Jake Pease crunched a pair of hits Tuesday as Coupeville thrashed Charles Wright 10-0 to open the playoffs. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
The old streak is dead. Long live the new streak.
Jumping aggressively on Charles Wright Academy early, and never letting up, the Coupeville High School baseball squad rolled to a 10-0 win Tuesday in its district playoff opener.
The win, coming on a neutral field at Foss High School, snaps a five-game playoff losing streak for the Wolves and puts them a game away from punching their ticket to state.
Coupeville, which is 15-4 and has won 12 of its last 13 games, travels to Charles Wright Academy Thursday to face Bellevue Christian in the West Central District 3 title game.
The Vikings, the #1 seed out of the Nisqually League, drilled Chimacum 13-1 Tuesday and are 12-6 on the season.
After knocking off CWA, the Wolves now have two shots to advance to state for the first time since 2014.
Beat BC Thursday and it’s a done deal.
Lose Thursday and CHS heads to Curtis High School Saturday for a winner-to-state, loser-goes-home 2nd place bout.
That game would pit the Wolves against the survivor of Thursday’s Chimacum vs. CWA game.
For the moment, though, that’s all ahead and the focus is strictly on the Wolves breaking through and writing a different tale in the playoffs.
After winning four of five playoff games to start the 2014 postseason, Coupeville had dropped its last five under three different coaches.
CHS was eliminated 2-1 by Rochester in the first round of state in ’14, then fell 1-0 to Cascade Christian at districts in 2015, the final game of Willie Smith’s stellar, two-decades career as ball coach.
Marc Aparicio’s squad fell 13-0 to Cascade Christian and 6-1 to Seattle Christian in his one full season at the helm in 2016.
Current coach Chris Smith lost 2-1 to Bellevue Christian after taking over midway through the 2017 season, but evened his playoff record Tuesday afternoon.
“We were loving it!,” the jubilant coach said. “The guys were hunting big game.”
Coupeville dominated in every facet of the game, outhitting the Tarriers 11-4, playing error-free ball in the field and getting a concise, powerful performance from starting hurler Hunter Smith.
The senior staff ace used just 76 pitches across six innings, whiffing five and never giving up more than one base-knock per inning.
The Wolves, on the other hand, came out swinging the big bats and never let up.
Matt Hilborn led off the game with a sharp single, and CHS plated four runs in the top of the first to effectively put the game on ice.
Hunter Smith launched a one-out triple to bring Hilborn around, then scampered home himself on an RBI single by Julian Welling.
Capping things off, Jake Pease, returning from an injury, followed a Dane Lucero single with a game-busting two-run double.
The Wolves pressed their advantage at the plate all afternoon, though Charles Wright managed to somehow escape the third inning unscathed even after surrendering three hits, including a moon shot of a double off of Welling’s bat.
CHS tacked on a run in the fourth, with Joey Lippo singling, swiping second and coming around on an error, then the Wolves closed things out with a bang in the sixth.
Nick Etzell, who, like Pease, is returning from an injury, kicked things off with a single.
After that came a string of walks, a nicely-hit two-run single from Lucero, then a bunch of jumpy moments for the Tarrier hurler.
Capping what was a truly awful day for the CWA program, the final run came home not on a hit or a walk, but on a balk that allowed Lucero to stroll in from third.
Coupeville spread its offense out, with eight different Wolves collecting a hit.
Welling and Pease led the way, with a single and double apiece, while Hunter Smith had his three-bagger and Lucero collected a pair of singles.
Hilborn, Lippo, Jake Hoagland and Etzell rounded out the hit parade with a base-knock apiece, while Kyle Rockwell and Gavin Knoblich chipped in with solid defense.
Coupeville Sports 