Joey Lippo went 2-for-2 at the plate, pitched, caught and ate barbecue cooked by his dad, grill master Joe. (John Fisken photo)
Three schools, one plan to have a united American Legion baseball program. (Photo courtesy Marc Aparicio)
Die-hard Coupeville rooters (l to r) Katrina McGranahan, Lauren Rose and Kayla Rose were among the first fans to show up. (Joe Lippo photo)
Baseball united the Island.
All three of Whidbey’s high schools came together Saturday in Coupeville, as local coaches kicked off efforts to field two American Legion teams this summer which will feature a mix of Wolves, Falcons and Wildcats.
The joint effort will take the diamond under the banner of the Whidbey Nighthawks and play from late May through July, with most home games in Oak Harbor.
The AA squad (primarily for players ages 16-17) will be led by CHS coaches Marc Aparicio and Cris Smith, while the A squad (14-15) will be run by OHHS hardball gurus.
To get their recruiting message out, Coupeville hosted Oak Harbor and South Whidbey’s JV hardball squads for a day of three-inning games and group barbecue.
And it worked beautifully, as close to 40 players expressed interest in playing this summer by submitting contact info on a preliminary sign-up sheet.
The goal is to have 36 players, split between the two teams. Younger players can play up if their skill set is worthy.
Since the American Legion programs are outside of school, the coaches, players and their families have to take care of transportation, tournament entry fees and other expenses.
Plans are in the works for fundraisers and Coupeville Sports will pass on information as it becomes available.
While the games Saturday won’t go on anyone’s final records, the Wolves still played strongly, winning a 9-7 slug-fest with Oak Harbor before being nipped 2-1 in a pitcher’s duel by South Whidbey.
Game 1:
Coupeville’s offense opened the day en fuego, raining down five runs in the first and another four in the second.
Four straight walks plated a run to open the scoring, then Nick Etzell bombed a two-run single to center to bust things open.
Two more runs scampered home on an error — coming off of a hard-hit ball by Wolf catcher Jake Pease — and the rout was officially on.
The Wolves stretched the lead out to 9-2 thanks to their “ringers,” Hunter Smith and Julian Welling.
The sophomore sluggers, normally varsity players, got some limited field time since they were in attendance for the Legion pitch, and came up with back-to-back epic doubles.
Smith’s blast brought home Shane Losey and Joey Lippo, who had opened the second with consecutive singles (Lippo’s on a beautifully-executed bunt that burrowed into the grass and refused to come back up).
Welling followed with his own laser to plate Smith, and the game was on ice.
Until the Wolf defense tried to give most of the runs back in the third, booting balls left and right and allowing Oak Harbor an opportunity to chip away at the lead.
Finally, CHS pitcher Dane Lucero had seen enough and capped the game himself, whiffing a Cat with the bases juiced.
Game 2:
Things moved quickly, as Welling, Etzell and Matt Hilborn combined to limit the Falcons to three hits.
But while the Wolves rapped out three hits of their own, they stranded the tying and winning runners on base in the bottom of the third, with the final two hitters going down on strike-outs.
Coupeville’s lone run came in the first, when Cameron Toomey-Stout beat out a lead-off infield single, stole second and came around to score when Lippo lashed an RBI single to right-center.
The brief rally ended quickly, however, as Lippo was gunned down by half a step trying to steal second.
The next six straight Wolf hitters came up empty, huge in a radically shortened game, a streak which lasted until Pease chopped a third-inning single.
