The state’s top-ranked 1A team, Klahowya, finished the regular season undefeated by squeaking by Coupeville 1-0 Thursday, May 7, in Silverdale.

The game’s lone run came on a wild pitch in the bottom of the first inning.

Coupeville (5-4, 9-9), which finished second to Klahowya (9-0, 19-0) in the Olympic League, now heads into the postseason; it will host Cascade Christian at noon Saturday, May 9, in a district tournament loser-out game.

“Tough one run loss, especially coming in the first inning,” Coupeville coach Willie Smith said. “We played really well, getting very good pitching and strong defense, but once again, we just couldn’t get a hit when we needed one.”

Both teams received strong pitching, which resulted in both teams struggling at the plate. Coupeville finished with only four hits; the Eagles had just three.

Klahowya pitcher Jacob Gotchall struck out eight in six innings.

Hunter Smith pitched the first four innings for Coupeville and gave up two hits while striking out one and walking one. Aaron Trumbull threw the final two, yielding one hit and striking out one.

In the bottom of the first inning, a single, stolen base and ground out put an Eagle on third. On the next pitch, the runner scored.

“On a wild pitch, if you ask Hunter, or passed ball, if you ask Carson (Risner, the catcher),” coach Smith said.

The Eagles threatened only once more in the game, getting only one runner to second in the next four innings.

In the sixth, Klahowya had runners at first and third with one out. Trumbull induced a medium fly ball to center fielder Josh Bayne, how gunned down the runner trying to score from third after the catch.

Coupeville threatened twice, both with two outs.

In the second inning, Kyle Bodamer and Clay Reilly hit back-to-back, two-out singles and moved up on a passed ball.

An inning later, Aaron Curtin (who also had a single in the game) hit a two-out double and moved to third on an error.

Groundouts ended each opportunity.

From that point, the Wolves went down in order each inning.

“So, other than getting the win, I was pretty happy with how we played,” Willie Smith said. “Even though we only managed the three hits, we put together better at bats than the last two games against them, so that was encouraging as well.

“We approached this like it was a playoff game, and that’s what it felt like, so we feel pretty mentally prepared for Saturday.

“If we can manage to get some guys on with less than two outs, I feel like we can produce some offense to go with our pitching and defense.”