Scott Hilborn fires a bullet Friday as Coupeville High School baseball sweeps a doubleheader from La Conner. (Morgan White photo)
It was a great birthday present.
Coupeville High School varsity baseball coach Will Thayer celebrated his cake day in grand style Friday, guiding his squad to a doubleheader sweep at La Conner.
The twin victories lift the Wolves to 5-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 7-5 overall.
That keeps Coupeville just a game back of defending league champ Friday Harbor (6-0) and a half-game up on Mount Vernon Christian (5-2) as the teams battle for conference supremacy in the seven-team NWL.
Friday’s doubleheader was a pretty solid beat-down too, as the Wolves soaked in the rare sun and ran away with 11-2 and 21-4 wins.
Game #1:
CHS pitchers Scott Hilborn and Hawthorne Wolfe combined to whiff 15 Braves in the victory, holding La Conner at bay until the Wolf sluggers got crackin’.
“Took a minute for our bats to warm up, but a good game,” Thayer said.
Coupeville opened the scoring by pushing two runs across in the top of the second, then tacked on another tally in the third.
The top of the fourth was where things busted wide open, however, as the Wolves rained down five runs in a rally keyed by base-knocks from Hilborn and Jonathan Valenzuela.
Hawthorne Wolfe and Co. kept their bats sizzlin’ in the road wins. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Coupeville, which added three runs in the fifth to round out its scoring, took advantage of whatever La Conner gave it.
The Wolves cracked eight hits, with Cole White, Sage Sharp, and Valenzuela recording two apiece, while also walking seven times.
Whatever hopes La Conner had of pulling off the upset faded every time a ball hit one of their fielder’s gloves, as the Braves committed a horrifying nine errors to make life tough for their pitchers.
Game #2:
Coupeville cut this one short, with a 12-run fourth inning helping the Wolves seal the deal in a game mercy-ruled after five frames.
“One of my favorite games I ever coached,” Thayer said. “Everyone played and we had fun.”
The Wolves sent 8th graders Chase Anderson and Coop Cooper to the mound in the nightcap, and the young guns sizzled, getting nine of 15 outs via the strikeout.
Chase Anderson brings the knee-buckling heat. (Morgan White photo)
The ball flew off of Coupeville’s bats as well, with six different players recording two hits as the Wolves rang up 15 base-knocks in the finale.
Wolfe cracked a triple to lead the way, while Hilborn, Peyton Caveness, Johnny Porter, and Anderson all bashed two-baggers in support.
Friday stats:
Chase Anderson — 1 single, 1 double, 2 walks
Peyton Caveness — 1 single, 1 double, 1 walk
Coop Cooper — 1 single
Scott Hilborn — 2 singles, 1 double, 1 walk
Cole Hutchinson — 1 walk
Xavier Murdy — 2 singles, 3 walks
Aiden O’Neill — 1 single
Jack Porter — 1 double
Johnny Porter — 1 double, 1 walk
Sage Sharp — 2 singles, 1 walk
Jonathan Valenzuela — 2 singles, 2 walks
Cole White — 4 singles
Hawthorne Wolfe — 1 single, 1 triple, 1 walk
Kai Wong — 1 walk
Coupeville Sports 