Matt Hilborn, seen here talking to CHS coach Marc Aparicio, reached base three times Thursday as Coupeville held off Chimacum 7-6. (John Fisken photo)
Alone in first place.
That’s where the Coupeville High School baseball squad finds itself after pulling out a nail-biter on the road Thursday afternoon.
Getting key hits in the late going when they needed it most, the Wolves edged host Chimacum 7-6 to improve to 2-0 in 1A Olympic League play.
Coupeville (5-7 overall) sits a half game up on Klahowya (1-0, 9-2), while Port Townsend (0-1, 0-7) and Chimacum (0-2, 2-6) are fighting in the cellar.
The Wolves and Eagles face-off on Whidbey this coming Tuesday, Apr. 19.
Coupeville set itself up nicely for that first-place match-up by staring Chimacum down late.
Having surrendered a four-run lead, the Wolves rallied to score twice in the top of the sixth to retake control of the game.
Freshman Matt Hilborn kicked things off by reaching base on a one-out error, before promptly stealing second.
He then came around to break a 5-5 tie on Hunter Smith’s resounding RBI double.
After CJ Smith moved his lil’ bro over to third, Cole Payne stroked a seeing-eye RBI single for an insurance run that would prove hugely valuable.
Chimacum scrambled for a run in the bottom of the seventh to make things interesting, but Coupeville hurler CJ Smith coaxed a ground-out to Hilborn to cap the win.
Coupeville had looked like it would run away in the early going, plating five in the top of the first, as CJ Smith, Payne, Dane Lucero, Julian Welling and Clay Reilly all zipped across home plate.
After picking up a run of their own in the bottom of the first, the Cowboys put together a four-run rally in the fourth to get back in the game.
“They battled back and we helped them a bit throwing around,” said Coupeville coach Marc Aparicio.
After that, though, the Wolves were on lock-down, with CJ Smith going the distance with a strong, 105-pitch performance on the mound and his defense stepping up behind him.
“Hunter had a great defensive game,” Aparicio said. “Joey (Lippo) and Kory (Score) had solid defense, also.
“It was a great team effort,” he added. “Very proud of the kids for playing strong. Great start to the league games.”
Hilborn and Welling paced the Wolves with two hits apiece, with the freshman third baseman reaching base all three times he came to bat.
