Opening the season against a defending state champion is never easy, but that was the chore facing the Coupeville baseball team Monday against Granite Falls.
The defending Class 2A state champion Tigers lost just one player off last year’s squad and enter the 2007 season with high expectations and an even higher reputation to live up to.
Fielding a young team the odds for a Coupeville victory were long indeed. But the Wolves played tough and despite coming out on the short end of a 7-3 score, coach Willie Smith said he was pleased.
“I thought we battled today,” Smith said. “We need a little bit more production out of the bottom half of our lineup, but we didn’t look at pitches and were aggressive at the plate. I like that.”
Granite Falls took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on back-to-back doubles by Billy Villegas and Josh Knudson, and tacked on a pair of additional runs in the top of the third on four hits, a hit batter and a throwing error.
Coupeville narrowed the mar-
gin to 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning on a one-out walk to Kyle Wilcox and Casey Larson’s two-run homer to left-center field.
Larson said he hit what he thought was a high fastball from the Tigers’ pitcher, Knudson.
“We could have had another run in that inning but the doggone guy in right field robbed James,” coach Smith said.
The Tigers’ Brandon Brown went above the fence to pull in Coupeville batter James Smith’s attempt for a leadoff home run.
Holding a narrow one-run lead, the Tigers put four runs on the board in the top of the sixth inning, three crossing the plate on a Vallegas home run.
“We made one bad pitch and the kid made him pay for it,” coach Smith said. “I think that’s what we’re going to get this year. In years past, kids have been able to make a bad pitch or two and hitters have missed them. I don’t think that’s going to happen this year.”
Coupeville scored its final run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a leadoff double by Larson that fell safely in the “triangle” over the shortstop’s head and in front of the left fielder. The senior catcher stole third base and scored on Evans’s infield out.
“I’ll take whatever you can get,” Larson said about his bloop double.
Jimmy Luhrs had three hits for Granite Falls and Vallegas along with Scott Kalma had a pair of hits each.
Larson had the only two hits for Coupeville.
The two teams play today at 4 p.m., in Granite Falls, and return to Coupeville Friday for 4 p.m. game.
Granite Falls 7, Coupeville 3
Granite Falls 102 004 0 — 7 12 0
Coupeville 000 200 1 — 3 2 1
Josh Knudson, J.T. Matronic (7) and Scott Kalma; Alex Evans, Kyle Wilcox (6) and Casey Larson. W — Knudson. L — Evans. 2B — Jimmy Luhrs 2 (GF); Larson (C). 3B — Knudson (GF). HR — Billy Villegas (GF), Larson (C).
