Columbus East’s Carson Williams leads his team in a prayer before a baseball game against Corydon Central at the Columbus East baseball and softball complex in Columbus, Ind., Friday, March 29, 2024.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Good Friday was a good Friday for Carson Williams.
After having only one at bat in Columbus East’s first two games of the season, the senior designated hitter came up big in his first two times at the plate against Corydon Central. The left-hander smacked two two-run home runs just inside the right field foul pole to spark the Olympians to their first win of the season, a 9-5 victory against Corydon Central.
“I wasn’t really thinking too much about it, just going up there and swinging,” Williams said. “”I was just looking for something in my zone, something I could really put some muscle behind. I’ve been really thinking about not changing my swing to be on time, but to swing with the time. All my thanks and glory goes to God, though. He’s led me through this way and carried me through, and he’s going to continue to carry me through.”
East (1-2) got a solid pitching performances out of a pair of youngsters. Freshman JD Rotert allowed one run on two hits over 3 1/3 innings, and sophomore Bige Asher gave up four runs on seven hits over the final 3 2/3.
“Our freshman on the mound threw great,” East coach Jon Gratz said. “He got ahead of hitters and threw strikes. Then, we brought a sophomore on the mound who just filled up the (strike) zone. They had a few hits there, but he just kept filling up the zone, and good things happen when you do that. I think the big thing was pitchers getting ahead of hitters and throwing strikes. “
The Olympians jumped on the Panthers (0-3) with four runs in the second and three in the third. Eli Tindall was hit by a pitch leading off the second and scored on a triple by Jackson Watkins. With one out, Williams clubbed his first home run. Logan Warren then singled, and courtesy runner Marcus Wilkinson went to second on an error and third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Evan Huckaby.
In the third, Evan Balzer led off with a double, went to third on an error and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tindall. Watkins then walked, went to second on a wild pitch and stole third before Williams’ second blast of the day.
“We swung the bats well early,” Gratz said. “Hitting is contagious. Sometimes it takes a little while to get going. We have some really good hitters in our lineup, and we just have to keep building off this and stay within ourselves at the plate.”
Corydon reached Rotert for a run in the fourth. East got the run back in the fifth when Balzer led off with a double and scored on a one-out single by Watkins.
After the Panthers put up two runs in the sixth, the Olympians answered in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Warren singled, Chase Niese reached on a fielders choice, pinch-hitter Ryne Fish singled and Blake Borkhardt followed with an RBI-single to give them a 9-3 lead.
Corydon pushed across a pair of runs in the seventh before Asher came up with a strikeout to end the rally.
“We struggled to put them away,” Gratz said. “We have to get better at, when we get up, staying up and keeping going.”
Watkins went 2 for 2 with two RBIs, and Williams went 2 for 3 with four RBIs to lead East’s 10-hit attack. Warren went 2 for 3, and Balzer finished 2 for 4.
The Olympians will try to carry the momentum from their first win into today’s doubleheader at Decatur Central.
“It’s incredible,” Williams said. “It’s a very good feeling. I feel like we’re team that picks up a lot of wins when we have momentum, and I think we have that momentum now.”
