Columbus East’s Eli Tindell slides into home during Friday’s Columbus East Sectional semifinal against Franklin.
Rob Baker | For The Republic
Unfortunately for Columbus East, there was no reset button to push after the first inning Friday night.
The Olympians settled down and outscored Franklin over the final six innings, but a seven-run first for the Grizzly Cubs was too much to overcome in an 8-2 loss in the semifinals of the East Sectional.
The first six Franklin batters reached base against Olympian starter JD Rotert and came around to score in the bottom of the first. Kaden Arnholt replaced Rotert with two out in the first and allowed a pair of inherited runners to score, but then gave up only one hit and no runs until the sixth.
“Kaden did a good job coming on in relief,” East coach Jon Gratz said. “He wasn’t expecting to pitch that much today. He came in early and gave us a chance.”
The Olympians (8-20) had a couple of chances against Franklin’s Braeden Burton before getting on the board in the sixth. Rotert tripled with two out in the sixth, and AJ Tindell singled and Jackson Watkins doubled leading off the fifth. But those runners were stranded.
In the sixth, Rotert and Eli Tindell led off with back-to-back singles and moved up on a groundout by Logan Warren. Bige Asher then delivered a two-run single.
Rotert went 2 for 3 for East, which outhit Franklin 7-6.
“I felt like we swung the bats really well against a really good pitcher,” Gratz said. “A lot of balls just didn’t fall, and that’s how baseball goes.”
“Columbus East is a great hitting team, and we realized that real quick,” Franklin coach Jeremy McKinney added. “Overall, they’re a good team. We caught Rotert on a bad day, luckily, and we took advantage of it.”
The Grizzly Cubs (16-9) move on to face Whiteland, a 4-2 winner against East Central in Friday’s nightcap, in the sectional final at 6 p.m. Monday.
The Olympians lose six seniors to graduation, but return both pitchers they used Friday.
“I’m proud of this group,” Gratz said. “They’ve had a lot of adversity all year, and they never gave up. They kept battling. Tonight, they didn’t quit. We had a chance to make it a game there, and it didn’t turn our way. But I’m proud of the group. They’re a bunch of great kids, and it’s been a pleasure to coach them.”
