Coupeville Sports

Coupeville’s Daniel Olson reached base twice Friday, rapping a single and eking out a walk in a road loss to King’s. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

At least they’re headed home.

After absorbing an 8-0 loss to King’s Friday night in Shoreline, the Coupeville High School baseball team will spend much of the second half of its season on The Rock.

A team which lost eight players to graduation continues to struggle at the plate, averaging just a single run per game.

Hopefully, steady home cooking will power up the bats.

With Friday’s loss, the Wolves fall to 0-6 in North Sound Conference play, 0-10 overall.

Coupeville is tied with Sultan (0-6, 0-11), a half-game off of Granite Falls (0-5, 2-8) for the fourth, and final, NSC playoff berth.

Cedar Park Christian (8-0, 10-1), South Whidbey (8-1, 11-1), and King’s (4-2, 5-6) hold down the top three slots at the moment.

The Wolves play seven of their final nine regular-season games on the Island, with six in Coupeville.

CHS has three-game series with South Whidbey, Sultan, and Granite remaining on the schedule.

Over the next three weeks, Coupeville plays at home every Monday and Friday, with Wednesday road trips.

While the win/loss record is a big step down from last year, when a veteran Wolf squad finished 15-6, won a league title, and fell a game shy of the state tourney, this year’s team has been competitive.

Pitching and defense have been generally solid, and Coupeville has put runners aboard at a decent clip. But they keep missing out on getting a game-busting hit or two.

The Wolves hung with private school power King’s all week, but, after close 5-0 and 3-2 losses, Friday’s game finished with the most lopsided score.

The host Knights put the game away early this time around, using seven hits and two walks to pile up six runs across the first two innings.

After that, Wolf hurler Daniel Olson and reliever Gavin Knoblich largely stifled their foes.

Olson retired six straight batters from the end of the second inning to the beginning of the fourth, tossing four strikeouts in four innings of work.

Knoblich, who moved out from behind the plate, where he nailed a would-be base thief earlier in the game, pitched the final two innings.

He gave up just a single hit and whiffed a batter, while throwing to senior shortstop Matt Hilborn, who caught for the first time since his freshman campaign.

After banging out seven hits Wednesday, the Wolf offense sputtered Friday, putting only three runners on base.

Olson had the longest adventure, ripping a one-out single in the second inning, moving to second on a stolen base, then scampering to third on a ground-out.

Unfortunately that’s where his trip ended, and the Wolves accomplished little more at the plate.

Knoblich singled in the fourth, but was thrown out on an attempted steal, while Olson led off the fifth with a walk, only to again be stranded.