East prevails over North, advances

BLOOMINGTON -– Cam Curry threw his glove in the air just before his Columbus East teammates formed a dog pile on top of him on the pitchers mound.

It was only the first round of the sectional, but that didn’t dampen the Olympians’ celebration of a 5-4 upset win against Columbus North in the opening round of the Bloomington North Sectional on Wednesday.

Trailing 4-3 in the top of the seventh, East was down to its final two outs. But a walk to Brock Greiwe and an infield single by Joey Back put runners at first and third.

Pinch-hitter Jon Crawford then singled to right to score courtesy runner Noah Wichman with the tying run. Back then came home on a wild pitch to give the Olympians the lead.

East pitcher Cam Curry surrendered a one-out single to Devin Mann in the bottom of the seventh, but came up with a strikeout and a fielder’s choice grounder to end it.

Things didn’t start off well for the Olympians (14-10). After being retired in order by North starter Collin Lollar in the top of the first, Will Anderson’s first pitch in the bottom of the inning was deposited over the fence in straightaway center by Canaan Baum.

Bryce McDaniel then walked, went to second on a one-out single by Evan Finke, took third on a ground out and scored on a two-out single by Lollar for a 2-0 Bull Dogs lead.

East got a run back in the second when Anderson led off with a single, went to third on a double by Kyle Weiss and scored on a single by Back. The Bull Dogs (23-7) cut down the tying run at the plate on a relay from left fielder Tyler Finke to Mann at short to catcher Evan Finke.

The Olympians took their first lead in the third when Nick Andrie led off with a single, Anderson reached on a fielder’s choice, Weiss delivered a one-out single and Brock Greiwe smacked a two-out, two-run double to give East a 3-2 advantage.

North came back to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Mann singled with one out, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Cody Burton. Burton took second on the throw to the plate and scored on a single by Lollar that gave the Bull Dogs a 4-3 lead.

Lollar retired the Olympians in the top of the sixth, but then ran into trouble in the seventh.

Cam Curry relieved Anderson to start the third and allowed two runs and five hits over the final five innings to pick up the win. Lollar allowed eight hits in a complete-game effort.

Weiss and Back each finished 2 for 3 to lead the East offense. Lollar and Tyler Finke each went 2 for 3, and Mann went 2 for 4 for North, which was ranked No. 4 in Class 4A.

The Olympians advanced to face Bloomington South (14-12), a 10-5 winner against Shelbyville in Wednesday’s opener, in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Friday. Bloomington North and East Central will meet in the second semifinal. The championship game will be at 7 p.m. Monday.