Blake Borkhardt
Hits were hard to come by during Tuesday night’s baseball contest between Columbus East and Bedford North Lawrence, but all it took was one swing of the bat to make a difference.
With the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Blake Borkhardt delivered a walkoff grand slam to lift the Olympians to a 4-0 victory over the Stars.
“Throughout the whole game, I was rolling over with the bat. I’ve been working on that. Since I was the DH, I was out of the dugout working on it,” Borkhardt said. “That swing was level. It was one of my favorite pitches to hit, and I just hit it.”
In the bottom of the eighth, Harry Major started the rally with a single, then Will Rieckers was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. After a Bedford North Lawrence error loaded the bases, the stage was set for Borkhardt’s at-bat.
“We’ve been struggling to score runs late the last couple of games, but that was a big time hit,” East coach Jon Gratz said. “It was a big situation for him being only a sophomore.”
The pitching and defensive effort in the game proved to be just as huge. Will Boyer started the game for the Olympians (5-7-1) on the bump, going five innings and allowing zero runs on four hits and seven strikeouts. Rolan Ryan came on in relief to earn the win for East, going three innings and allowing zero runs, one hit and two strikeouts.
“A big credit goes to our pitching staff. Will Boyer threw a heck of a game, and Rolan Ryan came in relief and was just as good. I’m really happy with those guys,” Gratz said. “Our pitching staff is really starting to come along. Early in the year, we struggled a little bit. A lot of those guys are really stepping up, getting some confidence.”
The win for the Olympians snapped a three-game losing streak, and they have another key game this week against Jennings County on Thursday.
“It was big. We‘ve got a couple big games coming up,” Borkhardt said. “After this win, we should have a lot of energy going in these next few games.”
