Columbus North has beaten the No. 1 baseball team in Kentucky and played tough against the No. 1 team in Illinois.
Friday night, the Bull Dogs tied the No. 1 team in Indiana. The Bull Dogs’ game with Class 4A top-ranked Carmel was tied at 4-4 when it was called because of darkness after four innings.
The Greyhounds started the game with a walk and then a two-run homer by Parker Massman for an early two-run lead. North responded with a run of its own in the first inning.
Bull Dogs coach Ben McDaniel said Parker Maddox showed a lot of maturity responding to that early home run by striking out the next two batters.
“Most impressed with Parker Maddox on the bump,” McDaniel said. “He had the kid down 0-2, and he caught too much of the plate on the next pitch and (Massman) did a nice job there with the good pitch. I’m proud to see that Parker came back, and got mentally prepared … he’s a young guy, he’s only a sophomore. To have that maturity and to be able to come out and compete like that, I’m impressed with that.”
North (9-4-1) entered the third inning down 2-1, but a wild pitch allowed Cooper Trinkle and Wade Rankin to score two runs. Nolan Wetherald then delivered an RBI-single to give the Bull Dogs a 4-2 lead.
It got darker with each inning, and Carmel (9-1-1) had one last chance to come back from the 4-2 deficit. Trent Terwilliger scored when Chris McNally got on base with an error to pull within one, and McNally scored the final run shortly after to tie the game.
The Bull Dogs struck out in all three at bats in the bottom of the fourth, and the game was called.
“We got through the mental mistakes that we had, and to say that we hung with the No. 1 team in the state, even with these mental errors should tell us we can compete with just about anybody,” McDaniel said. “Good defense for the most part … we’ve got some things to work on, but I’m proud of them for the most part.”
