Coupeville plays shortened summer season / Youth baseball

A group of Coupeville baseball players were able to emerge from the lockdown to squeeze in six games this summer.

The club, coached by Jon Roberts, included 12- to 15-year-olds and finished with a 1-4-1 record.

Coupeville opened the season with a 2-1 win at South Whidbey Tuesday, July 14.

The South Whidbey Crabs is a Pony League team made up of 12- through 14-year-olds.

The Wolves scored the winning run in the top of the seventh with John Valenzuela walked and eventually scored on Camden Glover’s sacrifice fly.

Scottie Hilborn took over on the mound in the bottom of the seventh and retired the heart of the Crabs’ order with a ground out and two strikeouts to earn the save.

South Whidbey scored its lone run in the first on a walk to Maddox Smith-Heacox and a base hit by Grady Davis.

Coupeville tied the game in the second when Valenzuela singled, stole second, moved to third on a balk and scored on a wild pitch.

Chase Anderson started on the hill for Coupeville and allowed one hit and two walks and struck out two over three innings.

Valenzuela tossed the next three innings, allowing three hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He escaped a jam when the first three South Whidbey batters reached base in the sixth.

Valenzuela led the offense with two hits; Jack Porter added a base hit.

Smith-Heacox paced South Whidbey with a single, run and two walks. Davis, Connor Bartel and Kasen Parsell all singled.

Bartel pitched the first three innings and gave up one run on one hit and one walk. He struck out five.

Dylan Paine worked three scoreless innings with two hits, two walks and seven strikeouts.

Sage Northrup pitched the seventh, giving up one run on a walk and hit batter while fanning two.

The two teams met again two days later and finished in a 6-6 tie. Although the game was held in South Whidbey, Coupeville batted as the home team.

The Crabs jumped out of the gate with a three-run first inning. Smith-Heacox opened the game with a walk, Bartel followed with a double and Davis reached on an error. After an out, Paine walked, Liam Petty singled and Luke Honold was hit by a pitch to complete the uprising.

Coupeville countered with two runs in its half of the first inning thanks to a single by Hilborn and a double by Porter.

The Wolves took the lead with a four-run second. After two outs, Jas Alvarez and Aidan O’Neill walked. Hilborn and Porter hit back-to-back doubles and Anderson singled.

From that point, Coupeville went scoreless, mustering only three hits, singles by Hilborn, Porter and Valenzuela, over the final four innings.

The Crabs made it 6-5 with two runs in the third. Singles by Bartel and Myles Lind, a walk to Davis and an error produced the two tallies.

South Whidbey tied the game in the fifth when Davis walked and scored on an error.

Glover pitched the first inning for Coupeville, Porter went two with five strikeouts and Hilborn fired the final four, fanning seven.

Porter paced the offense with two doubles and a single, Hilborn had two singles and a double and Anderson added a base hit.

Petty started the game for the Crabs, going two innings, and then Davis threw four scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and only one hit. Paine worked the seventh.

Bartel rapped a double and single to lead the offense. Lind and Jonathan Rookstool each singled.

Coupeville dropped a double header with visiting Sedro-Woolley Saturday, July 18, losing 6-3 and 7-3.

In the opener, the Outlaws scored three runs in the third.

The Wolves tied the game in their half of the inning on three walks and base hits by Hilborn and Porter.

Valenzuela singled in the second for Coupeville’s only other hit in the game.

The Outlaws scored a single run in the fifth and finished the scoring with a two-run sixth.

Valenzuela pitching the first five innings and allowed only two hits and struck out six but was hurt by six walks.

In the second game, Coupeville hit as the visiting team and tallied two runs in the first inning on a walk to Hilborn and singles by Porter and Valenzuela.

Sedro-Woolley went up with three runs in the bottom of the first and put the game away with a four-run fourth.

The Wolves scored their final run when Hilborn and Anderson singled in the fourth.

Valenzuela finished with three singles, Hilborn singled and walked twice, Porter had two hits, O’Neill and Landon Roberts each walked twice and Anderson had a base hit.

Coupeville lost 9-2 to host Oak Harbor Tuesday, July 21.

Hilborn recorded two of the Wolves’ three hits. He opened the game with a single and scored on Anderson’s hit.

Hilborn tripled and scored in the third.

Oak Harbor took control early with a five-run first inning.

Against visiting Anacortes Thursday, July 23, Coupeville rallied for three runs in seventh but it wasn’t enough as the Wolves fell 5-3.

Anacortes mixed four hits with three walks to score two runs in each of the first two innings. It made it 5-0 with another run in the sixth.

Coupeville’s final-inning uprising started with consecutive walks to Glover, Johnny Porter, Marcelo Gebhart and O’Neill. Hilborn and Jack Porter singled to make it 5-3, but the rallied came up short when the next two batters grounded out.

Hilborn and Jack Porter each singled twice in the game. Anderson and Valenzuela added base hits.

Valenzuela did the bulk of the pitching, throwing the middle five innings. He gave up one earned run, three walks and four hits while striking out seven.