Blake Osbourne
Columbus North had its chances to take the lead early in Friday night’s battle with Class 4A No. 4 Cathedral.
The Bull Dogs, however, weren’t able to push any runs across, and the Irish made them pay. Cathedral scored twice in the fourth, three times in the fifth and three more in the seventh to claim an 8-0 victory.
“We definitely had some opportunities early on,” North coach Mike Bodart said. “We had runners in scoring position the first two innings and weren’t able to capitalize on it. We talked about execution (Thursday) night and tonight. We have to be able to execute. Cathedral is way too good of a team to not execute and expect to be able to come away with a victory. It’s a whole different ballgame if we jump on them earlier and put some runs on the board.”
The Bull Dogs (8-7) put the leadoff runner on base in four of the seven innings, including the first and second innings, but left them stranded.
David Ayers pitched a six-hit shutout for the Irish (9-3). Cathedral, last year’s 4A state runner-up, was led at the plate by Kentucky recruit Kyuss Gargett, who went 3 for 4 with two doubles and a home run.
Blake Osbourne and Ryan Rayburn, who combined to allow 10 hits and only four earned runs, both went 2 for 2 at the plate for North. Osbourne allowed just two runs (one earned) and struck out seven over the first four innings.
“Blake did a good job holding them the first three innings, and even into the fourth inning,” Bodart said. “Pitching-wise, I thought we competed well. We just didn’t execute when we had to execute.”
The Bull Dogs have a quick turnaround with a home Conference Indiana game at 11 a.m. today against Terre Haute North.
