Last summer, Columbus East’s Julian Greenwell and Nash Murphy played on a summer baseball team with four players from Hamilton Southeastern.
Tonight, they’ll be on opposite sides when the Olympians meet the Royals for the state championship at Victory Field in Indianapolis.
“It was a lot of fun,” Murphy said. “It’s cool that we get to play in the state finals against each other. We realized that before going to the game last week that we would have a chance to play against them, so my dad was talking to (Jake) Stout’s dad, and they were making jokes, calling each other the enemy and stuff like that. It was pretty funny.”
Class 4A No. 3 East (25-4) and Hamilton Southeastern (22-8) will square off around 8:30 p.m. Their game will follow the Class A final between University and Washington Township, which begins at 5:30 p.m..
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Murphy, who plays first base, and Greenwell, a right fielder/pitcher, were part of the Indiana Prospects team that included the HSE quartet. The Royal players were first baseman Greyson Droste, left fielder Anthony Eggers, pitcher Tyler Schweitzer and Stout, who plays shortstop.
“They’re all a lot of fun,” Greenwell said. “Jake’s probably the crazy one out of all of them. Schweitzer joined our team last year, and it was good to get to know him. He’s a super nice guy, and he’s a good pitcher. Then, Droste and Eggers are both pretty quiet, but they’re also super nice guys, and fun to hang around with, so I think it will be fun to have a chance to play against them.”
Greenwell and Murphy, along with shortstop Jonah Wichman, are the three seniors on an Olympians team that will be making their first appearance in the state championship game. Hamilton Southeastern also will be playing in the state finals for the first time.
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun, but we also have to realize that we’re also playing for the state championship just like they are,” Greenwell said. “So we have to stay focused. Between the lines, we’re going to try to beat them, but outside the lines, we’ll all be friends again.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”If you go” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
What: Class 4A baseball state final
Who: Columbus East (25-4) vs. Hamilton Southeastern (22-8)
When: 8:30 p.m. today (following 5:30 p.m. Class A final between University and Washington Township)
Where: Victory Field, Indianapolis
Admission: $10. Nine of East’s allotted 500 tickets remain and will go on sale this morning at the school. Tickets also will be available at the game.
TV: Fox Sports Indiana
Note: There will be a sendoff for the team from the baseball field parking lot across from Columbus East High School at 5:30 p.m. today. Fans can show up at 4:30 p.m. watch batting practice and to decorate and line up for the sendoff. Also, unless the game ends extremely late, there will be a celebration at the school when the team returns.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
