Columbus East catcher Alex McComb tags Cathedral’s Chris Klug out at the plate during Saturday’s semistate game at Mooresville High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
MOORESVILLE — The clock has officially struck midnight.
The Columbus East baseball team’s Cinderella-like run in the postseason ran out of magic Saturday when it endured a 13-7 loss to Cathedral in the Class 4A Mooresville Semistate.
“During the regular season, we played a good schedule, but we didn’t play great in the regular season,” East coach Jon Gratz said. “We started playing to our potential late in the year. We made a heck of a run, and obviously, we wanted to go farther, but that’s just how the ball rolls sometimes. (Cathedral) came out and they hit the ball today, and that’s how it goes.”
Even though it wasn’t the result the Olympians (15-17-1) wanted, they got hot at the right time to make another deep postseason run.
“I’m so proud of this group. They could have packed it up and called it a year, but they didn’t,” Gratz said. “They battled and battled and kept working to get better. They never gave up all the way through. It just wasn’t our day today.”
East got on the board in the top of the first when Harry Major led off with an infield single, and Will Rieckers singled to put runners on first and second. Josh Luedeke hit a chopper back to the pitcher to advance the runners to second and third, and Blake Borkhardt then smacked a single to drive in both runners for a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second, Cathedral responded right back with eight runs. Eli Bennett knocked in two with a bases-loaded double. Alex Wright drove in a run off of an error. Patrick Mazur drove in a run with a single. J.T. Steiner hit a single to drive in another run. David Ayers walked with the bases loaded to force in a run, ending the day for Olympians starting pitcher Ethan Ianni, who was replaced by Will Boyer. Chris Klug then hit a sacrifice fly to knock in another Irish run before East was able to record the final out to get out of the jam.
In the top of third, the Olympians cut into the deficit when Rieckers singled, and Luedeke hit a two-run homer to cut it to 8-4. But the gap then widen again in the bottom half of the third when Cathedral starting pitcher Ben Gomez hit a solo home run. Mazur then singled and stole second. He later scored on a ground rule double by Kyuss Gargett to increase the lead to 10-4.
Cathedral added a run in the bottom of the fourth when Ayers hit a leadoff triple and then scored on a Klug ground rule double. In the fifth, Gargett hit a leadoff solo home run to increase the lead to 12-4.
East added a run in the top of the fifth inning, and the Irish answered with a a run in the sixth. The Olympians had one last rally when Chase Zapfe hit a bases loaded ground rule double in the seventh, but Cathedral retired the next two batters to seal the win.
Borkhardt was 3 for 4 with two RBIs to lead East’s 11-hit attack. Major was 2 for 3 with an RBI. Rieckers was 2 for 4. Luedeke was 1 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs, and Zapfe was 1 for 4 with a double and two RBIs.
The Olympians lose nine seniors, including eight starters, leaving a lot of big shoes to fill for next year.
“All nine of those guys are such a great group of guys. Every single one of them are not just great players, but they’re also great people,” Gratz said. “It’s been a pleasure to coach these guys even though I only got three years with them because (of COVID) that one year. It’s been a pleasure and joy to coach those seniors.”
Cathedral 13, Columbus East 7
Columbus East;202;001;2;—;7;11;1
Cathedral;082;111;x;—;13;13;1
WP: Ben Gomez. LP: Ethan Ianni. 2B: Chase Zapfe (CE), Eli Bennett (C), Alexander Wright (C), Chris Klug (C). 3B: David Ayers (C). HR: Josh Luedeke (CE), Gomez (C).
Records: Columbus East 15-17-1, Cathedral 18-10-2
