Columbus East found itself in a huge hole early on in Tuesday’s softball matchup with Brownstown Central.
As the game wore on, the Olympians made another huge comeback. East kept adding runs until a six-run fifth inning broke the game open to for an 11-6 victory.
After the Braves put up six runs in the first two innings, Jenna Robbins, seeing her first pitching action this year, came on in relief and didn’t allow a run for the rest of the game.
“She didn’t allow a single run, and she was hitting her spots pretty well,” East coach Rusty Brummett. “When she did miss, it was either out or in, which that’s a good miss and not giving something for someone to square up and knock it down the middle.”
Erin Singleton was hit by a pitch to give the Braves (1-3) their first base runner. Singleton scored after three wild pitches to go ahead 1-0. Kyra Huffman then got on base after a walk. After a stolen bases and a wild pitch moved her to third, she would then score on an East error to go ahead 2-0.
In the second inning, Alli Reynolds and Maddison Brittain both reached base via walk. An error by the Olympians (1-2) on the next play loaded the bases. Singleton then drove in a run with a single. Addy Krieger then hit a bases clearing double to build the lead to 6-0.
In the bottom of the third inning, East’s Julia Sitterding led off with a double and scored on a double by Mady Foster. Kaitlin Brummett then drove in Foster with a single to cut the deficit to 6-2.
In the fourth, an fielding error by Brownstown allowed Brooke Valles to get to second. Katie Taylor then singled and stole second to put runners on second and third. Robbins hit a double to score both runners to make it 6-4.
The Olympians then put the game away by adding another six runs in the fifth. Robbins hit a double that plated the go-ahead runs.
“I really confident having my teammates backing me up,” Robbins said. “I needed to keep my hands in and hit a good ball.”
The biggest play the game, however, came in the top of the sixth with the bases loaded for the Braves. The Olympians converted a rare triple play to prevent runs from scoring.
Valles then capped off the victory with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth.
Foster went 2 for 2 with a double, Robbins went 2-3 with two doubles, Sitterding went 2 for 3 with a double and Valles went 2 for 4.
“I’m really pleased with our lineup. We have slappers at the top and slappers at the bottom and have good speed at the top and we have good speed at the bottom. We also have power in the middle,” Rusty Brummett said. “We have a lot of neat things we can do, but sometimes, we have to get out of our own way and show up and play. When you give up six runs and then come back and win, it’s a nice feeling. Right now, 1-through-9, we have a lot of good ballplayers, but are we going to be a good team. That’s something we’ll need to figure out.”
