Carson Grove had four hits Tuesday, including a grand slam. (Presley Phillips photo)
What a difference a game makes.
Three days ago, the Coupeville High School baseball squad delivered its worst performance of the season. Jump forward to Tuesday and everything was back in order, however.
And far more than that, as three Wolf hurlers combined for a 13-strikeout no-hitter and the batters went bonkers in a 25-0 win on the road in Concrete.
The blowout five-inning victory snaps a brief two-game skid for CHS, lifting Steve Hilborn’s squad to 6-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 8-4 overall.
It also keeps them a game back of Mount Vernon Christian (7-0) in the race for a conference crown, with a rematch against Concrete set for Thursday in Cow Town.
Saturday the Wolves struggled in all aspects of the game while dropping a non-conference bout at Forks. Against the Lions, everything was clicking again.
Camden Glover, Coop Cooper, and Malachi Somes combined to shut Concrete’s offense down, giving up just four walks and not surrendering a single base knock to their hosts.
Glover and Cooper each picked up six strikeouts in two innings of work, while Somes, making his mound debut for the Wolves, added a 13th K, then ended the game by inducing a double play.
Malachi Somes gets his first mound action. (Shannon Hilborn photo)
At the plate everything went Coupeville’s way, as the visitors tore the hide off the ball en route to collecting a season-high 20 hits to go with 10 walks.
Four runs in the first got things started, another four in the second stretched the lead out, then CHS tacked on nine more tallies in the third and another eight in the fourth.
The Wolves came roaring out of the gate, with Leo Rodriguez lashing a leadoff single and Carson Grove walking.
That set up Chase Anderson, who delivered the first mammoth blow of the afternoon, smashing a three-run inside the park home run to left to set the tone.
Tack on an Aiden O’Neill triple, followed by Cooper bringing him around to score with a hot grounder, and it was 4-0 before Concrete’s fans could even get settled into their seats.
From there the Wolves continued to rain down unholy pain on the Lions, with Grove and Glover delivering RBI-rich hits in the second before coming back around to do the same in the third.
That frame featured not one, but two CHS players picking up RBIs in unique fashion, as both Anderson and Somes were drilled by wayward pitches with the bases loaded.
Up 17-0 heading into the fourth, there didn’t seem to be much more the Wolves could do that they hadn’t already done.
Not so fast, as Grove belted an inside the park grand slam to really make the scoreboard pop.
Overall, nine different Wolves collected a hit on the day, with 11 reaching base.
And the scorekeeper’s fingers? Probably buried deep in a bucket of ice right about now.
Tuesday stats:
Chase Anderson — One single, one home run, one walk
Coop Cooper — Three singles
Camden Glover — One single, one double, one walk
Carson Grove — Three singles, one home run, one walk
Riley Lawless — One walk
Aiden O’Neill — One single, one triple
Leo Rodriguez — One single, one walk
Killian Shaw — One single, one walk
Malachi Somes — Two singles, one walk
Trent Thule — Three singles, one walk
Aiden Tingley — Two walks
Coupeville Sports 