Will Rieckers
Floyd Central attacked early, and Columbus East couldn’t find an answer for the rest of the game and fell 7-3 in Thursday night’s baseball game.
Thursday’s game was a makeup game that was postponed from Saturday because of the weather.
“We came a little flat early offensively and defensively,” East coach Jon Gratz said. “We kind of picked it up later. In the third (inning), we had two runs and at one point, the bases loaded with nobody out, and we didn’t score again. We’ve got to make sure we take advantage of that.”
Max Tripure earned the start for the Highlanders and threw for three innings before being relieved by Noah Wathen.
“You‘ve got to tip your hat off to their pitchers. Both of those guys they threw, they’re really good pitchers,” Gratz said. “Those are some solid arms.”
The Highlanders picked up three runs in a hurry. A single from Jake Thompson, an RBI-double from Dylan Hogan and a home run from Wathen quickly gave them a 3-0 lead before the Olympians (3-3-1) got to the plate. Floyd Central added two more runs in the top of the third to lead 5-0.
East finally got on the board in the bottom of the third when Will Rieckers plated two runs with a single. Later in the inning, the bases were loaded with nobody out, butthe Highlanders retired the next three batters to end the threat.
Floyd Central added a run in the top of the fourth inning and in the top of the seventh to go ahead 7-2. The Olympians added an additional run in the bottom of the seventh with a Rieckers single, but the Highlanders retired the next three batters to end the game.
Ethan Ianni got the start on the mound for East. He went five innings, allowing nine hits, six runs and striking out nine. Rolan Ryan pitched the final two innings in relief.
“They hit Ethan a little bit in the first, but he settled back in,” Gratz said. “They’re a good team. They swing the bats. They’re one of the better hitting teams we see, and they were again today.”
Rieckers went 3 for 3 with three RBIs for the Olympians, who had eight hits. Logan Christophel went 2 for 3. Blake Borkhardt went 1 for 4 with a triple.
It will be a quick turnaround for East, which takes on Jeffersonville with the first pitch scheduled for 5:30 p.m. today.
