Coupeville Sports

   Marc Aparicio juggled his lineup Saturday and it paid off with a win. (John Fisken photos)

Kory Score stretches for the throw at first, as a Falcon bears down on him.

Matt Hilborn vacuums ups a would-be base hit.

A deep pitching staff will be key this year.

With new restrictions on how often high school baseball pitchers can throw, and how many throws they can let loose once on the mound, every coach will need more than one ace to call on.

Three games into a new season, Coupeville coach Marc Aparicio is already seeing the benefits from having as many as seven quality hurlers on his staff.

Saturday, it was senior Taylor Consford, normally the starting catcher, who took the ball and went six strong innings in a 7-4 home win over Island rival South Whidbey.

The non-conference victory, coming less than 24 hours after a loss to Sequim, lifts Coupeville to 1-2 on the season.

While Consford was chucking away, ringing up six strikeouts, the man behind the plate catching his throws was fellow senior Clay Reilly.

Normally a power-hitting outfielder with a cannon for an arm, he strapped on the catcher’s gear for the first time in high school.

The Consford/Reilly connection proved to be a potent one, bringing an appreciative smile to Aparicio’s face on a frigid prairie afternoon.

“They both played extremely well,” he said. “Taylor and Clay stepped up and had strong games for us.”

Reilly also swung a hot bat, bashing a two-run single as Coupeville built a 5-1 lead.

Taking advantage of some South Whidbey miscues, and a few well-placed walks, the Wolves got one run in the first, three in the second and another in the fourth.

Lead-off hitter Hunter Smith accounted for three of those five runs, after walking twice and reaching on an error, while Ethan Marx had a key single.

The Falcons, coming off a one-run win over Chimacum, didn’t go down easily, however.

Tom Fallon’s squad trimmed the lead back to 5-4 heading into the bottom of the sixth, before the Wolves iced the game.

Walks to Smith and Reilly gave Dane Lucero a chance to be a hittin’ hero, and the sophomore slugger responded, drilling a two-run single in the sixth to stretch the lead back out.

Aparicio went to sophomore Matt Hilborn to close the game out on the mound, and he did, after a brief bit of trouble.

An error and a single put two runners on base for South Whidbey in the seventh, but Hilborn bore down and finished the game off with a strikeout and a fly to left.

Coupeville closes a three-game home stand Monday when it welcomes 2A Bremerton to town for a 4 PM game.

To see more photos from this game (purchases fund college scholarships for CHS student/athletes), pop over to:

http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/2017-Coupeville-Baseball/20170319-vs-South-Whidbey/