Coupeville shutout visiting Nooksack Valley in the middle five innings, but big first and seventh innings carried the Pioneers to a 7-5 win over the Wolves in a loser-out district play-in game Wednesday, May 4.

Nooksack Valley (2-16) moves on to the next round of district Saturday; Coupeville’s season is over. Earlier this season in a nonleague game, the Wolves (2-16) defeated the Pioneers 10-0 with the help of an Alex McClain no hitter.

Wednesday Nooksack Valley mixed a hit, a walk and several defensive lapses to plate three runs in the first inning.

Coupeville tied it up with a three-run third behind a hit by Ian Smith, a walk to Ben Etzell and well executed offensive plays, according to coach Willie Smith.

Nooksack iced the game with a four-run seventh. Two walks and a fielder’s choice led to the first run, then Dillon Biehle blasted a three-run home run to put the Pioneers up 7-2.

The Wolves battled back in the bottom of the seventh. After Etzell singled and McClain was hit by a pitch, Kurtis Smith tripled to trim the gap to two. A strikeout, the Wolves’ 10th of the game, ended the rally.

Coach Smith said, “The game was a microcosm of the entire season. We did some things well, but we made mistakes and were inconsistent at the plate. We struck out 10 times against an average pitcher. We had runners on most innings and couldn’t score.”