Chimacum pitchers struggled with their control, and the Coupeville High School baseball team took advantage for an 8-0 win Thursday, April 16, at Robert Sherman Field.

The Cowboys walked 10 batters and hit two more.

“Our kids did a nice job staying patient,” Coupeville coach Willie Smith said. “We didn’t get many hits, but we got hits in key situations.”

The win gives the Wolves (2-0, 6-4) the early lead in the Olympic League 1A standings. After a 2 p.m. non-league home game with Friday Harbor Saturday, Coupeville will journey to Silverdale at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, April 21, to face Klahowya in a showdown of the conference’s top teams.

The Eagles, who went to the state playoffs last spring as a 2A school and return almost their entire team, are 1-0 in league play, 8-0 overall and ranked No. 1 in the latest state 1A poll.

The Coupeville-Chimacum game was a contrast in pitchers. While the Cowboys couldn’t find the plate, the Wolves’ C.J. Smith had pin-point control.

Smith pitched a three-hitter and struck out five. He also did not walk a batter; in fact, he never reached three balls on any one hitter. In all, he threw only 76 pitches in the complete game and had seven first-pitch outs.

“C.J. was amazing,” coach Smith said. “It also says a lot about our defense.”

C.J. Smith forced the Cowboys to put the ball in play and let his defense do the rest. Coupeville had no errors.

Coupeville opened the scoring in the third inning. Two walks and singles by Hunter Smith, Cole Payne and Aaron Curtin produced three runs.

Hunter Smith, C.J.’s brother, also singled in the fourth inning when the Wolves used that hit, three walks and an error to go ahead 5-0.

The final three runs came in the fifth. Aaron Trumbull led off with an infield single, then a hit batter, three walks and a fielder’s choice finished the scoring.

Hunter Smith finished 2-for-3 and scored three runs, and Curtin was 2-for-2 with two walks. Kyle Bodamer walked three times.

(Gabe Wynn awaits a pitch in the Wolves’ win. Photo by John Fisken.)