Columbus Minor Baseball team makes history

The Columbus Minor baseball team made history last week by being the first 10u all-star team from Columbus to make it to State.

They finished their season with a record of 13-3 and showed just how devoted and determined this team was in their quest for success.

They started strong, winning their first five games by a combined score of 59-19. At the District tournament, Columbus’ hot streak continued, and they remained undefeated, finding themselves in the championship game.

Columbus had to beat the Washington County All-Stars in back-to-back games to call themselves champions and they met that challenge head on. Without even flinching Columbus came into those two games ready to handle business and keep their season going.

Columbus won both games by 5-3 and 13-3, respectively. They were given a banner to celebrate their accomplishment and quickly set their sights on sectionals.

The championship victory automatically earned them a spot in the Sectional tournament. This is where Columbus ran into their first bit of adversity, losing the first game of the season to Western Hills.

Columbus handled the adversity well, knowing that they still had a fighting chance kept them motivated. They bounced back with two huge back-toback wins over Bryan Harvey All-Stars 12-2 and then beat Lufkin 8-2 to set up a rematch against Western Hills.

Columbus needed to beat Western Hills twice to win the championship, but only one loss meant Western Hills was going to be lifting that banner instead of Columbus. Game one came down to the wire with Western Hills making one final late push.

Heading into the sixth inning of game one the score sat at 13-7 in favor of Columbus. Western Hills scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 13-12 and put Columbus and the rest of the fans in attendance on the edge of their seats.

Columbus secured the final out of the game shortly after Tyce Barten caught a pop up for the third out. Game two was played shortly after game one, time was given for the players to rehydrate and refuel before playing the championship game where it is win or go home scenarios for both teams.

Columbus ended up winning game two by a score of 10-4 to crown themselves champions. While the defense played a big role in the game keeping Western Hills off the bases for the most part Columbus’ offense shined brightly in game two.

Rhett Rosenbaum hit the lone double for Columbus and was a huge help in swinging the momentum in Columbus’ favor. Meanwhile on the mound Jett Luedecke and Kase Johns combined for 10 strikeouts, five each, while giving up only four runs on seven hits and walking three.

Columbus won their second championship of the summer and made their way to State being the first team from this age group in Columbus to do so. They lost both their games to State 9-4 and 10-0.

But even though they missed out on the big trophy they accomplished a lot of good things and made a legacy for Columbus Little League.