Hunter Smith was flawless through four innings Monday, but got stung by a big hit in the fifth. (John Fisken photo)
Things went really, really well … until they went really, really badly.
Through four innings Monday, ace hurler Hunter Smith was humming, Matt Hilborn and CJ Smith were playing inspired defense behind him and the Coupeville High School baseball squad was on its way to its third straight win.
Then one ball dropped in and things fell apart big time.
A one-run lead became a four-run deficit and CHS never recovered, sliding down hill to absorb a 9-1 loss at the hands of visiting Cedarcrest.
The non-conference defeat, coming to one of its former longtime Cascade Conference rivals, dropped Coupeville to 2-2 on the season.
The Wolves will get an immediate chance to bounce back, however, as they host Sequim Tuesday (3:45 PM).
Playing under dark skies that parted and let the sun in for a long spell Monday, Coupeville came out strongly.
Hunter Smith was locked-in, not surrendering a hit until the fourth, and even then it was just a measly single.
Hilborn, playing like a seasoned vet and not a freshman in just his fourth game, was dynamic at third, making a huge throw from deep in the hole for a second-inning out, then spearing a sinking liner at the last second to end the fourth inning.
After rapping out two hits in the first — singles from CJ Smith and Dane Lucero — but stranding both runners, Coupeville broke through in the second to take the lead.
Gabe Wynn walked, took second on a passed ball, then strolled into third when Jake Hoagland lashed a single to dead center.
A moment later both runners were on the move again, as the second base ump called a balk on the Cedarcrest hurler, plating Wynn.
Unfortunately for the Wolves, they couldn’t really break things open, stranding Hoagland in the second, then leaving two more runners on in the third.
Cedarcrest escaped unscathed in the third when their shortstop took off like a rocket, covered half the infield and went airborne, spearing a high foul ball in front of the third base dugout for the final out.
Clinging to a 1-0 lead, Hunter Smith needed to be flawless, and he was, until the fifth.
A walk, a sacrifice bunt that turned into a infield hit when the ensuing throw pulled Lucero off the bag at first and a perfectly executed drag bunt for a true single juiced the bags with no outs for Cedarcrest.
Hunter Smith bore down, striking out two of the next three hitters, though a walk in the middle forced home a run to knot things at 1-1.
Hoping to escape relatively unscathed, Coupeville got stung.
A Cedarcrest batter lofted a long, slicing fly ball towards the corner in right, and though Wolf freshman Ty Eck made a long run for the ball, his leap at the end came up just a fraction short.
The ball spiked downward, caught a little patch of fair territory and shot off, letting all three runners on base come around.
Making matters worse, when the throw back in went astray, the hitter came flying home as well.
Hunter Smith gunned down the next batter to end the rally, but the damage was done.
Unable to get much of anything going offensively after that — CJ Smith reached twice on errors, but that was it — the Wolves gave up another four runs after switching Lucero out for Hunter Smith on the mound.
While he wasn’t happy with the loss, Coupeville coach Marc Aparicio could appreciate what his squad accomplished for four innings against a big 2A school.
“Hunter pitched amazing out there,” he said. “Just one bad inning and things kind of spiraled out of control on us.
“We battled strongly, though,” Aparicio added. “Matt did a great job at third and our outfield was very aggressive. I’ll take us trying to dive on a ball with two outs any time.
“I’m very proud of the guys. We’ll get right back at it.”
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