Kory Score, seen here snagging a low throw at first in an earlier game, knocked in both of Coupeville’s runs Saturday. (John Fisken photo)
One out away.
Stung twice by crucial two-out hits, the Coupeville High School baseball squad fell 4-2 to visiting Meridian Saturday.
The non-conference loss to the #10-ranked team in 1A dropped the Wolves to 7-8 heading into the stretch run of league games.
Sitting atop the Olympic League at 4-0, Coupeville has five games left, with a key stretch of three looming in the week ahead.
First up is Chimacum (1-3) at home Monday, then a trip to Klahowya (2-1) Wednesday, before winding up back on Whidbey Friday to face Port Townsend (0-3).
Saturday’s game was a warm-up for that run at a possible league title, and, while the Wolves came up just a bit short, they held their own against a highly-regarded squad.
CHS hurlers Julian Welling and Matt Hilborn combined to limit the Trojans to just four hits, but Meridian made them count.
Henry Skaggs blasted a three-run, two-out double in the top of the second to stake Meridian to a lead it never relinquished.
Coupeville chipped away, getting back into the game with a single run in both the second and third innings, but left the bags juiced in the third.
Welling led off the second with a walk, and then pinch-runner Joey Lippo sprinted all the way home on an RBI double from Kory Score.
The second Wolf run came via their own backs-to-the-wall magic, as Score capped a run of four-straight two-out hits with an RBI single that plated CJ Smith.
In between Smith and Score, Cole Payne and Welling also dropped in hits.
Both teams swapped zeros on the (non-existent) scoreboard until the sixth, when the two-out bugaboo hit again for the Wolves.
This time it was an RBI double off of the bat of Baker Otter, and it capped the scoring.
While his team came up a hair short, Wolf coach Marc Aparicio liked a lot of what he saw.
“It was a great game. We both played strong, but they just got one hit more than us,” he said. “I’m happy how our team played. Focused on Chimacum now.”
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