The scenario has played itself out several times this season — probably one too many for Coupeville baseball coach Willie Smith.

But when down late and in need of runs, the Wolves have consistently found answers, coming from behind in six of their eight victories.

“These are going to kill me,” Smith said, after Coupeville’s recent 7-6 home victory over La Conner on Friday night.

Trailing the Braves 6-5 headed into the bottom of the seventh and final inning, CHS perhaps staged its most exciting comeback of the season.

Leadoff hitter Kirby Mitchell jump-started things, nailing a first-pitch double into center field. Jack Armstrong then worked to a full count before ripping an RBI single to left that tied the game.

After a steal of second, the Wolves were unable to get the winning run in with no outs.

It didn’t matter, however, as relief pitcher Cory Black retired the La Conner side in order in the top of the eighth and set the stage for extra inning heroics for the offense.

And it couldn’t have been set for a more appropriate hitter in James Smith. The freshman was already 2-for-4 with a triple and a game-tying home run in the bottom of the sixth.

After Casey Larson led off the eighth by getting hit by a pitch and stole second, Smith came through once again. With a relatively calm look on his face the first-year varsity player drilled an RBI single up the middle off relief pitcher Luke Keel.

“We’ve had a lot of comebacks and we’ve all been in this situation before in pretty much all our games,” he said.

Smith, who ended the game just a double shy of the cycle, had a career day for the Wolves.

“That’s phenomenal,” coach and father, Willie said. “My expectations from my freshmen varsity kids are to make routine plays and get hits every now and then. He was just locked in today.”

Coupeville took the initial lead Friday, rallying for three runs in the third. A sacrifice fly from Trevor Mueller, an RBI single from freshman Alex Evans and a bloop RBI single from Black gave the Wolves a 3-0 advantage.

Coach Smith was pleased to see that most of those key hits came with two strikes.

“These guys are starting to get more and more comfortable with two strikes and more comfortable in tough situations,” he said. “The more that we can do that, the better it is for us late in the season when we’re shooting for a playoff spot.”

After falling behind, the Braves had an immediate answer for Coupeville, rallying for four runs in the top of the fourth, scoring three on two-out singles.

Coupeville tied the game in the bottom half of the inning via a dropped ball by the right fielder that allowed Larson to score from third.

La Conner went up 5-4 in the sixth on a RBI double, but the Wolves were able to tie the game once more in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff home run from James Smith that just cleared the fence in right field.

“When I hit it, I thought I popped out,” he said.

The Wolves had 13 hits on Friday. James Smith ended the game 3-for-5 with two RBI, while Mitchell and Black each went 2-for-4.

Saturday morning’s home game against non-league Snohomish County Christian was a break of sorts for the Wolves, who ran away with a 10-0 victory.

Coupeville junior Mike Bagby pitched near perfect baseball, allowing just two runners on, both via hits. He faced only one batter over the mininimum for six innings, while striking out nine.

Casey Larson led the Wolves at the plate, batting 3-for-4 with two doubles. Evans was 1-for-3 with three RBI.

Coupeville moved to 8-3 overall and 2-2 in league. They faced first place Friday Harbor on the road yesterday and travel to Orcas Island on Saturday, April 30 for a doubleheader.

La Conner 000 401 10 – 6 9 6

Coupeville 003 101 11 – 7 11 3

Oosterhof, Keel (7) and Wilson. Evans, Black (7) and Larson. WP-Black (4-1). LP-Keel.

SCC 000 000 0 – 0 2 3

Coupeville 002 008 x – 10 9 0

Adams, Mallory (4), Schettler (6) and Johnson. Bagby and Larson. WP-Bagby (2-1). LP-Adams.