Coupeville Sports

   CJ Smith had one of the few hits for Coupeville Monday in a 3-0 loss. (Sylvia Hurlburt photo)

Seven steps forward, one step backward.

A game after they clinched their first league title in 25 years, the Coupeville High School baseball squad came out a bit flat Monday afternoon.

Call it a hangover loss.

Unable to generate much offense, the Wolves fell 3-0 at Chimacum, taking their first league defeat under first-year head coach Marc Aparicio.

Now 7-1 in the 1A Olympic League, 10-9 overall, CHS will wrap its regular season with a home game against Klahowya Wednesday.

Win or lose, the Wolves open district play May 10 at Curtis High School.

They’ll also play May 12 and possibly May 14 and will need two wins to advance to state.

To see the playoff bracket, hop over to: http://www.olympicleague.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=1906&sport=6

Facing off with a foe they had beaten by a single run in each of their first two meetings, Coupeville got stung early Monday.

Chimacum plated all three of its runs in the first inning, using a couple of singles and two Wolf errors to do their damage.

It was the only time all afternoon the Cowboys had much going at the plate, but it turned out to be enough, as Coupeville struggled offensively.

“We played well, but couldn’t get the bats working,” Aparicio said.

Coupeville went down in order three times, and only managed to get more than one runner on in the same inning twice in the game.

Singles from CJ Smith and Cole Payne in the first went for naught, while a brief fourth inning rally sputtered out as quickly as it began.