It has been a busy season for the Discoverer baseball team as they have been playing in many games. At the time of writing, the Discoverers see themselves with an even 10-10 record. Here is how the games went. 

In the first game of the double header against Lincoln Northeast, Scotus Senior Kaden Young singled in Senior Colin Flyr for the first run in the first inning. However, the Spartans got six runs in the bottom of that inning to secure a lead they would never relinquish. Two other Discoverer runs came in during the second inning on Flyr’s sac fly and from Young drawing a bases loaded walk. The final score was 13-3, Spartans. In the latter game, all Discoverer runs were scored in the sixth when Young singled and Junior Taden Bell and Senior Caleb Van Dyke were walked to fill the bases. Young was brought in by a pitcher error, Bell slid into home after Sophomore Connor Rausch grounded out to first, and Van Dyke ran after Junior Sam Kwapnioski’s sac fly. Unfortunately the sixth inning rally was not enough to propel the Discoverers past the Rockets who soared to a 9-3 victory.   

In the away game against the Kearney Bearcats, Flyr’s lead off walk resulted in him running around the bases on an error and scoring on Young’s sac fly at center field. Young also hit in the other run by hitting a single to bring in Junior Cody Zrust. On the mound, Junior Ryan Eickhoff threw 44/62 (71%) strikes in the innings he pitched. Eickhoff’s gem from the bump helped the Discoverers escape with a 2-1 win.  

With their away game at Norris, after facing a two-run Titan homer in the top of the fourth inning, Senior CJ Fleeman hit an RBI single to left field to bring in Scotus Senior Evan Bock after his double. In the fifth, Senior Tanner Kobza singled, advanced on a Flyr’s single and scored on an error. Young singled two hitters later to bring in the winning run for the Discoverers, winning the game 3-2. In pitching, Bell had 10 strikeouts in the 6.2 innings he had pitched. 

Hoping to increase their away winning streak to three wins, they had to face the Blair Bears. Although they sat comfortably by leading 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Discoverers lost it all with a run and a grand slam. The Discoverer bats were active early, as a Young sac fly to bring in Flyr in the first inning. The pair made another run in the third by Flyr’s single, steal of second, and Young’s hit to right field. Kobza and Flyr got the other two runs in for the Discoverers after getting on base with singles. Kobza ran in on a double steal when Zrust sent a  sac fly to right field. Flyr was brought in by Senior Brent Beard’s sac fly in center field and also did a good job at the mound with nine total strikeouts. 

For their first home game after their loss to the Bears, they went up against the Omaha Westside Warriors. After Eickhoff pitched the first four innings, Fleeman pitched two strikeouts while having a 60% (35/58) strike rate. Fleeman also ran it for the Discoverers’ first run of the game after hitting a single and advancing around the bases on a Beard single, a Young pop fly and headed home on a wild pitch.  He later hit Kobza home in third  After a Westside homerun in the fourth, Flyr hit one out of the park to keep their lead by two. However, the Warriors rallied with a four-run sixth inning and won 5-3. 

With the Waverly Vikings, Discoverer runs were obtained by Beard’s RBI single to bring in Kobza in the third, Van Dyke’s walk, a steal to second, a pitcher’s error to tie the game in the fourth and a Flyr single to score the go-ahead run. Beard would later run in on Young’s RBI single in the seventh inning. Senior Trey Kobza pitched the first 3.2 innings of the game. Bell shined in relief, striking out 7 of the 11 batters he faced. This game ended their losing streak with a 4-2 Discoverer Victory. 

The boys also saw more victories against the Lincoln Northstar Navigators and the Lincoln High Links. With the Navigators, Columbus took an early two-run lead in the second and scored another run in the sixth and were able to win 3-1. With the Links, the Discoverers started out with scoring the first two runs in the fourth and other three in the inning after. Lincoln High scored their only run in the sixth inning, giving the Discoverers a 5-1 victory. 

The Discoverers then faced a difficult challenge on their home turf with the Lincoln Southwest Silver Hawks. After the Silver Hawks scored four of their runs, the Discoverers clawed back in the fifth with scoring run plays made by Bock and Young with both of them reaching on a fielder’s choice, Bock being hit by pitch with loaded bases, and Young stealing on a wild pitch. However their comeback attempt wasn’t enough, giving the 5-4 win to the Silver Hawks. 

Columbus was able to get another home victory against the Hastings Tigers by scoring all of their runs in the first inning. Eichoff threw 64 of a total 95 pitches for strikes, and wrung up two-thirds of the batters he faced. After the bases were loaded by Beard, Flyr, and Young, Rausch and Fleeman were walked to bring the first two runs. Young was brought in on Bock’s fielder’s choice at shortstop and Rausch scored on a catcher’s error winning the game 4-2. 

In the Discoverers’ appearance in the HAC tournament, they faced the Lincoln Northeast Rockets again and the Linocln Pius Thunderbolts. The Discoverers led 4-0 before the Rockets came back in the seventh, but Young hit a walk-off RBI for the win. Other runs were scored by Kobza leading off with a single and advancing to home on errors made by the Northeast outfield in the first. Beard also singled that inning and made it into home on a passed ball. In the fifth, Zrust led off with a triple and scored on another Rockets error and Flyr’s double made it 4-0 and advanced to the next round on a 5-4 win. However with the Thunderbolts, the Discoverers were the victims of a no-hitter, and no runners advancing past first base, losing the game 4-0.

The team also faced another away-game shutout of 7-0 by the Elkhorn Antlers.  After they led 1-0 in the first inning; they increased their lead by six in the fifth due to errors. In the game, Eickhoff pitched 41/63 (65%) of strikes. 

Stay tuned for a recap of the doubleheader with the Lincoln Northeast Rockets. 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.