After a frustrating loss in the opening game Saturday morning against visiting Jeffersonville, Class 4A No. 4 Columbus North came out for its second game of the day against Conference Indiana opponent Terre Haute South with a different offensive mindset.
The Bull Dogs also had one of their three aces on the mound, and that combination led to 5-0 Conference Indiana victory over the Patriots.
“After the first game, I thought we were thinking too much about situational hitting,” Columbus North coach Ben McDaniel said. “We work hard on that in practice, but between games, we decided to throw that out the window and hunt fastballs.”
The approached worked. The Bull Dogs (14-4, 3-0) scored a run in each of the first three innings and tacked on two more in the fifth.
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The five runs were more than enough for hurler Casper Clark. Clark was nearly untouchable, throwing a complete game shutout and allowing only one hit. He struck out 12 and did not walk a batter.
“It has been two weeks since I pitched, so I had a little extra energy coming in. I felt really good coming in and was able to use my fastball effectively. I felt like after the first game, we didn’t want to go 0-2 on the weekend, so I came out ready.”
The Columbus North offense also came to play. Grant Trinkle led off the bottom of the first with a single. After stealing second, he moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch to give the Bull Dogs an early 1-0 lead.
Columbus North then led off the second inning with three straight hits by Blake Huffman, Reese Harmon and Kyler McIntosh. Harmon’s single scored Huffman after he stole second and moved to third on a poor throw from the Patriots catcher.
Austin Bode got into the act offensively in the third, leading off the inning off with a double. He moved to third on a ground out and scored on an Adam Chapman sacrifice fly for a 3-0 lead.
Terre Haute North (5-5, 1-2) had no such luck offensively against Clark. After two strikeouts to begin the game, Clark gave up his only hit, a single to Will Kelly. Kelly was stranded at second, however, when Clark struck out Ross Egger to end the inning. Clark then mowed down the Patriots in order in the second inning, all via strikeout, and they never threatened again.
The Bull Dogs added to their lead in the fifth when Homare Takauchi singled. Bode’s second double of the game brought Takauchi to the plate. After a Parker Maddox single moved Bode to third, Chapman drove him in with his second sacrifice fly of the game.
“Casper did what we expect him to do. We have three guys we are comfortable with in any game situation, and he is definitely one of them. Pitching and defense are our identity. We have had 36 strikeouts over the last three games. Today, we gave up two hits in 14 innings of baseball,” McDaniel said.
In the opener, the Columbus North fell to Jeffersonville 2-1, despite Maddox giving up only one hit and striking out 12. The Red Devils (11-5) were able to scratch out a run in both the sixth and seventh innings to escape with the win.
A double followed by a sacrifice fly scored the first Jeffersonville run. The winning run was scored in the seventh on a wild pitch.
Kyler McIntosh led the Bull Dogs offensively with two hits.
