When Columbus East and Jeffersonville met in the regular season, the Olympians pretty much had their way with the Red Devils.
East pounded out 20 hits in rolling to a 17-3 win on April 12 at Jeffersonville. Saturday afternoon, the Hoosier Hills Conference rivals will meet again in the semifinals of the Evansville Reitz Regional at Bosse Field.
Connor Christopher, one of two Red Devils aces, started the regular-season meeting against the Olympians, but just because he didn’t have success against them that doesn’t neccesarily mean he won’t pitch against them this time.
New Albany’s other ace, Gavin Seebold, was hit hard in a 16-6 regular-season loss to New Albany, but pitched against the Bulldogs again in the Bedford North Lawrence Sectional and won 5-3.
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“They have a couple guys who are very similar,” East coach Jon Gratz said. “I don’t know who they’ll throw, but they swing the bats really well. They have some really good hitters in their lineup.”
Blayden McMahel leads the Red Devils (19-6) with 10 home runs. Jeffersonville has a couple other capable hitters in Drew Taylor and Devyn Rivers.
“They’re a great opponent and a great program,” Gratz said. “It will be a big challenge.”
While Gratz isn’t certain who will start on the mound for the Red Devils, he is for the Olympians. Junior Cole Gilley, who is 6-1 with a 1.35 ERA, will get the ball.
Senior right fielder Julian Greenwell leads East at the plate with a .440 average and has four home runs and 21 RBIs. Junior catcher Dalton Back is batting .375 with four homers and a team-high 28 RBIs.
Other top hitters for the Olympians are Gilley, who plays third base when not pitching (.344, 22 RBIs); sophomore designated hitter Clayton Taylor (.340, six RBIs); senior shortstop Jonah Wichman (.326, one HR, 18 RBIs); senior first baseman Nash Murphy (.301, five HR, 21 RBIs) and sophomore center fielder Parker Harrison (.300, two HR, 16 RBIs).
“We just have to come out and hit the ball,” Gratz said. “That’s been our M.O. this year — hit the ball well and get good pitching and good defense. We just have to kind of play within ourselves and keep doing that.”
Sophomore Kaden Wise (6-1, 1.72 ERA) has been East’s No. 2 pitcher this season. Greenwell, who was the Olympians’ most experienced pitcher coming into the season, did not pitch for about six weeks because of an elbow injury, but returned to the mound in Monday’s East Central Sectional final to pitch a perfect seventh and earn the save in a 5-3 win against Columbus North.
Gratz said Wise likely would get the start for the Class 4A No. 3 Olympians (22-4) if they make it to the regional final against either Martinsville (22-7) or 4A No. 8 Castle (22-5).
“I don’t know that we would have Julian start a game yet,” Gratz said. “I don’t really want to risk that with his arm.”
East, which broke a 19-year sectional title drought last season, is headed to the regional for the second consecutive year. The Olympians fell to Castle 7-3 in the regional semifinals, and Castle went on to beat Jeffersonville 6-3 in the final.
Gratz is hoping the experience his returning players gained in last year’s regional will benefit them on Saturday.
“I think that definitely helps,” Gratz said. “Going down three, it’s a historic stadium. I think after being there and seeing what it’s like, that always helps. It’s obviously a different team. We have a lot of new guys out there playing. It will be a big-game atmosphere.”
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Evansville Reitz Regional
Saturday at Bosse Field
10 a.m. CST/11 a.m. EST: Martinsville (22-7) vs. Castle (22-5)
Noon CST/1 p.m. EST: Columbus East (22-4) vs. Jeffersonville (19-6)
6 p.m. CST/7 p.m. EST: Championship
Admission: $7 per session or $10 for all day
TV: All three games will be broadcast by Southern Indiana Sports Productions and livestreamed on ihsaatv.org
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