Dane Lucero rapped a two-run single to kick things off Saturday, as Coupeville rallied to knock off 2A Cedarcrest. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Julian Welling had the last laugh.
The Coupeville High School senior was stung by Cedarcrest Saturday, but quickly rebounded and hit the visitors twice as hard, lifting his squad to a thrilling win in extra innings.
Unable to completely slam the door on the 2A Red Wolves in the late going as a relief pitcher, Welling responded by drilling a walk-off RBI single as Coupeville roared back to win 7-6 in eight innings.
The victory, the fourth straight for the Wolves, lifts them to 7-3 headed into the biggest game of the season.
That comes Wednesday, when Coupeville, 2-0 in Olympic League play, travels to Chimacum (1-0) to face the Cowboys in a game which will give the winner sole possession of first place in conference action.
CHS will arrive for that game on a high, both from its current winning streak, and the flamboyant style in which said streak stayed alive against all odds.
Twice rallying from a run down, with the second time coming in extra innings, Coupeville showed grit and resilience against a large 2A school which was riding high with a 6-3 mark entering Saturday.
The Wolves rep one of the smallest 1A schools in the land, but have acquitted themselves nicely against much-bigger rivals this season, going 2-2 against 2A foes.
Saturday’s game was a tense, back-and-forth affair, with the teams changing leads multiple times, but neither squad able to pull away.
Coupeville’s biggest lead came at 2-0 when it plated a pair of runners in the bottom of the first inning.
Matt Hilborn and Joey Lippo were aboard on a walk and a bunt single and busy tormenting the Cedarcrest hurler when he slipped up and delivered a juicy one to Dane Lucero.
Taking full advantage, the Wolf junior ripped a two-run single to open the scoring and raise the tantalizing possibility of a blowout on the horizon.
It wasn’t to be, however.
Instead, Cedarcrest knotted things at 2-2 in the second, then, after CHS scraped out a run in the bottom half of the inning on a Nick Etzell double followed by a Hilborn single, the two teams traded goose eggs until the fifth.
Coupeville had a magnificent opportunity in the third, loading the bags with no outs, only to have three consecutive hitters promptly punched out on strikes.
When Cedarcrest slipped two runs across in the fifth to retake the lead at 4-3, that third-inning kerfuffle looked even worse, but hope would not die on this day.
The Wolves packaged doubles from Hilborn and Hunter Smith around a free pass to Lippo in the sixth to snatch the lead right back, sending themselves charging out for the top of the seventh up 5-4.
The simple route would have been to retire the visitors 1-2-3 and head in with the win, beating the rain and getting out of the wind.
Welling likes to court danger, though, and Cedarcrest seized a glimmer of hope, using three extra-base hits and an error to plate one in the seventh to tie and one in the eighth to take the lead.
It was a moment fit for a lesser team, and a lesser player, to crumble.
Not on this day, and not this player and team.
Welling, like all good-hearted people, is a fervent fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and knows deep in his soul what it takes to be a champion.
Toss in his teammates, even those who … ugh … root for the SeaSlugs, and you have a band of warriors who have been tested in the fires and have launched Coupeville baseball to its best start in a decade by refusing to go down easy.
Inspired by a few quiet words of wisdom from the hardball whisperer, AKA coach Chris Smith, the Wolves stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth looking not for a mere tie, but an outright win.
Hilborn played patient, eking out a walk to get a man aboard with one out, then Lippo got dramatic.
Swinging on a full count, he lashed a laser, and came within a step of winning the game on one swing.
While Hilborn cruised home with the tying run, Lippo was held to a triple, and not a game-winning two-run home-run, only because his tootsies outran his head.
When his helmet came off and stayed behind as his body continued on, high school rules dictated he had to stop at the last base he hit, planting him firmly at third while he waited for his wayward head-protection to be returned to his noggin.
That small stickler of a rule gave Cedarcrest one last gasp of air, but, two batters later, it was payback time.
Strutting to the plate, waggling his bat like a rampaging Viking heading off the boat and looking for a new English village to conquer, Welling was a feel-good ending come to life for Wolf Nation.
And forget about a little blooper or a shallow single.
This was winning time and Welling blew the cover off the ball, giving Lippo enough time to stroll home, both hands holding his helmet firmly on his head, if he had wished.
In a different situation it would have been a two-bagger, but all that was needed was a quick step on first for the single, and cue the celebration among the cold, wind-lashed Wolf faithful.
For those who stayed for the entire game, they saw Coupeville spread out 10 hits among eight batters.
Lippo (1B, 3B) and Hilborn (1B, 2B) led the way, while Etzell and Hunter Smith had doubles.
Welling, Lucero, Jake Hoagland and Kyle Rockwell added singles.
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