The Charger softball team played two contrasting games with Ogden on Tuesday, falling twice 9-1 and 6-5. The first game was dominated by Ogden while the second was a game that the Chargers had a real shot at winning.

The Bulldogs jumped on ACGC in the first inning of the opener, scoring five runs to take control of the game from the get go. ACGC scored a single run in the fourth inning, but were blanked the rest of the way. Bulldog pitcher Denali Loecker limited the Chargers to four hits, while striking out ten Charger batters. Numerous errors by ACGC aided the Bulldogs throughout the game.

Savana Fuller, the Hoover sisters, and MaKayla Hoing each had a hit for ACGC. The lone Charger run came when "G" Hoover singled and scored on Hoing's double. Fuller went the distance in the circle, giving up nine hits while walking three and striking out four. Only three of the nine Ogden runs were earned, indicating that there were some holes in the Charger defense.

The nightcap stood in sharp contrast to the first game, as the teams traded leads until the bottom of the seventh when Ogden managed to score a run and win the game 6-5. (Since this was a conference doubleheader, the teams alternated as the home team.)

The game was scoreless through the first two innings when the Chargers took a 2-0 lead in the third. After Kylie Young singled to centerfield and Reese Coffman got on base by error, Mady Kelsey reached safely on an error, scoring both Young and Reese.

After the Bulldogs scored a single run in the fourth inning on a Denali Loecker home run, they added two more runs in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead after five innings.

ACGC came back with three scores of its own in the sixth on four consecutive hits. Kelsy, "G" Hoover, and Makayla Hoing all singled to load he bases. Jayden Carrick then unloaded with a double to deep right field driving in all three base runners to give the Chargers the lead once again at 5-3. Sierra O'Brien continued the streak with a single to right field, advancing Carrick to third base, after which O'Brien stole second base. Runners on second and third and no outs!! It appeared the Chargers were about to break the game open. But it was not to be.

After a strikeout for the first out of the inning, the Chargers attempted a safety squeeze bunt. Reese Coffman lay down a bunt which the Bulldog catcher retrieved and threw to first base for the second out of the inning. Carrick waited for the throw to first before breaking for home from third base. The throw from the Ogden first baseman beat Carrick to the plate and she was tagged out by the catcher for the third out of the inning. While the big inning escaped the Chargers, they had retaken the lead at 5-3 going into the seventh inning.

A Charger fielding error and two Bulldog hits tied the game up in the bottom of the sixth at 5-5. After the Chargers went down in order in their final at bat, Ogden came up with a run on two hits and an ACGC error to win the game by a 6-5 score.

It was no doubt a difficult pill for the Chargers to swallow, as they had the Bulldogs on the ropes. This Charger team is just on the edge of becoming a very good team, but is falling just short. The challenge remains, as the team travels to the top two conference teams on Thursday and Friday for two varsity doubleheaders. Thursday the Chargers are at Des Moines Christian starting at 5 PM, and Friday they travel to Van Meter for a 5:30 start.

First game line score: Second game line score:

Ogden 510 001 2--9 9 1 ACGC 002 003 0--5 8 2

ACGC 000 100 0--1 4 4 Ogden 000 122 1--6 9 2

Charger Box Score: Charger Box Score:

AB R H RBI AB R H RBI

SFuller 3 0 1 0 SFuller 4 0 0 0

JHoover 3 0 1 0 JHoover 4 0 0 0

Kelsey 3 0 0 0 Kelsey 4 0 1 0

GHoover 3 1 1 0 GHoover 3 1 2 0

KyYoung 3 0 0 0 Hoing 3 1 1 0

Hoing 3 0 1 1 Carrick 3 0 1 3

Carrick 3 0 0 0 O'Brien 3 0 2 0

O'Brien 2 0 0 0 . KyYoung 3 1 1 0

Coffman 2 0 0 0 Coffman 2 1 0 0

KeYoung 0 0 0 0

TFuller 0 1 0 0