Columbus East’s Harry Major bats against Bloomington South during the first game of a doubleheader at Columbus East, Saturday, May 1, 2021.
The Republic file photo
Injuries to a few of its key pitchers and position players last season allowed some younger Columbus East baseball players to get varsity experience.
Olympians coach Jon Gratz is hoping that experience will pay off this spring. East will look to bounce back from a 13-13-1 season after reaching the Class 4A state finals in 2019 and seeing the 2020 season canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had so many pitching injuries early in the year last year, we got a lot of experience from some guys,” Gratz said. “We ought to be solid defensively, and hopefully early on, we can let our young pitchers settle in.”
Leading the Olympians on the mound will be seniors Ethan Ianni and Will Boyer. Ianni, who has committed to Jackson College in Michigan, went 2-0 with a 1.21 ERA after missing the first half of the season with an injury, while Boyer went 3-4 with a 4.17 ERA.
“Those two have a lot of experience,” Gratz said. “Then, we have quite few other guys that will be pushing for some time. We have some guys that don’t have a lot of experience, but we have quite a bit of depth. We have a lot of guys that I feel confidence putting out there.”
That group includes seniors Logan Christophel and Harry Major, juniors Parker Harris and Caleb Martoccia and sophomores Rolan Ryan and Blake Borkhardt.
Senior Alex McComb (12 RBIs) returns at catcher. Senior Tyler Bumbalough began last season at first base, but was injured, and senior Josh Luedeke (.338, one HR, 12 RBIs) played there the rest of the season. Those two, along with Borkhardt could see action at first.
Senior Will Rieckers (.329, one HR, 13 RBIs) is back at second base, and four-year starter Harry Major (.282, eight RBIs) returns at shortstop. Ianni, Boyer, and junior Chase Zapfe could play third base.
Senior Logan Christophel (.259) is back in center field. Seniors Ty Uphaus and Dylan Niese, along with Martoccia and Ryan, are battling for the left and right field spots.
“We have a lot of guys fighting for spots right now,” Gratz said. “We have a lot of guys from our lineup back. We have a pretty good group of guys back. Most of our infield is back. We have a pretty good group in the outfield, and our catcher is back, and that helps.”
Gratz thinks East has a chance to be a good hitting team.
”I think we have some pretty good bats,” Gratz said. “Throughout our lineup, we should be pretty strong this year.”
The Olympians are scheduled to scrimmage Martinsville at home on Thursday, weather permitting. East opens the regular season March 30 at Center Grove, and the home opener is April 7 against Hoosier Hills Conference rival Seymour.
“I think our conference will be really tough again,” Gratz said. “Jeffersonville is loaded as usual. New Albany has the (Tucker) Biven kid who will probably get drafted, and Floyd Central is always good. I think Jennings County is going to surprise some people. There’s some really good teams in our conference, so that will be a challenge as usual.”
The Olympians lost five starters to graduation. Four of those are playing college baseball, including two at the Division I level.
Gratz said the key to his team’s success this season could be in how well some of the younger pitchers develop.
“I think it will come down to pitching,” Gratz said. “At the top, we have a couple proven guys. If our more inexperienced pitchers can step up and do what I think they can do, we have a chance to be really good.”
The 2022 Columbus East baseball schedule:
March 30 at Center Grove 5:30 p.m.
April 2 at Anderson Tournament TBA
April 5 at Cathedral 5:30 p.m.
April 7 Seymour 5:30 p.m.
April 9 Floyd Central 11 a.m.
April 11 Greenfield-Central 6 p.m.
April 13 Madison 5:30 p.m.
April 15 Jeffersonville 5:30 p.m.
April 18 at Edgewood 5:30 p.m.
April 19 at Silver Creek 6 p.m.
April 23 at Jasper Invitational 11 a.m.
April 26 Bedford North Lawrence 5:30 p.m.
April 28 Jennings County 5 p.m.
April 30 at Bloomington South (DH) 10 a.m.
May 2 at Southport 6 p.m.
May 4 at Roncalli 6 p.m.
May 6 at Columbus North 6 p.m.
May 9 HHC tourney vs. Jeffersonville 5:30 p.m.
May 11 HHC Tournament at TBA 5:30 p.m.
May 13 HHC tourney placement round 5:30 p.m.
May 17 East Central 5:30 p.m.
May 18 at Bloomington North 6 p.m.
May 19 at Franklin 5:30 p.m.
May 21 Indy Classic at North Central 11 a.m.
