SEYMOUR — The Columbus East baseball team slugged its way to a 16-0 victory Thursday at Seymour.
All facets of the game were firing on all cylinders for the Olympians, from pitching and offense, to defense and baserunning. The victory helped the team improve to 4-0.
The East offense was led by Julian Greenwell who went 4 for 4 with a double, two home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored. Dalton Back also had a big night from the plate, going 2 for 3 with a triple, a home run, four RBIs and three runs. Nash Murphy also homered for the Olympians.
Sophomore Clayton Taylor had a stellar performance from the mound, giving up only one hit and no runs over five innings. Taylor struck out nine Owls and issued just three walks. He faced only 19 batters.
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East used three big innings. The Olympians had 31 at bats from the third, fourth and fifth innings, scoring 15 of its runs during the stretch.
Coach Jon Gratz said he was impressed with how his team performed throughout the game. He said a strong, efficient outing from his pitcher helped keep the team going.
“I was really happy with how Clayton Taylor threw,” Gratz said. “He was our junior varsity catcher last year and pitched a little bit, but he has really come along.”
Gratz said Taylor’s outing put the team in a great position heading into the weekend, when they play a doubleheader at Floyd Central.
“That helps with that,” he said.
The offense keeping the runs coming in and also aided the effort in a big way and helped alleviate any pressure on the mound, Gratz said.
“I think a lot of guys took great at bats,” he said. “We hit a few home runs and had some extra base hits, so that certainly helped.”
The most productive inning for the Olympians was the fifth, where they sent 13 batters to the plate and produced seven runs. The inning was highlighted by a two-run homer from Greenwell.
Chase Miles walked Back with one out and allowed Greenwell’s second home run of the night. Harry Major then pinch hit and was walked. That brought Jack Roberts into the game for Seymour in relief.
Roberts walked two and allowed a sacrifice fly from Ben Major, who hit the ball deep to center field. It looked as though the inning was going to come to an end when T.J. Barkhimer hit the ball back to Roberts, but he overthrew the ball to first and allowed a run.
Ethan McKinney and Jonah Wichman then reached base before the Owls put in Takumi Nishiwaki to pitch. Nishiwaki gave up two runs before the inning was over.
Ahead of Saturday’s doubleheader, Gratz emphasized how important fundamentals are to the game.
“We want to keep working on the little things to keep getting better,” he said.
