Cannelton baseball edges Columbus Christian for first win of season

Cannelton finally had one of the close games go its way, and the Bulldogs used Saturday’s 9-7 win over Columbus Christian to notch their first victory of the season. The result mattered because it did more than break the skid: it flipped the outcome after Cannelton had taken a 14-run loss in the previous meeting with the Crusaders.

Gage Garrett and Tyler Coon led the charge at the plate. Garrett finished 2-for-2 with two runs, a triple and an RBI, while Coon reached base in all three of his plate appearances and scored twice. As a team, Cannelton posted a .556 on-base percentage, its best mark of the year, and kept runners on base throughout the game instead of relying on one big inning to stay alive.

That was a sharp change from where the Bulldogs had been through the first week of the spring. Cannelton entered the day at 0-4, with losses to South Spencer, 41-1, Hancock County, 28-0, Crawford County, 17-6, and Rock Creek Academy, 1-0 in nine innings. Those results had left little margin for error and made any tight finish feel unfamiliar. The 9-7 win was Cannelton’s closest victory since May 10, 2025, underscoring how rare a game like this has been for the program.

The victory also offered a glimpse of what the Bulldogs could look like when they are putting pressure on defenses instead of chasing from behind. Under head coach Mike Garrett, who was entering his 17th season guiding the program, Cannelton has tried to build on a tradition that includes five sectional championships, with the last coming in 1993. For a team that has spent much of the spring trying to find traction, a win like this can do more than change a record.

Cannelton’s schedule still has plenty of tests ahead, including games against Wood Memorial and South Central, along with a May 27 sectional game against Wood Memorial. The Bulldogs also had to turn around and face Columbus Christian again later that day, when the Crusaders won 11-4. Even so, the first game gave Cannelton something it had not had since the start of the season: a hard-earned proof point that the Bulldogs can stay in a game, manufacture enough offense and finish one in their favor.