As it heads into the postseason, the Wolf baseball squad is getting closer and closer to taking down the #1 team in 1A. (Shelli Trumbull photo)
Closer and closer.
Klahowya may be unbeaten (18-0), may be the #1 ranked 1A team in the coach’s poll, but there’s a big, bad Wolf coming up stealthily from behind, just waiting for its moment to pounce.
The Coupeville High School baseball squad has played its Olympic League rivals three times this season — a fourth meeting could be looming in the district playoffs — and they have narrowed the gap each time.
After dropping the first meeting 10-2, they shaved the margin to 3-1 in the middle game, and then came agonizingly close Thursday, falling 1-0 in a game decided by one pitch that got away.
The loss dropped Coupeville to 9-9 overall, 5-4 in league play.
The Wolves now kick-off the postseason with a home playoff game Saturday (12 PM) against Cascade Christian, the #3 seed out of the Nisqually League.
Staff ace Aaron Curtin will be on the mound for CHS and it’s a loser-out game.
Win, and Coupeville advances to the double elimination portion of districts and would be just a single win away from making it back to the state tourney for the second straight season.
Trying to ruin Klahowya’s Senior Night festivities, the Wolves came dangerously close, but couldn’t get the one hit they needed to break things open.
In a game of few hits (Coupeville had four, Klahowya three), the Wolves twice had a runner at third, but failed to bring him home.
Kyle Bodamer and Clay Reilly lashed back-to-back two-out singles in the second, then moved up on a passed ball, but were left hanging when the next batter struck out.
Keeping alive the day’s trend of not getting the offense started until there were already two outs, Coupeville had another shot in the third.
Curtin bashed a double, then went to third when Carson’s Risner’s grounder was thrown away by Klahowya’s third baseman.
Unfortunately, the ball bounced right back on the field, forcing Curtin to hold up at third, and the Wolves sputtered with a ground out to end the brief rally.
Klahowya’s lone run came in the first, when the Eagles used a single, a stolen base, a fielder’s choice and a mix-up between Wolf hurler Hunter Smith and Risner to plate a runner.
The freshman pitcher tried to take the blame, calling it a wild pitch, while the senior backstop demurred, claiming it was a passed ball.
With Wolf hurlers Smith and Aaron Trumbull combining to limit Klahowya’s offense, the Eagles only really had one other scoring opportunity, but Josh Bayne put the kibosh on that.
With runners at the corners and one out in the sixth, a Klahowya runner tried to tag and come home on a short sac fly, but Bayne came up firing from center and terminated him in short order.
While he would have enjoyed messing up the Eagles perfect season, Coupeville coach Willie Smith was generally pleased with what he saw.
“We played really well, getting very good pitching and strong defense but once again, we just couldn’t get a hit when we needed one,” he said. “Other than getting the win, I was pretty happy with how we played.
“We approached this like it was a playoff game and that’s what it felt like, so we feel pretty mentally prepared for Saturday and if we can manage to get some guys on with less than two outs, I feel like we can produce some offense to go with our pitching and defense.”
