Coupeville Sports

Morgan Payne ponders the universe. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

The injured hand. (Joan Payne photo)

A third starter has gone down.

Injuries are starting to wreak havoc with the Coupeville High School baseball squad, which potentially lost senior Morgan Payne for 4-6 weeks after he fractured his hand during practice Tuesday.

The Wolf senior, who anchors the team’s defense at short and third, hurt the third metacarpal bone in his left hand diving for a ball.

He will go in to see an orthopedic doctor as soon as possible, and the hope is to have the bone pinned so it will heal faster, said mom Joan Payne.

Payne’s injury comes on the heels of catcher Jake Tumblin spraining his throwing hand (he’s hitting as a DH but not catching right now) and pitcher Aaron Curtin dealing with a shoulder issue.

While he’s less-than-thrilled with the injuries, CHS coach Willie Smith is not ready to write off the season.

“Time to put the rally hats on, pull on the big boy britches and elevate our game with the rest of our boys,” Smith said.

“Really stinks for Morgan,” he added. “Was really starting to come around and get into a groove both defensively and offensively.”

With the rash of injuries, Coupeville has had to move its swing players up to varsity full-time and is canceling this Thursday’s scheduled JV game at Lakewood.