The game didn't start out the way Charger baseball players, fans, and coaches would have liked, but in the end it turned out how they all had hoped it would. Charger coach Taylor Morris probably summed it up best when he said, "We started off very sluggish against Orient- Macksburg, but good things came as the game progressed. We talked about it after the game-thinking that we can just show up for games in which we are favored on paper. Baseball is one of those games where it doesn't matter if you are favored. You still have to go out and prove it." And prove it they did. Final score: ACGC 10, O-M 5.

Morris was referring to the three runs that O-M scored in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. The Chargers bounced back to score in every inning after the first on the way to the win. They tied the game in the second, scoring three runs of their own when Ben Kingery led off the inning with a base on balls, and scored on Reid Rumelhart's double. Rumelhart stole third and scored on a wild pitch. Miles Kading also scored in the inning after walking, stealing second, getting to third on a wild pitch, and coming home on a catcher's error.

The Chargers took the lead for good in the second inning when they scored a single run on Kingery's one base hit, a base on balls to Rumelhart, and Crawford's single. They added to the 4-3 lead in the top of the fourth with two runs, when Noah Nelson walked, stole second and third, and scored on a catcher's error. After Newell Rogers got on base, Bryce Littler's double made the score 6-3 in favor of the Chargers. O-M managed to score a run in the bottom half of the inning to make the score 6-4.

One run was added in the fifth by the Chargers when Rumelhart singled, stole two bases and scored on Miles Kading's ground out. ACGC scored an additional run in the sixth inning when Rogers walked, stole second, advanced to third on a fielding error and scored on a fielding error as well. The Buldogs matched the Charger's one run with one of their own in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 8-5.

ACGC completed the scoring in the top of the seventh with two runs scored by Crawford and Miles Kading who both walked and moved into scoring position via a wild pitch and a passed ball. Rogers then came through with a two run single to increase the Charger lead to 10-5 and seal the deal for ACGC.

The Chargers had only four hits, but the O-M pitching and fielding was such that the Chargers were able to take advantage of the Bulldog miscues. Will Byars picked up the win, pitching five full innings in which he gave up three hits while fanning eight O-M batters. Clayton Wardyn pitched the final inning and one third.

The win improves the season record to 4 wins and 22 losses with one regular season game remaining. Tomorrow the boys will host E-EHK in a JV/Varsity doubleheader. The JV game will begin at 5 PM with the varsity game to follow. Go Chargers!

Game score by inning:

ACGC 031 211 2--10 4 1

O-M 300 101 0-- 5 3 6

Charger box score:

AB R H RBI

Newell Rogers 4 2 1 2

Bryce Littler 4 0 1 1

Avery Wheatley 4 0 0 0

Ben Kingery 3 2 1 0

Reid Rumelhart 3 2 1 1

Charlie Crawford 3 1 0 1

Miles Kading 2 2 0 1

Will Byars 3 0 0 0

Clayton Wardyn 1 0 0 0

Noah Nelsen 1 1 0 0

Pitching: IP H R ER W SO

Will Byars 5.67 3 5 5 4 8

Clayton Wardyn 1.33 0 0 0 1 1