The Coupeville High School baseball quickly got back onto a winning track with a 5-2 win at Sultan Wednesday, April 24.

Coach Willie Smith called it a “huge rebound game for the boys” after Tuesday’s sloppy loss at Granite Falls.

The win lifted the Wolves (6-10, 8-10) into a tie with South Whidbey (6-10, 6-11) for third place in the Cascade Conference standings. Only a game and a half separate the third-place teams and seventh-place Sultan (4-11, 4-12).

The story of the Sultan game, Smith said, was the pitching of Aaron Curtin, who was “pretty dominate the entire afternoon.”

Curtin gave up only five hits, three coming in the sixth when Sultan scored its two runs. He, however, finished strong with two strikeouts in the seventh to end with seven K’s for the game.

While Curtin was throwing strikes, his defense, led by shortstop Morgan Payne, had his back. In the first, Payne jumped to snare a Sultan tapper and doubled the runner off first. He followed that play by going deep in the hole on a grounder to throw out the Turks’ No. 3 hitter.

In the sixth, Payne backhanded a liner to save two runs.

Right fielder Kurtis Smith robbed Sultan of an extra-base hit with a diving catch, and left fielder Korbin Korzan raced down a long fly.

Coupeville jumped on Sultan fire-baller Jay Leverett for two first-inning runs. With two outs, Ben Etzell singled and Morgan Payne walked, then Jake Tumblin ripped a two-run triple to right.

The Wolves padded their lead with three runs in the fifth, thanks to singles by Etzell and Payne, a shot off the third baseman by Tumblin and a passed ball.

Etzell went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases.

Coupeville closes out the regular season with 4 p.m. home games with Sultan Friday and Lakewood (6-11, 7-12) Monday.

The Wolves head to district play at 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 1; the site and opponent are yet to be determined.