Jack Farrell comes up firing on defense. (Jackie Saia photo)
Don’t look now, but Coupeville is making its patented second-half move.
Upholding a longstanding tradition, the 2024 edition of Wolf baseball stormed from behind to topple host Mount Vernon Christian 10-5 Friday.
That pushes Coupeville’s win streak in Northwest 2B/1B League games to four-straight, gets them to 5-2 in conference action, and lets them hurdle the Hurricanes to move into sole possession of second place.
The Wolves, who are 6-8 overall, are a game-and-a-half back of frontrunner Orcas Island (7-1), with MVC (5-3), Friday Harbor (4-4), La Conner (2-4), Concrete (1-5), and Darrington (1-6) rounding out the combatants.
CHS has five conference clashes left on the schedule, with three of those, including a second meeting with Orcas, slated to go down in Cow Town.
No baseball escapes Aiden O’Neill’s glove. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Friday, playing on the mainland, the Wolves came out strongly, slipped up for a bit, then reclaimed the lead and never let it go.
Coupeville took advantage of Hurricane errors all day, beginning in the second inning, when it used a wild pitch, a passed ball, and two bobbled balls to push three runs across the plate.
Wolf hurler Seth Woollet kept MVC largely at bay, getting some slick defensive play from 8th grader Carson Grove at second base, though eventually the hosts regained the lead for a hot second.
With CHS unable to score across the third, fourth, and fifth innings, the lead slipped to 3-1, then went to a 3-3 stalemate, before the Wolves fell behind at 4-3.
Never fear.
The final two frames thoroughly belonged to Coupeville, as the road warriors surged for seven runs to claim the win.
Three more ‘Cane errors in the top of the sixth helped a lot, then Steven Gonzalez tore the hide off the ball, lacing a two-run single to left field to push CHS ahead 7-4.
Landon Roberts prepares to inflict great harm on the baseball. Nothing personal, just business. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
MVC got one run back in the bottom half of the inning, but the Wolves iced things in the seventh as Coop Cooper walked, before Landon Roberts and Johnny Porter laced back-to-back base knocks.
The final blow came off the bat of Peyton Caveness, with Mount Vernon committing its sixth, and final error, on the play to compound matters.
Up 10-5, Woollet handed the ball off to Roberts, and the lanky lefty struck out the side in the seventh to close things down.
Friday stats:
Chase Anderson — Two singles, one walk
Coop Cooper — Two walks
Steven Gonzalez — One single
Carson Grove — One walk
Jack Porter — One walk
Johnny Porter — One single
Landon Roberts — One single
Cole White — One single, one walk
Seth Woollet — Two singles
Coupeville Sports 