Columbus High School is grateful to be having the school year that they have had so far, even though it wasn’t like any other school year in history. One of the opportunities that Columbus High gets this year is the spring sports season; the first since last year’s was canceled entirely last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. CHS baseball was among the first of the spring sports to be back in action.

The first week of the games were heavy-hitting compared to previous seasons. They played four games in a span of three days and they ended up winning three out of the four. 

The season opener doubleheader was against their opponents in maroon, the Norfolk Panthers. In the first game, the offense for the Discoverers exploded in the home half of the fourth inning with Senior Tanner Kobza and Senior Colin Flyr getting singles and Junior Cody Zrust was walking to load the bases. Scotus Senior Kaden Young was able to sacrifice an out for Columbus to score. The team was able to increase their lead on a two-out rally in that inning, causing a mercy rule in the fifth inning winning the game 12-4. Flyr was also the defensive leader on the mound for that game pitching a no-hitter with five strikeouts in the first four innings that he pitched. Senior Caleb Van Dyke pitched relief in the fifth and pitched perfectly with striking out two of the runners.

In the latter half of the doubleheader, the Discoverers won 4-1. Junior Taden Bell ran in Scotus Senior Evan Bock to take the first point of the game in the second inning. Sophomore Connor Rausch made a double to secure another point in the second inning as well. Bock brought in Zrust in the third inning to make it 3-0 and in the 4th inning, Rausch was able to score on a sacrifice fly ball from Kobza. Junior Ryan Eickhoff led at the mound with seven strikeouts and only allowed the one run in the sixth inning.

In their victory over the Seward Bluejays, the Discoverers were able to take the lead by scoring three runs after being down by one in the seventh inning. After Van Dyke hit a triple and Kobza drew a walk, Flyr was able to clear the bases with a triple of his own. The other run scored was created on Young’s RBI groundout at first. Van Dyke was also excellent at relief pitching in this game as well, allowing one hit and another pair of strikeouts.

However, their first loss was created by the Papillion La-Vista Monarchs. After the Discoverers broke a three-run tie in the eighth inning with Bock reaching and advancing on an error and scoring on Freshman Jarrett Bell’s line drive, the Monarchs responded with scoring two more on the likes of a home run and a series of a single, an error, and another single.

Overall, the defense was successful in these games with only allowing 20 total hits, striking out opponents 35 times, and having a staff ERA of 2.39. Out of the eight boys that pitched so far this season, all of them struck out at least two hitters and only four of them went without allowing a run. In the box, the team batting average was at a .303 and .429 on-base percentage. They had 33 hits in total, nine extra-base hits, 26 RBI’s, and had 21 walks over 23 strikeouts. The leading hitter overall was Flyr with six. Bell had the most RBIs with five. Zrust, Bock, and Kobza all scored five runs with Zrust drawing five walks.

Stay tuned as CHS Anchor News will soon be providing a recap of the home game against the Bellevue West Chieftains. To do so, be sure to follow CHS Anchor News on Twitter and Instagram at CHS Anchor News along with checking out our Fusfoo page. I’m Libby Wurdeman, CHS Anchor News.