Wolf hurler Aaron Trumbull was effective Monday, but the defense behind him, and his team’s offensive attack, were not. (John Fisken photo)
It has been a season of inconsistency for the Coupeville High School baseball squad.
When the Wolves are good, they’re very, very good. And when they’re not, they can drive a coach to distraction.
“As we found out today, baseball can be a very humbling game,” said CHS hardball guru Willie Smith. “One minute you make a great play, hit the ball hard, hustle out a hit, then the next … is today.”
Taking several steps backward, the Wolves came out flat (“a disturbing trend in the last few games”) and were anemic on offense and wild on defense, allowing host Chimacum, winless in 12 prior games this season, to stroll to a 7-3 win.
The loss, the team’s third in the last four games, dropped CHS to 7-7 overall, 3-2 in Olympic League play.
It was also not the confidence builder the Wolves might have wanted heading into their rematch Wednesday with Klahowya (13-0, 3-0), the state’s #1 ranked 1A team.
Playing a Cowboy squad they might have expected to roll, the Wolves instead scuffled for most of the afternoon, almost pulled out a win, then fell apart again at the dispiriting end.
Coupeville hurler Aaron Trumbull was effective on the mound, but his defense sputtered behind him, leading to three unearned runs and a quick deficit to overcome.
The Wolves finally got on the board in the fourth, when Aaron Curtin singled, stole second and came around to score on a ground-out from Trumbull.
Briefly rallying, Coupeville tied it up at 3-3 with two runs in the top of the sixth.
Curtin cracked a double to right, before Carson Risner reached base when Chimacum juggled his hard-hit ball.
Cameron Toomey-Stout, running for Risner, stole second to set up fellow frosh Hunter Smith, who delivered a two-run single back up the middle.
Coupeville looked like they might get more, with Clay Reilly eking out a walk, but the Wolves stranded two (“our downfall of late”) and couldn’t break the tie.
As quickly as things went the way of the Wolves, they took a u-turn, however.
Chimacum immediately rebounded with a four-run rally in the bottom of the inning, with one play perfectly capturing all of Coupeville’s agony in one horrifying snapshot.
An RBI singled plated one Cowboy, then the Wolves threw the ball away twice on the play.
After failing to get a second runner coming home, Coupeville airmailed the ball back into center, allowing the hitter to come all the way around.
A ragged defense and a sudden lack of punch at the plate — Curtin (2), Hunter Smith (2) and Risner (1) accounted for the team’s five hits — both worry Willie Smith.
“We need to figure out how to hit the ball again and we don’t have much time to get it done,” he said. “Some have some minor things to fix, many have mental things to fix; either way we have to get it done and that will be mine and our coaches jobs.
“Right now, it’s about getting back to being consistent and playing strong defense again; if we can do that we will be alright, if not, well then we will have an early May.”
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