hit at a time when CHS was clinging to a one-run lead.

Schaef also swung a huge bat for the Wolves, crunching a double and knocking home three runs.

The whole lineup clicked, with Korbin Korzan thumping a double and Jake Tumblin racking up two hits and three stolen bases. Korzan, Tumblin and Morgan Payne each had an RBI, while Etzell and Josh Bayne also collected steals.

Coming into the season, pitching was a strong suit for the Wolves, with Etzell, Curtin, Aaron Trumbull, Bayne, Schaef and others forming a strong staff. But that staff may be even deeper than thought.

Sophomore CJ Smith, who transferred to Coupeville during basketball season, made his debut on the mound in the seventh and closed the game with a bang. Facing the top of the order for the Falcons, he retired them one-two-three on just eight pitches.

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McGranahan on fast track to athletic success!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , , on February 28, 2014| 1 Comment »

It must be the shoes. (John Fisken photo)

Must be the shoes. (John Fisken photo)

Katrina McGranahan: rising star. (Justine McGranahan photos)

Game face. Always keep your game face on. (Justine McGranahan photos)

The fish whisperer.

The fish whisperer.

The future of Wolf girls’ basketball is a bright one.

A strong freshman group made a big impact on the Coupeville High School JV squad this past season, and the group of Coupeville Middle School eighth graders coming up hot on their heels is a talented, feisty band of ball-hawks.

One of the players with the most promise is Katrina McGranahan, who patrols the paint clad in eye-popping shoes and is a force to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball.

Blessed with height, and natural athletic ability (she’s a superb softball player) she throws in hard work and hustle and it makes for a winning package.

Not bad for someone who wasn’t sure she even wanted to try the sport when she first entered CMS.

“To me, basketball didn’t look fun, but like my parents say, how do you know you don’t like it if you’ve never tried it?” McGranahan said.

So she did, and immediately found the experience was better than she expected.

A big fan of “the challenge of the game” and facing “the competitiveness the other team brings,” McGranahan, whose older brother Wade Schaef is a CHS senior who starts for the Wolf football and baseball squads, continues to fine-tune her skills.

“My strengths are my defensive abilities and my height,” she said. “I really need to work on my shooting and our offensive plays. My goals are to get better at my shooting.”

McGranahan, who enjoys her history and gym classes, is actually a three-sport star, with volleyball thrown into the mix as well.

When not on the court or diamond, she remains active, fishing, crabbing and swimming.

A big country music fan, she enjoys hanging out with friends, holds “Finding Nemo,” “The Hunger Games” and “Lone Survivor” as her favorite films and picks “Princes of the Universe” by Queen as the best song of all time.

And, like any good young athlete who knows she’ll need rides to practice, she’s quick to remember to thank parents Kevin and Justine McGranahan for their support.

“My parents helped me become who I am today because they always push me to do my best in everything.”

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