by Diego Perez-Torres
Source: photosbyjordanp
On Tuesday, the Christopher Columbus Baseball Team kicked off their season with a big win against the Coral Reef Barracudas with a score of 15-0 in favor of Columbus. The Explores dominated on both sides of the game.
The highlight of the night was most certainly when the Explorers hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the second inning from Jovan Swasey '23, Franklin Francisco '24 and Zahir Barjam '24. Explorers ace Gabriel Cruz also looked phenomenal striking out the side on 10 pitches in the 1st, which from there led to smooth sailing for the rest of the game for the Explorers.
But what does this tell us about the Explorer's road to a state championship?
Well, the Explorers showed that they can take control of a game early and never look back. They also displayed remarkable hitting in this game - although Coral Reef isn't the strongest opponent that the Explorers have faced or will in the future.
However, the major thing that Columbus can build off of this game is the fact that they have their ace, Cruz, back. With the team's strengths mainly being hitting and defense, adding their ace who is ready to do whatever it takes to win is a big plus for the pitching staff. Also, Cruz brings varsity experience to the rotation as he has been on the team for three years.
Yesterday, the team defeated Somerset Academy with a score of 12-1. Columbus seems to have a chip on their shoulder after an exit in the regional finals last year with a 2-0 start to this season. After a long offseason, Columbus has had a lot of time to think and now seems to be ready to take on anybody that wants to compete.
The real question isn't if Columbus is ready for the season. The real question is if teams are ready for what Columbus is going to bring to the table this year during their voyage to replicate the 2003 and 2015 seasons. Will the voyage be complete? Only time will tell.