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The Columbus Cardinals went through a threegame stretch recently that saw them post a 2-1 record over that time to lock up a playoff spot.
They took on the Rice Raiders and then the Yoakum Bulldogs in backto- back games and all three games were district games.
@ Rice, W, 7-1
In the first game of this three game stretch the Cardinals traveled down to Altair to take on their cross-county rival the Rice Raiders. The Cards scored three runs in the second and sixth inning with a one run fourth inning sandwiched in the middle to get a total of seven runs.
They gave up the lone Raider score in the bottom of the sixth and with that the Cards were able to enjoy the bus ride back to Columbus.
Brody Tribe and Lane Kulhanek combined their efforts on the bump for the Cards. They pitched all seven innings and gave up one run on four hits while walking three batters and striking out five of them.
It was a great start for the Cards, and they wanted to carry this momentum into their games against Yoakum. That task was made even easier because the first game of their back-to-back with Yoakum started in Columbus.
Vs. Yoakum, W, 6-2
Back on their home field the Cards found themselves in a hole by the end of the third inning because they were down 2-0. The Cards finally responded in the bottom of the fifth where they scored four runs and then extended their lead by two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Wyatt Tipton got the rally started for the Cards because it was his single that helped drive home a run for the Cards first run of the game. After that it was multiple walks that brought home two runs but then a sacrifice fly ball hit by Ayden Carter brought home the fourth run.
Tipton was also pitching for the Cards, and he pitched all seven innings giving up two runs on three hits while walking two batters and striking out 10 of them.
This was a big win for the Cards, but they still had one more game against this team and quickly shifted their focus to that.
@ Yoakum, L, 7-6
In the third game of this three game stretch the Cards were handed a walk off loss by Yoakum.
The game was tied by the end of the second inning with a score of 4-4. Columbus opened the scoring and led 3-1 after the first inning, but in the second inning Columbus scored one run while Yoakum scored three runs to leave the score tied at four runs each.
Yoakum broke the tie in the bottom of the third inning when they scored one run, but Columbus quickly responded with two runs in the top of the fourth to take a 6-5 lead. The fifth and sixth inning went scoreless, and Yoakum walked the game off in the bottom of the seventh scoring two runs to end the game with a final score of 7-6.
The Cards used five different pitchers in this game, and they were Kannon Rooks, Cade Neumann, Jayden Spaulding, Kulhanek and Tribe. They combined to pitch 6.1 innings, giving up seven runs on seven hits while walking eight batters and striking out eight of them as well.
The Cards now look ahead to the playoff journey in front of them where they are looking to join the football and basketball teams with another deep State Championship run.
