Coupeville Sports

 CMS players (l t r) Joey Lippo, Hunter Smith, Gabe Eck, Jake Pease and Ty Eck. (Teresa Besaw photo)

A roller-coaster of a season ended the wrong way.

After a rough start to the season, the Oak Harbor Babe Ruth baseball squad had jelled and gone on a nine-game winning streak that carried into the district playoffs. Unfortunately, things fell apart a bit again at the end.

Back-to-back losses (to Ferndale Thursday and Burlington Friday) ended the ‘Cats season one win shy of advancing to the state tourney.

Still, while it won’t be making a trip to Spokane in July, Oak Harbor — which featured five Coupeville Middle School students on its roster in Jake Pease, Ty Eck, Hunter Smith, Gabe Eck and Joey Lippo — finished third at districts, its best showing in a decade.

Along the way, they bumped off Friday Harbor, the #1 seed, beginning that team’s slide to elimination. The ‘Cats also showed great growth.

“This is the best team that Oak Harbor has seen in awhile,” Wildcat coach Shawn Trisler said. “I hope the ones that are able to return next year do just that. I am very happy with how we played and how we acted on the field.”