Diamond men fight until final strike

May 4, 2019 by David Svien

Catcher Gavin Knoblich is one of five starters who can return for a Coupeville baseball team which finished its season strongly. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The Wolves are done, while the Falcons still have a shot.

The Coupeville High School baseball squad, which beat the odds by making the playoffs after an 0-12 start to the season, dropped a pair of close games Saturday at the bi-district tourney in Bellingham, bringing its season to an end.

Meanwhile, South Whidbey split two contests, and gets to return to Sehome High School next Saturday to play a winner-to-state, loser-out game.

The Falcons, the #2 seed from the North Sound Conference, opened the day by beating Mount Baker 5-0, before falling 5-1 to NWC kingpin Cedar Park Christian in the semifinals.

Coupeville fell 6-1 to Northwest Conference champ Meridian, then exited after a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Emerald City League champ Overlake.

Cedar Park (19-3) and Meridian (11-10) won two games apiece, clinched tickets to state, and face off May 11 for the district title.

That same day, South Whidbey (18-4) plays Overlake (15-5), while King’s (12-10) faces University Prep (10-7).

The winners of those games are state-bound, as well, and return to the field in the afternoon to decide the district’s #3 and #4 seeds to the big dance.

Mount Baker (9-13) and Coupeville (7-14) are done, joining Lynden Christian (11-14), which was eliminated in an earlier play-in game.

How Saturday developed for the Wolves:

Game 1:

Coupeville struck first, but it would turn out to be the only run they got off of Meridian ace Dylan Hickok.

Freshman Hawthorne Wolfe whacked a one-out single off of a fielder’s glove, stole second, then came around to score on an RBI single by Dane Lucero in the bottom of the first, promising big things.

But, while the Wolves put runners aboard in four of the next six innings, they couldn’t push them across the plate, something at which the Trojans fared slightly better.

Meridian picked up a run of its own in the bottom of the first, and the game stayed knotted at 1-1 until the bottom of the third, as Lucero and Hickock dueled in the sun.

The Trojans finally broke through thanks to a lead-off double from Brayden Zender, a shot which hit Earth (barely) in fair territory, before shooting away from the fielder into foul territory.

Big fans of playing small ball, and very adept at it, the Northwest Conference’s best 1A team plated the eventual winning run on a suicide squeeze, then added two more in the inning thanks to a bloop single which dropped in between a pair of Wolf fielders.

Up 4-1, Hickok was in charge, but also probably saying a silent prayer of thanks after his squad put up another run in both the fourth and sixth innings.

Coupeville, after going down 1-2-3 in the second, had runners in scoring position in the third, fourth, and sixth innings, but came up a hit shy each time.

In the third frame, Shane Losey lofted a little flare to left for a single, but he eventually died a slow death at third base.

An inning later, Lucero drilled a lead-off single and Gavin Knoblich bunted him over to second, but that was where he remained as the Wolf rally sputtered out.

Coupeville’s final best chance came in the top of the sixth, with Lucero getting plunked and Ulrik Wells lashing a single.

But with two on and two out, Hickok dodged one final time, inducing an inning-ending ground-out before retiring CHS in order in the seventh.

The Wolves rung up six hits in the opener, with Lucero punching a pair of singles in support of his own pitching.

Matt Hilborn, Wolfe, Wells, and Losey also collected base-knocks.

Game 2:

With their backs to the wall, the Wolves found themselves facing a familiar foe, but this time it almost turned out radically different.

In the second game of the season, Coupeville suffered one of its few blow-out losses this season, falling 13-1 to Overlake.

Jump forward to Saturday afternoon and CHS pushed the Owls hard, carrying a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth.

With Hilborn keeping Overlake at bay — he gave up a pair of doubles in the early going, but stranded both runners — Coupeville had a prime opportunity to jump out to a lead.

It didn’t come for quite awhile, though, as the Wolves stranded Knoblich at third base in the second and frittered away a lead-off double from Lucero in the fourth.

Coupeville finally cracked the scoreless tie thanks to some smartly-done small ball of its own.

Losey scampered to first when a third strike got away from the Overlake catcher, stole second, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Hilborn, then scored on a Wolfe RBI single.

Overlake responded quickly, however, putting together three hits and a walk in the bottom half of the fifth and turning it into three runs.

A Knoblich single went for naught in the sixth, but Coupeville rallied in the seventh, plating one and putting the tying run at third.

Back-to-back walks to Losey and Hilborn got the inning off with a bang, but Overlake picked up two outs on grounders to even things out a bit.

The second of those rollers, coming from third-baseman Jake Pease, brought in a run, cutting the lead to a single score.

But that game-tying run, represented by Wolfe bouncing on the bag at third, never got to come down the line, as the game ended on a come-backer to the Owls hurler.

Wolfe and Knoblich each had a pair of singles in the season-ending loss, while Lucero’s final prep hit was a two-bagger.

The defeat brings an end to the high school careers of seniors Hilborn, Losey, Pease, Lucero, and Bryce Payne, but CHS coach Chris Smith can return starters Wolfe, Knoblich, Wells, Daniel Olson, and Mason Grove, as well as several key reserves.