Coupeville Sports

Kyle Rockwell leads off first during an earlier game. (Joan Payne photo)

This story is contributed by Joe Lippo.

Game Two of the District 11 Little League Majors tournament, held Tuesday night, was a real nail biter.

Ty Eck started the game on the mound for Coupeville and was promptly credited with a slew of walks and passed balls, resulting in four South Whidbey runs.

He was having an off day (and so, it seemed, was everyone else). Even though he held South Whidbey to two runs in the second, he was replaced with Bryce Payne to start the third inning.

In the interim, the Central team was having a little difficulty finding its stride.

There were errors, batters were striking out looking, and outfielders were dropping balls. At least one ball went through the legs of an infielder. Payne gave up two more runs with a little “help” from his fielders.

It didn’t look good at all for the boys from the middle of the Island as the score was run up to a discouraging 8-0 by the top of the third inning.

Then Payne dug down, found a little extra and got the team out of the inning, bringing Central Whidbey back to the plate.

They didn’t exactly dash out onto the field. If this were a movie, the slow, sad music would be playing, and the fans would be heading for the exits.

It was 8-0. That’s EIGHT to NOTHING. As in, they had eight runs and … well, you get it.

BUT…

Remember what I said yesterday? About how this particular Central Whidbey team has the innate ability to interpret the scoreboard however they want? Or just seemingly ignore it altogether?

Monday they were down 4-0 and came back to win 10-4. That was obviously not enough of a challenge for the Coupeville boys…

So, just like yesterday, don’t stop reading. Trust me, if you’re a Coupeville sports fan, you WANT to read the rest of this. Really.

Julian Welling and Joey Lippo paced the dugout, trying to keep the team’s heads up, reminding them to stay hydrated and keep it simple.

The coaches sent signals and exhorted the team to stick to the basics, relax, and for God’s sake use two hands to catch the ball.

The bottom of the third inning was when it all started.

With two outs, Central Whidbey had two people on base and Eck came to the plate. The pitcher threw a pitch that ended up hitting him and the judge awarded first base for pain and suffering.

Then Jake Pease came to the plate. Apparently, Pease thought that the field didn’t look so good with three Central players on base, and the scoreboard didn’t look so good with that goose egg on it, so he swatted a deep ball for a double, and cleared the bases.

Shortly thereafter, in the meat of the lineup, Welling hit a single to score Pease, making the score 8-4 in South Whidbey’s favor.

Jared Brown came in to pitch, and allowed only one run in the top of the fourth. The bottom of the fourth was a mirror image of the third, with Pease again hitting a bases loaded double, driving in his sixth RBI of the game.

This brings the score to 9-7 South Whidbey.

Brown remained the very picture of consistency, allowing no runs in the top of the fifth, while also featuring prominently in a play where the South Whidbey player on third let his situational awareness lapse for a second.

The catcher flipped the ball to Brown, who immediately whipped it to a waiting Lippo on third for the pick-off.

The same could not be said of the South Whidbey pitcher, as he gave up a few walks and hits to Matt Hillborn and Kyle Rockwell, driving in two more runs to tie the game at nine apiece.

The crowd from Central was thrilled, the fans from South not so much.

A rally in the sixth fell short, sending the game into extra innings. Bonus baseball! OT! The most thrilling part of any sporting event!

Brown stayed rock solid on the mound in the top of the extra inning, doing it all himself by striking out two and fielding a ball hit back to him for an out.

This was now Central’s chance to do it. The South Whidbey pitcher took the mound.

Can you imagine the pressure? One run across the plate and that’s it. No do-overs.

Speedy Hillborn chopped an infield single, beating the throw by mere inches. Payne and Brown followed with walks, then Eck came to the plate, and the winning run crossed the plate shortly after ball four was called.

Not the way we would choose to win, but this is why we play the game.

Central Whidbey wins 10-9 and South Whidbey moves to the losers bracket. Next opponent is Sedro Woolley on July 4th in a battle of unbeaten teams.