Coupeville Sports

Joey Lippo, future Wolf baseball star.

Contributed by Joe Lippo

Although pitcher Hunter Smith only allowed a few hits Thursday, the Sedro-Woolley squad was able to exact revenge on the Oak Harbor Babe Ruth team, squeaking out a one-run victory on its home turf.

The game was very close all the way through.

In the second inning, the ‘Cats brought walked batter James Besaw home with a sac bunt by Thomas Anderson and an RBI single from Joey Lippo.

Improved pitching from the Sedro squad stranded Anderson and Lippo.

Smith sat the Sedro batters down in the second and the ‘Cats came back to the plate and managed to generate two more runs on a combination of passed balls and trickery.

On a walk to Cory Roberts, Mackenzie Nuanez (who occupied third) took a huge step towards home while Roberts rounded first at full speed.

On the ensuing toss to second base, Nuanez ran home. Both runners safe.

That would be the end of the scoring for the ‘Cats, and the Sedro squad posted two more in the fifth, making the score 4-3, and that is how the game ended as both pitchers put on a strikeout clinic in the closing innings.

Only 10 hits were spread across both teams in the pitcher’s duel, with Smith (who was robbed, again, of a base hit by a diving Sedro Wolley shortstop) pitching a complete game allowing only six hits.

“We had some mental errors on the base paths and the lack of hitting didn’t help, either,” said Oak Harboe manager Pete Richter. “Something to work on next practice.”