Coupeville Sports

  Kurtis Smith smacked two hits Tuesday, giving him five in two days. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

At least there were cupcakes afterward.

There are days on the diamond where everything seems to go wrong and Tuesday was one of those afternoons for the Coupeville High School baseball squad.

Up 2-0 at Granite Falls, the Wolves suffered a third inning from Hell, surrendering 12 runs in an error-riddled burst that could make a strong coach turn prematurely gray.

“The wheels, cover and reins fell off the wagon!” groaned Wolf coach Willie Smith as he surveyed the carnage after his team limped back on to the bus, having absorbed a 14-3 loss.

“We just played poorly all around and did not respond to adversity well at all,” he added. “The good thing is we get to play tomorrow (at Sultan) and get a chance to fix it and get back on track.”

The loss, coming on Kyle Bodamer’s 16th birthday (hence the mom-provided cupcakes after the game), snapped Coupeville’s two-game winning streak.

Tuesday’s game, a makeup of a rain-out, got off to a good start before things went South.

Morgan Payne bashed an RBI double to plate Ben Etzell in the first, then the Wolves used a second-inning double and steal from Kurtis Smith, followed by an RBI ground-out from Drew Chan to stake hurler Aaron Trumbull to a two-run lead.

Then things got ugly.

By the time the third inning was done, with reliever Wade Schaef striking out a Granite Falls hitter for the third out, the host Tigers had whacked six hits (including a triple) and benefited from five walks (one on a hit batter) and three Wolf errors.

Coupeville got one run back, putting together singles from Jake Tumblin and Aaron Curtin and a fielders choice groundout by Trumbull, but the damage was done.

Now 7-10 overall, 5-10 in Cascade Conference play, the Wolves will try and rebound by pounding on Sultan, who they beat Monday. Coupeville travels to the Turks Wednesday, then welcomes them back to Whidbey Friday.

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An almost complete team photo, with 12 of the 14 Wolves present.

  Drew Chan (left) and Kurtis Smith get ready under the watchful eye of assistant coach Mike Etzell.

Aaron Trumbull makes the scoop at first.

Chan at the bat.

The ump takes a helpful hint from assistant coach Chris Tumblin.

Back-to-back wins and the smiles are back.

Starting to roll again as the regular season winds down, Coupeville heads into the stretch run looking to make some noise. With four games to play (two on the road and two at home) before the playoffs begin May 1 (likely at home), the Wolves are clicking at the right time.

The photos above are from Monday’s superbly-played 4-1 home victory over Sultan and are courtesy Joan Payne.

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Morgan Payne, Monday’s defensive star. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

Everything clicked.

The sun was out, nary a hint of wind was felt, Ben Etzell whiffed every other Sultan batter, Korbin Korzan and Drew Chan lofted picture-perfect sacrifice flies and Morgan Payne made a diving catch at shortstop that made grown men scream like they had just won the lottery.

Or gotten their unmentionables caught in their zippers.

All in all, Monday’s 4-1 home win had a bit of everything for the Coupeville High School baseball squad.

And I haven’t even mentioned Jake Tumblin’s “miracle” RBI double, Kyle Bodamer trying to take his coach’s head off with a shot down the third base line or the Turk coach screaming “Don’t ask their fans!” at the home plate umpire.

Winning their second straight game, the Wolves (7-9 overall, 5-9 in Cascade Conference play) played with precision on the best day any CHS sports team has seen this rain-soaked, wind-buffeted “spring.”

A lack of precision was what put Sultan in a quick 1-0 hole, as four Turks converged on a fly ball off Tumblin’s bat, then all backed off, thinking someone else had the play. Instead, the ball plopped to the ground in the middle of the pack, as the speedy Wolf catcher flew into second and Kurtis Smith crossed home.

Etzell and a stellar defense made the score stand up until the top of the fourth, when Sultan broke through with three hits and their lone run of the afternoon.

After that, it was all good times for Coupeville, starting with Bodamer lashing a lead-off double in the bottom of the fourth that curved over Wolf coach Willie Smith’s head and dropped just inside the line.

Playing for the lead, the Wolves used a sacrifice bunt by Aaron Trumbull to move pinch-runner Josh Bayne to third, then plated him on a beauty of a sac fly by Korzan.

Then, in the fifth, came the play of the game, and maybe the season, as Payne made a huge dive to the right at shortstop, his glove hand stretched as far as it could humanly go, and speared a ball that seemed to be a sure double.

The ensuing shrieking from grown men in the stands was enough to wake the dead. Mark Korzan may not calm down for days, which is a good thing.

Coupeville tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Wolves loaded the bags with Trumbull reaching on an error, followed by singles from Korzan and Smith (his third hit), then a high, arcing sac fly from Chan.

Etzell followed with an RBI single, and, well after Korzan had crossed the plate, was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double.

At which point the Sultan coach lost his ever-lovin’ mind, screaming that the run shouldn’t count (even though anyone not using six-inch-thick glasses could see the runner hit the plate LONG before the tag at second).

When the Wolf fans drowned him out in a hail of boos, he huffed “Don’t ask their fans or their coach!”

The ump stared at him for a moment, then boomed “I don’t ask anyone! I made my call!!”

As the Turk coach mumbled to himself for quite some time (he’s probably still mumbling into his cheeseburger at McDonald’s), Etzell retook the mound and, after a single, whiffed back-to-back hitters.

Tiring a bit, he walked the bases full, but then closed out the afternoon with strikeout #11, sending the final Turk batter down swinging wildly at his still-potent smoke.

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