Coupeville Sports

A Coupeville hitter turns on the ball Tuesday during the first baseball game of the summer. (Photo courtesy Jon Roberts)

Play … ball?

While they wait for word on the fate of school sports during a pandemic, Coupeville baseball players returned to the diamond Tuesday for what coaches termed a “pick up” game.

The first of two games planned with next-door neighbor South Whidbey (the second is set for Thursday), the contest ended with a nail-biter of a 2-1 win for the Wolves.

Coupeville came from behind to knot things up, then pushed across the eventual winning run in the top of the seventh, and final, inning.

A Camden Glover sac fly to right plated Johnny Valenzuela with the go-ahead score, then Scott Hilborn, the third Wolf pitcher of the night, shut down South Whidbey in the bottom half of the inning to ice the win.

Hilborn, “looking ever much like Mariano Rivera,” according to Coupeville coach Jon Roberts, set down his rivals 1-2-3.

After forcing an infield out, the Wolf reliever closed the game with back-to-back strikeouts.

Coupeville set South Whidbey players on their heels thanks to a trio of top-notch hurlers, with starter Chase Anderson teaming up with relief aces Valenzuela and Hilborn to notch 9 K’s.

Anderson and Valenzuela each put in three innings apiece on the hill, with Valenzuela topping all Wolf pitchers with four strikeouts.

South Whidbey actually eked out the first run of the game, sending a runner around the bath-paths in the bottom of the first inning, but after that, Coupeville’s hurlers were in full lock-down mode.

The Wolves scratched out a run of their own in the top of the second, then the two squads remained deadlocked until the seventh.

Coupeville’s first run came courtesy Valenzuela, who singled, stole second and third, then streaked home when South Whidbey’s catcher lost the ball on what should have been a third strike.

From there, it was a defensive-minded stalemate, with the Wolves twice stranding a runner at third.

Coupeville finally found that elusive run in the seventh, thanks to walks to Valenzuela and Landon Roberts (who was plunked by a wayward pitch), which set Glover up for his heroics.

Jon Roberts, who has been waiting all summer to see his team in action, was happy for the game and happy for the victory, but interested in seeing his players continue to improve during difficult times.

“The win was great, but the game showed some areas that need serious work,” he said. “Batting will be a focus of the team. The number of strikeouts was way too high. We will be hitting the cages and trying to solve this issue.

“Besides that, it was great to be back on the field competing! You just gotta love baseball!”