Fueled by breakfast burritos, Carson Risner smacked a double in Saturday’s playoff loss. (John Fisken photos)
It was the final game for Wolf seniors Aaron Trumbull (pictured), Josh Bayne, Kyle Bodamer, Aaron Curtin and Risner.
Baseball can be a cruel game.
Only one team walks off the diamond at the end of the year truly happy and the fate of entire seasons can come down to a handful of what seem at the time like relatively minor plays.
For Coupeville High School, its season ended prematurely Saturday on a sun-drenched prairie, as the Wolves fell victim to chance more than visiting Cascade Christian.
The 1-0 district playoff loss hinged on a ball that bounced off a glove, a minor base-running mistake and an inability to get a bunt down.
Take away a fluky run in the top of the first — the Cougars used a walk, a passed ball and a ground-out to move their batter to third, then brought him home when a chopper took a bad bounce and skittered off of Wolf third baseman Julian Welling’s glove — and we’re still playing.
Both pitchers were largely on-point, with Coupeville senior Aaron Curtin scattering just a pair of meaningless singles, and the Wolf defense making some nice plays to atone for the early error.
CHS ended a brief threat in the second when they trapped a Cougar between second and third in a rundown, then Wolf catcher Carson Risner gunned down a potential base stealer in the third.
The only problem is, there wasn’t much room to breathe and Coupeville couldn’t come up with that one big hit it so desperately needed.
Twice the Wolves pounded out doubles — their only two hits on the afternoon — only to watch in silent horror as the runner died a slow death on the base-paths.
The first time came in the bottom of the second, when Risner swatted a shot to right field and out-hustled the throw back in.
Fueled by breakfast burritos mom Jennie Prince fed him pre-game, the senior had some power to his swing.
Pinch runner Joey Lippo moved to third on a ground-out, but never got to touch home, as the Wolves ended the inning with a ground-out that rolled right straight to the Cascade first baseman.
Going Risner slightly better, Clay Reilly smoked a lead-off double down the left field line to kick-start the third and the stands were rockin’.
Unfortunately, the Wolves never came knockin’ at home, as the visiting pitcher bore down and notched back-to-back strike outs.
After a walk to Josh Bayne put two aboard, Cascade Christian closed out the last major Coupeville threat by snagging a liner off of Curtin’s bat.
The Wolves got the lead-off hitter on base in the sixth, but Cole Payne was erased in a double play when he was trapped too far off of first base when Bayne’s liner was nabbed by the Cougar second baseman.
Coupeville’s last dying breath came in the seventh, when freshman Hunter Smith cranked a one-out shot that seemed to have base hit written all over it.
Instead, a Cougar came flying out of nowhere and latched on to the liner in mid-air for a rolling catch that delighted the large contingent of Cascade fans next to the third base dugout.
With the win, Cascade Christian advances on to the double-elimination portion of districts, while Coupeville ends its season at 9-10.
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