Coupeville Sports

Joey Lippo at national baseball spring training. (Joe Lippo photos)

Coupeville Middle School eighth-grader Joey Lippo spent three days at national baseball spring training, the only player in his age group from Washington state.

The following is dad Joe Lippo’s first hand account of the adventure:

Final Day in Mesa.

Only a morning warmup today and the coaches were in “game mode” from the beginning of the day.

They called everyone by their first names, or their new nicknames.

The only Coupeville player present, Joey, AKA “The Most Interesting Man in the World,” warmed up with his bat. He was slotted third in the lineup.

He earned his nickname because he lives on an island, and likes sports teams from Washington and Michigan and none from California.

Then it was time for the 2-0 Black team to face the 0-2 Navy team.

This time, the Navy team brought their ace pitcher to the mound.

Joey, like the two batters before him, struck out swinging.

So began a pitcher’s duel so intense that a “long” inning consisted of four batters. Speed, accuracy, and a variety of curves, breaks, and other assorted cheese frustrated batters from both sides.

Joey didn’t see the plate again until late in the third, and the score was 3-1 in favor of the Navy team.

This time, he hit a short looper just over the pitcher’s head that the second baseman missed catching by a whisker.

The second baseman had an awkward throw to first, so he threw to second, leaving Lippo safe at first on the fielders choice.

He wouldn’t see the plate again, but he played good defense all over the field, including second base and left field. He threw two batters out from the second base position.

Ultimately, the Black team could not match the few hits of the Navy team, and the game ended 5-1 in favor of the Navy team.

Final stats for Joey — .400 batting average (4-10), .500 on-base percentage, two steals, two RBI, one strikeout, no walks and one error.

Spring training is over, but Lippo will bring a little more knowledge, a little more skill, and a whole lot of new drills back to Coupeville to pass on to the teams here.