A star regardless of the sport, Scott Hilborn struck out seven batters while collecting three hits and three RBI Thursday in Coupeville’s baseball clash with South Whidbey. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Well, it was nice while it lasted.
Coupeville and South Whidbey faced off on the baseball diamond Thursday, playing to a 6-6 tie in a game called after two-plus hours of play.
It was the second game between the next-door neighbors in the last three days, and, quite possibly, the last time either hardball squad will play this summer.
Earlier in the day, Washington state Governor Jay Inslee announced that counties in Phase 3 of his reopening plan will revert to a 10-person limit on gatherings as of Monday, July 20.
That decision was made after the state Department of Health recorded 1,000+ new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour period, well above the previous one-day mark of 716 new cases.
Leading the spike is a considerable increase in positive cases among state residents in their 20’s and below.
While Coupeville’s diamond men only got two games in the book, they sit at a very-respectable 1-0-1.
The Wolves bounced South Whidbey’s Crabs 2-1 Tuesday, before fighting to the hard-earned Thursday tie.
Playing on the south end of the Island for the second time, Coupeville got to be the home team, and ended up having to rally to claim the tie.
Coupeville fell behind 3-0 as South Whidbey hit around in the top of the first against Wolf hurler Camden Glover, but then the “home” team immediately began its comeback.
Scott Hilborn lit the fuse with a lead-off single, beating out a shot to short, before Jack Porter followed with a resounding double on mom Jenny’s birthday.
Back within 3-2, Coupeville kept coming and eventually reclaimed the lead.
With Porter firing BB’s on the mound, the Wolves defense shut down South Whidbey, then Coupeville’s offense started really clicking.
A couple of second inning walks set the table for Hilborn, and the CHS sophomore-to-be responded, smoking a stand-up three-run double to left center.
Porter’s bat continued to be red-hot as well, as he cracked another two-bagger, followed by a sharp single from Chase Anderson.
Trailing 6-3, South Whidbey chipped away, plating a pair of runners in the third, then knotting things back up by pushing a runner across in the fifth.
While Coupeville put runners on base down the stretch, with Hilborn and Porter collecting singles to go with walks to teammates such as Johnny Valenzuela, the Wolves came up just short of getting a go-ahead run.
Wolf pitchers Glover (1), Porter (5), and Hilborn (7) combined to whiff 13 South Whidbey hitters on a balmy mid-summer night.
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