Coupeville High School seniors Jonathan Valenzuela (left) and Scott Hilborn were nine-year-olds the last time Wolf baseball went to state. (Morgan White photo)
Party like it’s 2014.
Thrashing Friday Harbor 11-0 Saturday in Arlington in a game mercy-ruled after five innings, the Coupeville High School baseball squad continues to rack up honors.
With the victory, the Wolves, now 16-5 on the season, add the District 1/2 title to their Northwest 2B/1B League crown, while earning a trip to the big dance for the first time in nine seasons.
The last time a CHS hardball squad went to the state tourney, Willie Smith was still head coach, current assistant coach Morgan Payne was in the starting lineup, and Coupeville was nipped 2-1 by Rochester in a first-round loss.
This time around, the Wolves are one of 12 teams still alive in the hunt for the 2B crown.
They will learn their opening opponent and the location of the game Sunday when the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association seeding committee releases its bracket.
First round and quarterfinal games will be played May 20 at various sites, with the semifinals May 26 and the title game and 3rd/4th place game May 27.
The May 26 and 27 games are set for Johnson-O’Brien Stadium at Ephrata High School.
The first two rounds of state are single elimination, with the top four seeds earning a first-round bye.
To see the bracket — without teams in place yet — pop over to:
http://www.nw1a2bathletics.com/m2/tourn.php?act=vt&tid=3930
Wolf coach Steve Hilborn strolls off with the hardware. (Shannon Hamilton photo)
Coupeville baseball had to wait a bit longer than expected to earn its tenth trip to state, with bi-districts delayed thanks to Friday Harbor having issues with the state ferry system.
Once the Wolverines, the #2 seed from District 1, arrived in Arlington, they jumped all over District 2’s Northwest Christian (Lacey), running them off the field 16-0 in a loser-out game.
The day’s second game was also a blowout, but this time Friday Harbor was the one being battered senseless.
Coupeville hit the field hot and never relented, scoring in all four innings in which it sent batters to the plate.
The Wolves slapped three runs on the board in the first, netting all the runs starting pitcher Scott Hilborn would need.
Jonathan Valenzuela lashed a two-run double to center to get CHS going, then came around to score on a Friday Harbor wild pitch.
Hilborn, who struck out eight while limiting the Wolverines to just a pair of hits and a lone walk, was fairly flawless, while his defense removed one brief threat with a slickly turned double play.
From 3-0, Coupeville pushed its lead out to 7-0 through two, then made it 10-0 after three, and 11-0 coming out of the fourth frame.
The Wolves finished with 13 hits in four innings worth of at-bats, with seven different hitters racking up at least one base knock.
Chase Anderson drops a bunt for a hit. (Morgan White photo)
Aiden O’Neill and Peyton Caveness crunched RBI doubles in the second, then both came around later to swat RBI singles.
The last of O’Neill’s run-scoring hits plated courtesy runner Landon Roberts to close the scoring, before Hilborn ended the game with three straight strikeouts.
Coupeville’s stellar season has come courtesy of a young team, as seven of the 11 players sent into Saturday’s game by first-year CHS head coach Steve Hilborn are freshmen or sophomores.
Scott Hilborn and Valenzuela are the only seniors, while starters Chase Anderson, Coop Cooper, Camden Glover, and O’Neill are 9th graders.
Saturday stats:
Chase Anderson — Two singles
Peyton Caveness — Two singles, one double
Camden Glover — One walk
Scott Hilborn — Two singles
Aiden O’Neill — One single, one double
Jack Porter — One single
Johnny Porter — One walk
Jonathan Valenzuela — One single, one double, one walk
Cole White — One single
League champs. Bi-District champs. Ticket to the big dance punched. (Morgan White photo)
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