Top of the league!!

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Top of the league!!

March 31, 2016 by David Svien

With a 9-0 win over Port Townsend Thursday, Joey Lippo and Coupeville are in first place in the 1A Olympic League. (John Fisken photo)

This is how you break a losing streak.

Hot bats. A torrid pitching performance. Contributions from the top of the lineup to the bottom.

Riding a 13-strikeout complete-game performance from senior hurler CJ Smith, the Coupeville High School baseball squad rediscovered its winning ways Thursday afternoon.

Playing under a blazing sun on the prairie, the Wolves routed visiting Port Townsend 9-0 to snap a four-game skid and claim, at least for the moment, sole possession of first place in the 1A Olympic League.

Coupeville is 3-5 overall, 1-0 in league play and will have three non-league games (all on the road) before they face off with another league foe.

That won’t be until Apr. 14, when the Wolves travel to Chimacum.

Up first are con-conference games at South Whidbey, La Conner and Blaine, with the all-Island showdown coming Saturday in Langley.

JV kicks off a doubleheader at 10, with varsity set for noon.

Facing off with the RedHawks Thursday, Coupeville came out guns blazing.

CJ Smith retired the side in order in four of seven innings, scattering just a pair of hits while getting almost two-thirds of his outs via the punch-out.

The Wolves broke the game open in the bottom of the third, sending their first four hitters in the inning (Matt Hilborn, Hunter Smith, CJ Smith and Cole Payne) across the plate.

The first two scored on Port Townsend errors, while the latter two were knocked in by a blow from first baseman Kory Score.

CHS added three in the fifth and another two in the sixth — Hilborn, Cameron Toomey-Stout and Nick Etzell all chipped in with RBIs — getting something from everyone in a shuffled lineup.

“Everybody had great at-bats,” said Coupeville coach Marc Aparicio. “We switched it up and slid some guys in off the bench and were able to get some different looks.

“Port Townsend is a very solid team, but we really got a lot out of the bottom of our lineup today.”