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2010 "National" Divsion State "A" American Legion
Baseball Tournament

Friday, July 23
Game Four

Columbus survives slugfest with Bellevue West

Box Score

COLUMBUS – In a contest that featured 38 runs, 43 hits, 24 walks, four hit batsmen and an astounding 476 pitches, Columbus Bank took a 20-18 first-round victory over Bellevue West on Friday night.

Columbus started out on the short end of a 10-2 start through the first five innings, as Bellevue scored in each of the first five frames. Leading the charge for the crew from West was Starting Pitcher Desmond Roberts, who connected for a double in the first, RBI groundout in the second and a two-run home run in the fifth. Roberts also kept the Columbus bats in check through the first five frames, striking out nine, while only allowing four hits.

Columbus began its rally back in the sixth, starting with Alek Murphy’s solo homer to lead off the frame. Murphy ‘s teammates responded in kind, as Columbus batted 12 in the sixth followed by 11 more in the seventh.

Despite the rallies, Columbus still faced a 15-13 deficit heading into the top of the eighth. Justin Van Dyke provided Columbus with its first lead of the ball game on a three-run home run to deep right center. Van Dyke then took the mound in the eighth, only to see Desmond Roberts smash his second home run of the night to bring the score back to 16-all.

Columbus rallied for four in the ninth to take the lead for good, sparked by back-to-back RBI doubles by Tyler Vrba and VanDyke.

Nate Ek took the mound in the ninth after each of the first three Bellevue runners reached base, and proceeded to help Columbus escape with a 20-18 victory.

Columbus advances to take on PrimeTime of Millard South at 4 PM on Saturday, while Bellevue West will take on Lincoln Pinnacle Bank (Southwest).