Coop Cooper loves the taste of sweet, sweet victory. (Jackie Saia photos)
Big-time players make big-time plays.
In related news, Aiden O’Neill and Coop Cooper fully embrace the spotlight.
The duo came up with huge plays in the game’s final inning Thursday, propelling the Coupeville High School baseball squad to a come-from-behind 10-8 victory on Friday Harbor.
The victory, the second in as many days against one of their true die-hard rivals, lifts the Wolf diamond men to 2-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 3-1 overall.
It didn’t come easily, but that just makes the taste of victory even sweeter.
In a game where the two teams exchanged leads all afternoon, Coupeville capped a nearly three-hour rumble by breaking an 8-8 tie in the top of the seventh, before holding on for desperate life in the bottom half of the frame.
With the score knotted up, the Wolves had Leo Rodriguez on third and Chase Anderson bouncing on second with two outs when Cooper ambled to the plate.
Picking his moment, the CHS senior walloped a game-busting two-run double, picking up his second extra-base hit of the game, and giving sophomore hurler Carson Grove a lead to hold onto heading to the mound in the bottom half of the inning.
Friday Harbor thought it had the potential for a comeback of its own, getting the first two batters aboard before a Wolverine sent a long shot soaring to deep left field.
Aiden O’Neill is an assassin at the plate and in the field.
Enter O’Neill, the ultimate gamer, a dude who has fought through numerous injuries with grace and grit over the last four years while playing football, basketball, and baseball for the Wolves.
That he was on the field after the pain he has endured is an accomplishment.
But O’Neill isn’t here to just stand around and watch the grass grow.
He’s here to dazzle and delight and make dang sure you’ll remember his name long after he graduates and his younger siblings are following in his massive footsteps.
So, baseball went airborne like a missile. And the unflappable O’Neill promptly went to work.
In the words of CHS assistant coach Jon Roberts:
“Aiden made a Sports Center catch! Absolutely pounded ball to deep left field, he got on his horse, chased it down and launched himself.
“Horizontally stretched out as far as he could and made the catch, came up, threw it to shortstop as a cut, who threw it to second base to tag out the advancing runner. Double play!
“I’m telling you, it was an absolute holy shit play! (Assistant coach) Morgan (Payne) knocked the scorebook out of my hand up into the air and I caught it like I was going after a touchdown catch!”
While two outs on one play were huge, the Wolves needed three to clinch the W.
To which the young guy, one Carson Grove, looked at his veteran teammates and said “I got this, old dudes. Sit down.”
And promptly punched out the final batter, recording his third strikeout in three innings of relief work to set off the celebration.
The wild finale capped a game which veered back and forth from the start.
Coupeville got on the board with two runs in the top of the first, with a double from Anderson followed by an impressive collection of errors, balks, and wild pitches from the home team.
But as quickly as they had the lead, the Wolves gave it back, surrendering four in the bottom half of the frame, with their own errors stinging.
Not to worry, things were just getting started, however.
CHS shot back ahead 6-4 in the second with its own four-run burst, with a bunt single(!) from Rodriguez the deadliest hit, before the rivals went back to flicking each other with jabs.
Trent Thule: “Pardon me ladies, I have to go hurt the baseball now.”
Friday Harbor cut the margin to 6-5, Coupeville answered with an RBI single from O’Neill to get back to 7-5, the Wolverines cinched things up at 7-7, then Trent Thule punched an RBI single to plate Grove and make it 8-7.
But since everyone loves a bit of angina, it couldn’t be that simple.
Pushing a run across in the bottom of the sixth to get even one final time, Friday Harbor had two runners on with just one out.
Refusing to buckle, Grove responded by whiffing a perplexed Wolverine, then getting another one to weakly bounce the ball back to the mound for a good old-fashioned 1-3 putout at first.
Cue the magic and the mania of the seventh inning and cue another win for Steve Hilborn’s Coupeville hardball heroes, who are proving to be nicely resilient.
Thursday stats:
Chase Anderson — Two singles, one double
Coop Cooper — Two doubles, two walks
Camden Glover — Four walks
Carson Grove — One walk
Riley Lawless — Two walks
Aiden O’Neill — One single
Leo Rodriguez — One single, two walks
Trent Thule — One single, two walks
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