Coupeville Sports

          Aaron Curtin, seen here during legion ball, had a strong start in game two. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

There was a little something for everyone Friday. Just not a win.

Despite putting together some solid hitting, a little pin-point pitching and the heady rush of Ben Etzell stealing home, the Coupeville High School baseball squad was unable to knock off Cascade Conference power Lakewood.

Not that the Wolves didn’t come close.

Toss out one big inning in each game, and the doubleheader sweep goes the opposite way. But, there was that one pesky big inning in each game and it sent Coupeville to 6-3 and 6-5 losses on the road.

After being rained out twice, just getting on the field was a nice start for the two teams.

With Etzell zipping strikes from the mound in the opening game, Coupeville jumped on the Cougars early. Despite not getting many hits in game one (just two), the Wolves struck first on an RBI from Aaron Trumbull.

The lead didn’t hold, however, as the Cougars strung together four hits during a five-run rally in the bottom of the third. Wade Schaef came on in relief and shut down Lakewood, but the damage was done.

With just a double from Korbin Korzan and a single from Schaef, Coupeville relied on a small ball approach, collecting five steals (two by Etzell) and forcing Lakewood into committing five errors.

By contrast, the Wolves were fairly flawless in the field.

“Defensively we were pretty solid, although we did have a misplayed fly ball in the third that would have helped us,” Coupeville coach Willie Smith said. “Overall, we ran the bases well and I was pleased overall with the pitching and defense.”

The big bats suddenly surfaced in game two, as Morgan Payne went on a tear, hammering three hits, including a pair of doubles. Drew Chan crunched a two-bagger of his own and Etzell bull-rushed the plate for a successful steal of home.

But, just as the bats warmed up, the gloves cooled off behind hurlers Aaron Curtin and Trumbull. Up 5-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Wolves gave up four unearned runs in the inning, thanks largely to some bobbled balls.

“We had some major defensive lapses,” Smith said.”We did a lot of good things, but really need to limit the other team to no big innings. I know, that is a very profound statement…

“The things we need to fix are very fixable,” he added. “It was very encouraging for us to hit the ball like we did in game two and get the pitching performances we did.”

Coupeville will get an immediate chance to bounce back when it hosts Nooksack Valley in a non-conference game Saturday, March 16. First pitch is set for 1 PM, unless the Whidbey rain returns.