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Camden Glover slings heat. (Morgan White photos)

Scott Hilborn had a pretty sweet swan song.

The Coupeville High School senior led Wolf baseball to a 17-6 record, league and district titles, and the program’s first state tourney win since 1987.

Hilborn tossed a complete-game shutout in that big dance victory, blanking Toledo 3-0 and capping a stellar run of filling up the stat sheet.

When everything is totaled up, four Wolves appear in a top slot, with senior Jonathan Valenzuela #1 in RBI, walks, and on-base percentage, while being tied for the most triples.

That guy he’s tied with for the most three-baggers?

It’s Hilborn, who tops or is tied for the lead in a staggering 16 of 21 stat categories.

Though he’s not the only Wolf to post strong numbers while playing through rain, wind, and chilly temps for much of the “spring” season.

Jack Porter, ready to run free.

 

CHS varsity baseball season stats, as documented on GameChanger:

 

HITTING:

 

Plate Appearances:

Scott Hilborn — 88
Chase Anderson — 81
Jonathan Valenzuela — 79
Jack Porter — 73
Camden Glover — 66
Peyton Caveness — 65
Coop Cooper — 64
Cole White — 64
Aiden O’Neill — 48
Johnny Porter — 27
Landon Roberts — 23
Yohannon Sandles — 7
Seth Woollet — 7
Piotr Bieda — 5
Jaje Drake — 5

 

At-Bats:

Hilborn – 74
Anderson – 69
Ja. Porter
– 67
Valenzuela
– 59
Caveness
— 56
Cooper
– 56
White
– 54
Glover
– 51
O’Neill
– 41
Roberts
– 22
Jo. Porter
– 21
Woollet
– 7
Bieda
– 5
Sandles – 5
Drake – 3

 

Hits:

Hilborn — 39
Valenzuela — 30
Anderson — 27
Ja. Porter — 24
Caveness — 19
Cooper — 16
Glover — 15
White — 14
O’Neill — 7
Jo. Porter — 5
Roberts — 4
Drake — 1
Woollet — 1

 

Runs:

Hilborn — 39
Valenzuela — 27
Anderson — 21
Caveness — 13
Glover – 13
Ja. Porter – 13
O’Neill — 11
Cooper — 10
White — 10
Jo. Porter — 4
Roberts — 3
Drake — 2
Bieda — 1

 

2B’s:

Hilborn — 10
Valenzuela — 7
Ja. Porter — 4
Anderson — 3
Glover — 3
Caveness — 2
O’Neill — 1
White — 1

 

3B’s:

Hilborn — 3
Valenzuela — 3
Ja. Porter — 1

 

RBI:

Valenzuela — 28
Anderson — 19
Ja. Porter — 17
Hilborn — 16
White — 14
Caveness — 12
Cooper — 12
Glover — 10
Jo. Porter — 3
O’Neill — 2

 

Walks:

Valenzuela — 18
Hilborn — 14
Glover – 12
White – 10
Caveness — 8
Cooper — 8
O’Neill – 7
Anderson – 6
Ja. Porter – 6
Jo. Porter – 6
Drake – 2
Sandles – 2
Roberts – 1

 

Stolen Bases:

Hilborn — 41
Anderson — 27
Valenzuela — 27
White – 15
Ja. Porter — 10
Glover — 8
O’Neill — 7
Caveness — 5
Cooper — 4
Jo. Porter — 4

 

Batting Average:

Hilborn — .527
Valenzuela — .508
Anderson — .391
Ja. Porter — .358
Caveness — .339
Drake — .333
Glover — .294
Cooper — .286
White — .259
Jo. Porter — .238
Roberts — .182
O’Neill — .171
Woollet — .143

 

On-Base Percentage:

Valenzuela — .608
Hilborn — .602
Drake — .600
Anderson — .434
Glover — .422
Caveness — .415
Ja. Porter — .411
Jo. Porter — .407
Cooper — .375
White — .375
O’Neill — .292
Sandles — .286
Roberts — .217
Woollet — .143

 

PITCHING:

 

Earned Run Average:

Cooper — 1.61
Hilborn — 1.64
Glover – 3.50
Valenzuela – 3.50
Anderson – 3.74

 

Games:

Hilborn — 12
Anderson – 8
Valenzuela – 8
Glover — 6
Cooper – 5

 

Starts:

Hilborn — 11
Cooper — 3
Glover — 3
Valenzuela — 3
Anderson — 2

 

Hits:

Hilborn — 45
Anderson — 23
Valenzuela – 10
Glover – 8
Cooper – 4

 

Earned Runs:

Hilborn — 15
Anderson – 13
Valenzuela – 10
Glover — 6
Cooper – 3

 

Walks:

Anderson – 23
Hilborn – 21
Cooper – 17
Valenzuela — 17
Glover – 9

 

Hit by Pitch:

Anderson — 8
Hilborn – 8
Valenzuela – 6
Cooper — 2
Glover – 2

 

Strikeouts:

Hilborn – 81
Anderson – 27
Cooper – 20
Valenzuela — 19
Glover – 15

 

Innings Pitched:

Hilborn – 64.0
Anderson – 24.1
Valenzuela — 20.0
Cooper – 13.0
Glover – 12.0

 

Batters Faced:

Hilborn – 269
Anderson — 129
Valenzuela – 98
Cooper – 60
Glover – 54

 

PS — Wondering why the pitching stats add up to 22 games, while Coupeville was 17-6?

One win came courtesy of a forfeit from Concrete, so no stats for that game.

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Wolf senior Scott Hilborn closed his stellar high school baseball career by pitching Coupeville to a win at the state tournament. (Morgan White photo)

It’s a new generation, writing a new story.

Playing with four freshmen and two sophomores in the starting lineup, the Coupeville High School baseball squad broke a 13,147-day dry spell Saturday in Castle Rock, winning a state tournament game for the first time since 1987.

Seeded #10 in the 12-team 2B tourney, the Wolves upended #7 Toledo 3-0 behind timely hits from Chase Anderson and Peyton Caveness, and a big-time pitching performance from Scott Hilborn.

That win propelled CHS into the state quarterfinals, played on the same field as the opener, where likely future Major League Baseball draftee Zach Swanson of Toutle Lake proved to be too much.

The junior hurler whiffed 13 across five innings, carrying the Fighting Ducks — last year’s state runners-up — to an 11-1 win and a trip to next weekend’s semifinals.

#2 Toutle Lake will face #11 Adna, which had a day, shocking #6 Cle Elum-Roslyn and #3 Jenkins (Chewelah), while #1 Brewster, the defending state champs, plays #4 Tri-Cities Prep.

Those four teams will take home trophies, while the Wolves finish at 17-6 in Steve Hilborn’s first year as head coach.

Coupeville shared the Northwest 2B/1B League title with Mount Vernon Christian, won the District 1/2 tournament, then became the first Wolf team in any sport to win a game at state since CHS softball thumped Deer Park 14-2 in 2019.

In terms of a baseball win, the victory over Toledo was the first since May 23, 1987, when the Wolves beat White Swan 2-0 on their way to a program-best 3rd place finish.

How Saturday played out:

 

Game #1:

It was a pitcher’s duel, sort of, through four scoreless innings.

Scott Hilborn retired nine of the first 10 hitters he faced, while Toledo’s pitching staff kept getting into trouble, then getting back out.

Coupeville put runners aboard in every inning but couldn’t break through until the top of the fifth.

Early walks to Hilborn and Coop Cooper weren’t enough to turn a spark into a fire, and the Wolves stranded three in the third.

A one-out single from Hilborn, followed by walks to Anderson and Jonathan Valenzuela, had the bags juiced, but a strikeout and a lineout ended things prematurely.

The Wolves got another walk in the fourth, only to see their runner picked off, but the fifth was magic time.

Hilborn reached on an error, alertly sprinted to second base when Toledo hesitated, then came around to score on an RBI single to right off of Anderson’s bat.

Toledo smacked a pair of singles in the bottom half of the fifth, but Hilborn wasn’t having it, getting out of the frame unhurt before sailing through the sixth.

CHS gave itself some breathing room in the top of the seventh, tacking on two runs to stretch things out to 3-0.

Hilborn walked, Anderson bopped another single, then Caveness crunched a ball to center to break things open.

One run came in on the hit, the other thanks to an error by the Toledo centerfielder on the play, and the Wolves were on the edge of breaking their three-decade-plus dry spell.

A strikeout, a fly ball which settled into Aiden O’Neill’s glove in center, and then out #21 came on a bouncer to Camden Glover at third, the freshman snatching the ball up and firing it to Caveness at first.

And just like that, a new chapter of success written by the modern generation.

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye. Toledo baseball heads home after Coupeville ended its season. (Bennett Richter photo)

 

Game #2:

Toutle Lake lost its first two games of the season to Toledo, and now has reeled off 22 straight wins.

It doesn’t hurt to have Zach Swanson, who committed to Oregon State University as a freshman and now throws 93+ MPH as a junior.

The lanky 6-foot-3 chucker struck out the first seven Wolves he faced, only allowing runners aboard in one inning.

That came in the top of the third, when Cole White broke Swanson’s spell with a one-out single to right.

A couple of wild pitches later, he was bouncing on third base, then came flying home when Hilborn smashed an RBI single to left to cut the margin to 6-1.

But that was it, as Swanson was otherwise untouchable.

Toutle Lake outhit the Wolves 5-2, but it was six errors and seven walks which killed Coupeville in its finale.

An out here, an out there, and things might have been different, as the Ducks scored nine times with two outs.

To make that stat worse, Toutle Lake had two outs with nobody on base in each of the first four innings, yet still put together scoring rallies each time.

It was only in the bottom of the fifth, when the Ducks pushed the game into mercy-rule territory with two final runs, that they did so without first getting two outs.

The game was the final one for Coupeville’s two seniors, Hilborn and Valenzuela.

The former helped carry Wolf teams to state in football and baseball, while the latter, who also played basketball, went to state in all three of his sports.

Of the 10 Wolves to play Saturday, eight can return, with Caveness and White juniors, Landon Roberts and Jack Porter sophomores, and Glover, Anderson, Cooper, and O’Neill just freshmen.

 

Saturday stats:

Chase Anderson — Two singles, one walk
Peyton Caveness — One single
Coop Cooper — One walk
Camden Glover — Three walks
Scott Hilborn — Two singles, two walks
Jonathan Valenzuela — Two walks
Cole White — One single

Peyton Caveness is a key member of a strong group of players who can return next spring. (Morgan White photo)

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Cole White, who went to state with Wolf basketball last year, is rarin’ to go back as a member of the CHS hardball squad. (Morgan White photos)

First, the big farewell. Then, the big game(s).

Coupeville High School baseball returns to the state playoffs Saturday, facing off with Toledo in Castle Rock, the first appearance for the Wolves at the big dance since 2014.

Win its opener, and CHS, which sits at 16-5 on the season, returns to the field later in the day to play Toutle Lake for a spot in the semifinals.

But, before they headed off on their long trek, the Wolves got a farewell from fellow students, teachers, coaches, parents, and hangers-on Friday, keeping alive a time-honored tradition.

The field of dreams in Castle Rock awaits. (Jon Roberts photo)

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Coupeville coaches watch a fan with just cash try and scale the outfield fence, then promptly get shot in the crotch with a paintball gun. (Morgan White photo)

Cash? They don’t want your stinkin’ cash!

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association frowns upon your legal tender, your dollar bills and coins, opting instead to force fans to go online to purchase tickets for the state baseball playoffs.

That’s because of a deal the WIAA has with GoFan.

That’s something for Coupeville diamond fans to keep in mind as they trek down to Castle Rock High School this Saturday.

Want to watch the Wolves play Toledo at noon, then see the victor return to the field at 3:00 PM to face off with Toutle Lake for a spot in next week’s state semifinals?

Then buy your tickets online or be tasered by Big Brother’s enforcers at the entrance gate.

Probably.

 

To purchase said tickets, good for both games, pop over to:

https://gofan.co/app/events/994519?schoolId=WIAA

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Cole White, and the parental units, are headed to the 2B state baseball tourney next weekend. (Morgan White photo)

The road to a state title begins with a long road trip.

Fresh off winning the District 1/2 title, thumping Friday Harbor 11-0 Saturday, Coupeville High School’s baseball squad got its marching orders for the state tourney.

The Wolves, who sit at 16-5, are seeded #10 in the 12-team 2B field, and play #7 Toledo Saturday, May 20 at Castle Rock High School.

First pitch is set for noon.

The loser is eliminated, while the winner returns to the field at 3:00 PM to face #2 Toutle Lake, which is led by junior pitcher Zach Swanson, who has committed to play college ball for Oregon State.

Toledo is 18-5, and handed Toutle Lake (20-2) its only losses, beating the Ducks 1-0 and 6-1 way back in the first two games of the season.

The winner of next Saturday’s second game advances to the state semifinals, is guaranteed to play both May 26 and 27 at Johnson-O’Brien Stadium at Ephrata High School and will bring home a trophy.

To see the bracket, pop over to:

http://www.nw1a2bathletics.com/m2/tourn.php?act=vt&tid=3930#

Coupeville’s diamond dogs, who are making the program’s first trip to state since 2014, will have a much longer trip than their rivals.

It’s 173 miles, give or take a kilometer or two, to go from Central Whidbey to Castle Rock, while Toutle Lake (10.8 miles) and Toledo (14.4) are just down the street.

Sophomore Landon Roberts, seen with sister Lindsey and mom Sherry, is part of a successful Wolf diamond team. (Morgan White photo)

This is the tenth trip to state for CHS baseball, while Toledo is making its twelfth visit to the big dance.

The Riverhawks won the 2B state title in 2016, knocking off Warden, Colfax, Asotin, and Pe Ell/Willapa Valley.

Toutle Lake, which finished second last season, falling 7-6 to Brewster in the championship game, is back for the 25th time.

The Ducks have four state baseball titles, but it’s been a bit since the last one, with title runs coming in 1977, 1978, 1990, and 1991.

Toutle Lake and Coupeville have clashed twice in the state baseball tourney, with the Wolves falling 2-0 in ’90 and 8-1 in ’77, both seasons in which the Ducks finished as champs.

The Wolves also squared off with Toutle Lake at the state volleyball tourney in 2002 and 2003, splitting those matches.

The Coupeville and Toledo baseball programs have never met in a state playoff game, though the school’s girls’ basketball teams shared the hardwood at the 1998 and 2000 state championships, with the Riverhawks winning both.

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