Johnny Porter collected one of Coupeville’s four hits on Orcas Island. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
This is not the direction they want to head in.
A game after pulling off an impressive rally to claim a league win in extra innings, the Coupeville High School varsity baseball team didn’t even get the chance to play a full seven frames.
Too many walks and too many errors dinged the Wolves on Orcas Island Tuesday, as a 1-0 lead slipped away en route to a 14-1 loss called after five innings thanks to the mercy rule.
The defeat drops Coupeville to 1-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 2-4 overall and kicks off a super-busy week.
If Mother Nature agrees, the Wolves host Sequim Wednesday, travel to Concrete Friday, then host South Whidbey Saturday.
The first and third of those games are non-conference affairs, with the middle one a league rumble.
Coupeville’s seniors will be back in action Wednesday at home.
The opening salvo in the calendar crush started halfway in favor of CHS.
Starting pitcher Landon Roberts escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the first, forcing a ground ball back to the mound for out #3.
Using that little bit of derring-do as a spark, the Wolves scraped together what would turn out to be their only run in the top of the second.
Johnny Porter ripped a one-out single to right, followed by twin terror Jack eking out a walk, and the table was set.
Senior slugger Aidyn McDermott then feasted on a fastball two batters later, lashing a two-out RBI single to left to put Coupeville on top for a hot moment.
Unfortunately, that moment was fleeting.
Five walks, two errors, and one well-placed single blew things up in the bottom half of the frame, as Orcas surged ahead 6-1.
From there, things were fairly rough for the visitors.
Coupeville had a shot at plating a run in the third, with Cole White and Yohannon Sandles spanking back-to-back two-out singles.
But White was cut down at home while trying to score, and the Wolves only picked up one hit batter across the final two innings, leaving little chance for a rally.
Orcas pushed two more runs across in the third, before putting the game away with another six-run burst in the fourth.
The Vikings racked up seven hits on the afternoon, but also greatly benefited from 11 walks and five Coupeville errors.
Roberts struck out four in his time on the mound, with Peyton Caveness coming on in relief to pick up a fifth K to end the final Orcas rally.
Coupeville’s four hits came from White, Sandles, Johnny Porter, and McDermott, with Caveness being plunked and Jack Porter getting a less-painful walk to round out the offense.
