Even though Columbus East lost a lot of seniors last year from last year’s regional champion baseball team, coach Jon Gratz has a lot of depth he can utilize at many positions.
The Olympians finished the year 15-17-1 that included a deep postseason run with sectional and regional titles and an appearance in the Class 4A semistate before falling to Cathedral.
“They’re doing a nice job competing. We‘ve got a lot of good options, and that is what we’re trying to sort out right now,” Gratz said. “Guys are competing, they are working hard to show what they can do. There’s a lot of opportunity out there right now for guys to take. We’ve got some really good athletes. We’ve got some guys that can hit for power. We’ve got a lot of pitching depth. It’s a matter of who is going to go out there and perform.”
Two of the top players returning from last year’s batting lineup include junior Blake Borkhardt and senior Chase Zapfe. Borkhardt and Zapfe provided power in the lineup, hitting six and three home runs, respectively. Zapfe, who has committed to Franklin College, will miss a little portion of the start of the season due to injury, but it is not serious and he should be ready in early April.
Juniors Caaden Gault and Carson Williams will handle the catching duties this year. Borkhardt, as well as juniors Evan Huckaby and Parker Harris, will share first base duties. Huckaby also could play third base. along with A.J. Tindell and Will Boyer. Seniors J.R. Wynne and Jacob Clark, junior Chase Niese and sophomores Eli Tindell, Ethan Bumbalough, Jackson Watkins and Ryne Fish will compete for the infield positions.
Seniors Zapfe, Caleb Martoccia (Manchester) and Jordan Flanders — a transfer from California that also spent two years playing in Colorado — and juniors Evan Balzer, Rolan Ryan and Jace Jones will compete for the outfield spots.
“Those returning guys we’ve got, they’re doing a nice job setting the tone and making sure they better understand things,” Gratz said. “We’ve really had a lot of younger guys step up. They’ve been paying attention to how do things in our program. They’ve stepped right in, and hopefully, we don’t see much of a dropoff.”
Columbus East’s Rolan Ryan takes second base against Jeffersonville Friday April 15, 2022, at Columbus East.
The Republic file photo
Boyer, Harris and Ryan will handle the majority of the starting pitching this year. Flanders, Wynne, Clark, Jones, Huckaby, Tindell and freshman Ethan Harris will be competing for the relief positions.
“We’re looking at them as three starters for us. I’m also seeing who else emerges,” Gratz said. “We’ve got a lot of pitching depth this year. We don’t necessarily have everybody throwing 90-plus (miles per hour) like a lot of those big schools have that we compete against, but we’ve got a lot of depth I feel good about. This is about as deep as our pitching staff has been for awhile.”
One advantage that will help East complete games this year is lights. Lights were installed in the offseason, and that will definitely help early in the season with the earlier sunset to avoid calling a game a tie because of darkness.
“It’s something we won’t have to worry about. I’m looking forward to trying them out,” Gratz said. “It’s definitely a big change, something that I’m not used to. I’ve been here a long time with no lights.”
The Olympians will be looking to defend their sectional crown, but some opponents have changed due to the new sectional alignment. With the sectional realignment that went into effect this year, Bloomington North and Bloomington South have been swapped for Franklin and Whiteland. Regardless of the switch, it’ll be a tough task for the Olympians with they travel to East Central in late May.
“It’ll be a learning curve early for guys,” Gratz said. “A lot of our guys are getting their first varsity time, and it’s a big jump from the JV level, but I think we’ve got guys that are up to the challenge.”
The 2023 Columbus East baseball schedule:
Wednesday;at Center Grove;6 p.m.
April 1;at Kokomo Bullpen Classic;11 a.m.
April 4;Cathedral;5:30 p.m.
April 6;at Seymour;5:30 p.m.
April 8;at Floyd Central;11 a.m.
April 10;at Greenfield-Central;6 p.m.
April 12;at Madison;6 p.m.
April 13;Providence;5:45 p.m.
April 14;at Jeffersonville;6 p.m.
April 15;Franklin;10 a.m.
April 17;Edgewood;5:30 p.m.
April;18;Silver Creek;6 p.m.
April 22;at Jasper Invitational;11 a.m.
April 25;at Bedford North Lawrence;5:30 p.m.
April 27;at Jennings County;5:30 p.m.
April 29;Bloomington South (DH);10 a.m.
May 1;Southport;6 p.m.
May 5;Columbus North;6 p.m.
May 8;at Floyd Central in HHC tourney;6 p.m.
May 10;vs. TBA in HHC tourney;6 p.m.
May 12;HHC tourney at TBA;6 p.m.
May 15;at New Albany;6 p.m.
May 16;at East Central;5:30 p.m.
May 17;Bloomington North;6 p.m.
May 19;Roncalli;6 p.m.