Baseball Game Preview: Columbus East Olympians vs. Franklin Community Grizzly Cubs

The Columbus East Olympians will square off against the Franklin Community Grizzly Cubs at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Columbus East managed to slip by Bedford North Lawrence the last time these teams faced off, but didn't have those same answers this time around. The Olympians came up short against the Stars on Monday, falling 8-2. Having soared to a lofty 11 runs in the game before, the Olympians couldn't push the score so high this time.

Columbus East had to settle for second despite strong performances on the mound from Kaden Arnholt and Ryker Stott Arnholt tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off two hits, while Stott pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Arnholt has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two hits in six consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Columbus East saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was J.D. Rotert, who went 2-for-3 with one double.

Meanwhile, Franklin Community was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their third straight defeat. They might be feeling deja-vu: they lost 7-4 to Decatur Central, which was the same score (and result) they got the week prior. Grizzly Cubs fans who chose to attend the game sure picked the wrong one: it was the first time the team's lost against the Hawks since on Friday.

Wyatt Mitchell was cooking despite his team's loss, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one home run and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Landen Basey, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and one double.

Franklin Community's loss dropped their record down to 15-9. As for Columbus East, their defeat was their 12th straight on the road dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 8-19.