Columbus East High School

Hosting the Jennings County Panthers in a pivotal Hoosier Hills Conference tournament matchup, the Columbus East Olympians battled through seven innings of competitive baseball but ultimately came up short by a 6-3 margin. Despite flashes of offensive life and a strong showing on the mound, Columbus East was unable to overcome a pair of costly miscues in the field. On the mound, sophomore J.D. Rotert delivered a solid outing, working five innings and fanning seven batters while allowing just one earned run on five hits. Rotert mixed a lively fastball with a sharp breaking pitch, keeping the Panthers off-balance through his first four frames. Junior reliever Ryker Stott took the ball in the sixth, retiring all six batters he faced to preserve the team’s slim deficit heading into the final two innings. At the plate, the Olympians collected four hits against Jennings County’s pitching staff. Aiden Bumbalough led the way, going 2-for-3 and driving in a pair of runs on a stand-up double into the left-field corner. Paxton Thompson chipped in with a run-scoring double of his own, while Marcus Wilkinson poked a run across with a single in the fourth inning. Columbus East’s lineup showed situational awareness and aggressive baserunning—stealing two bases—but struggled to sustain rallies, leaving three runners in scoring position. Defensively, East recorded eight putouts and turned two routine double plays, yet three errors extended Jennings County innings and led to five unearned tallies for the Panthers. Those missteps allowed Jennings County to string together key offensive bursts in the second and fifth innings, swinging momentum despite East’s pitchers keeping hitters in check. Columbus East wrapped up the HHC tournament Friday night and will squeeze in 5 more regular season games before the start of Sectional play on May 28th at Columbus East. One of those regular season games is against a possible Sectional opponent, the East Central Trojans and will see two HHC teams in New Albany and Bedford North-Lawrence. While the regular season has had its ups and downs, there's still plenty of time for the team to hit its stride and peak just in time for a Sectional run. Good luck O's!