It’s been a season of building momentum for the Columbia Cougars Baseball team.
Columbia came away with a huge win over a highly ranked Edison team in the @teamworkunlimitedfoundation Autism Awareness Challenge on April 19, with a final score of 10-4. That victory marked the beginning of six-game winning streak.
Led by Senior Captain Isaac Buchalter (4-5, HR, 4 RBI) and freshman phenom Dex “The Truth” Ellis (7 IP, 8 SO, 1 ERA), the Cougars were able to mount 13 hits, the most notable being Buchalter’s huge grand slam to seal the deal for the Cougars.
Following a shutout win over Millburn that saw Senior Captain Will Iozzio both bat flipping a routine pop-out, and amassing 10 strike outs in only his second game back, Columbia moved onto .500 on the season.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
The season improved from there for Columbia.
In the second round of the Greater Newark Tournament on May 1 (but Columbia’s first game), No. 4 seed Columbia mercied No. 13 seeded Glen Ridge, 14-4 in 6 innings.
Iozzio started for the Cougars on the mound, going 4 innings, only giving up 4 hits with 7 strikeouts. Senior Blake Gordon came in for relief, throwing 2 innings, with 0 ER, and 3 strikeouts of his own.
Buchalter got the bats rolling for Columbia, going 2 for 3 with a towering three run homer, and Senior Benji Josefsberg went 2-2 with 3 walks, the walk off RBI, four runs, and a stolen base (should’ve made the end of game insta post). Senior Joey Kerner was also hot at the plate getting on 4 times with 2 hits, and Sophomore Jack Livingstone batted in three RBIs.
Huge shoutout Blake Gordon — homer inflation is real, and he reminded everyone that pitchers can hit too, with an electric sac fly to bring in Oliver Kreizman (best base runner in NJ) at the end of the game.
The guys look to their next game, this upcoming Wednesday, May 6, as they face West Orange again, in round three of the GNT. Last week your Cougars took down the WO 4-0 away, and look to end it once and for all and solidify themselves to 10-6 on the season.
(Editor’s note: Since the May 1 victory in the GNT, Columbia lost to Verona 10-9 on May 2 and to Passaic Tech by 4-1 on May 5. The Cougars look to make a comeback at the GNT Quarterfinals on May 6. See their full season schedule here.)
Aidan Heindl is a 12th grade student at Columbia High School and is working with Village Green as part of a grant from the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium.
More photos from April 19 Autism Awareness Challenge:
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
Photo by Aidan Heindl.
