It’s not always how you start, but how you finish — as the old cliché goes.
With 19 straight retired batters Columbus East pitcher, after giving up two runs in the first inning, Cam Curry was in complete control against Seymour on Thursday.
The senior finished with nine strikeouts, one walk and two hits as the Olympians left with a 9-2 win at American Legion Field.
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Curry threw 60 strikes and 23 balls in a dominant performance for the Olympians.
“We knew coming into this game (Curry’s) one of the best pitchers in southern Indiana,” Owls coach Jeremy Richey said. “This group is going to have to grow from this. When you get a guy like (Curry) on the ropes in the first inning, you have to put something up in the second inning.
“I think that our youth showed up a little bit tonight, which is disappointing. I’m not going to use that as an excuse with our kids, but when things were going well we were pretty good. As soon as they took the lead you could tell the whole mood of this place changed.”
In the first inning, the Owls got on the board first when senior Mitchell Moore hit an RBI single to center field to score pitcher Satoshi Hirose.
Moore then stole second base and came in on a score following an RBI double from Keenan Bohall that dropped into left field.
Curry then took control of the game for the Olympians, as the Owls would go scoreless the rest of the contest.
In the final six innings, Curry retired the side in three batters each time.
Following a scoreless second inning, Curry hit an RBI single, a grounder, to left field to score Noah Wichman.
The Olympians tied the contest at 2-2 in the top of the fourth when Joey Back singled to left and the Owls made an error.
Junior Paetan Brennan relieved Hirose in top of the fifth on the mound.
Nick Andrie led off with a single in the fifth and was brought in on an RBI triple behind a blast from Curry that hit the right-field fence to take a 3-2 Olympians lead.
Two more runs came in for the Olympians when Kyle Weiss homered over the right-field fence in the sixth. A wild pitch allowed the Olympians to score a third run in the inning.
In the seventh the Olympians ran away with the victory, tacking on three more runs highlighted by an RBI single from Andrie.
“We were competitive down 3-2 in five innings, throwing a sophomore pitcher against them, and there are some promising things there,” Richey said. “We just need to learn how to finish.”
Hirose was the losing pitcher for the Owls giving up eight hits, four walks, three runs and adding three strikeouts in five innings.
“That’s a big outing for (Hirose),” Richey said. “He’s our number three guy (pitching) and if he throws like that we’re going to win a lot of games on the mound. I think he should get some confidence from this and can build from that.”