BLOOMINGTON — After Columbus North beat Columbus East in the 2018 and 2019 baseball regular seasons, only to be upset by the Olympians in the sectional finals, the Bull Dogs were looking to avoid a similar fate on Friday night in the Bloomington North Sectional semifinals.
This time, the Bull Dogs, many of whom played on those teams as freshmen and sophomores, gained a measure of revenge. They posted a 3-1 victory to advance to Monday’s 6 p.m. sectional final against the winner of Friday’s late game between Bloomington North and Bloomington South.
“We came into this knowing that we owed them something,” Columbus North senior catcher Austin Bode said. “The last two years, they’ve got us in the championship, so we came in with a little chip on our shoulder.”
Bode gave the Class 4A No. 2 Bull Dogs (26-4-1) an early 1-0 lead with one out in the first when he hit the first pitch from Clayton Taylor over the right-field fence.
“He started off the game with a first-pitch fastball (against leadoff batter Blake Stevens), so I knew he was trying to get on top,” Bode said. “So I just tried to jump on that first pitch, and I did what I did.”
North went deep again in the third inning. This time, Blake Huffman hit a one-out solo home run to left-center to make it 2-0.
“I was looking to just hit the baseball,” Huffman said. “Baseball is super hard, and I was just trying to hit it.”
The Bull Dogs stretched the lead to 3-0 in the fourth. Jacob Bailey and Stevens were hit by pitches, and Bode walked to load the bases with one out. Kyler McIntosh then lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score Bailey.
The Olympians (13-13-1) got on the board when Kaden Wise led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run off the scoreboard in straightaway center. But that was all they could muster off North’s Will Baker.
“I felt pretty good,” Baker said. “I had a whole lot of confidence going up 3-0 on them early. I gave up a run, but I knew the defense would make plays behind me, so I had full confidence.”
Baker finished with a complete-game two-hitter. He struck out nine and walked three.
Will Rieckers had the only other hit for East, a one-out single in the fourth.
“He did a great job,” East coach Jon Gratz said. “He’s a great pitcher, and he got us off balance a little bit. We just couldn’t string anything together.”
Meanwhile, East’s Ethan Ianni pitched three hitless innings of relief to keep the Olympians close.
“It’s been good having him healthy,” Gratz said. “He has a bright future ahead of him.”
Taylor and Ianni combined on a three-hitter. Other than the home runs, McIntosh had the only other hit for North, a first-inning single following the Bode homers.
“The cushion is always good,” North coach Ben McDaniel said. “A.B.’s ball was hit hard. Just opening up that 1-0 lead was a little bit of comfort. I’m not sure how much of a cushion Bake needs. Bake has icewater in the veins. He was ready to go and maintained his composure all the way through, so I’m really proud of his effort tonight.”
Like the Bull Dogs, the Olympians featured a few seniors who were key players on their 2019 team that finished as Class 4A state runner-up.
“I’m just proud to coach this group,” Gratz said. “They’re a fun team to be around. I’m going to miss these seniors especially. The kind of had their careers cut short a little bit. We didn’t finish how we wanted, but it’s been a pleasure to coach these guys.”
North is hoping to make a long tournament journey of its own this postseason.
“We’ve been wanting this for so long,” Huffman said. “I know a lot of guys here have worked really hard this season, and we want to make a long run and we plan to. This is just one step in the process.”
