It didn't end the way ACGC softball coaches, players, and fans had hoped, but it wasn't really unexpected either. After winning its last five games, including a 9-0 win in the first round of regional play, the Chargers ran into WCAC champion and juggernaut Van Meter in a quarterfinal matchup. Van Meter left no doubt as to its credentials, as the Bulldogs posted a 10-0 five winning over the Chargers last night in a game played in Van Meter.

Van Meter eighth grade pitcher Macy Blomgren threw a no hitter at the Chargers, while the Bulldogs came up with fourteen hits of their own en route to their twenty sixth win of the season. The home team scored three runs in its first at bat on five consecutive hits. The Chargers held the Bulldogs at bay for the next two innings, but couldn't generate any offense of their own, as Blomgren managed to strike out seven batters over the first three innings. Two ACGC runners got on in the third inning when Saige O'Brien walked and Jorja Hoover got on base via a hit by pitch. But Blomgren ended any hopes of a Charger rally with her seventh strikeout.

Van Meter added a deuce in the fourth inning on a walk and two hits to make it 5-0. After the Chargers went down in order in the fifth inning, the Bulldogs ended the game early with a five run, five hit attack in the bottom of the inning.

Blomgren was so effective that she allowed only two balls to be hit out of the infield--Mady Kelsey's towering fly ball to center field in the fourth inning, and a sharply hit ground ball in the fifth inning by Tori Fuller that got through the infield for what appeared to be a base hit. The Bulldog right fielder attempted to throw out Fuller at first base, but Fuller was awarded the base when she and the Van Meter first baseman ran into one another.

The loss means the end of the careers of the four Charger seniors--pitcher Savana Fuller, first baseman Jadeyn Carrick, third baseman Genevieve Hoover, and centerfielder Sierra O'Brien. The foursome has played varsity ball since their eighth grade year, seeing improvement in the team's performance each year. This year's team finished with a 14-18 record which represents the best season in the three years of ACGC softball, and the best record since the 2009 Guthrie Center team which went 15-12. Go Chargers!

Game score by inning:

ACGC 000 00-- 0 0 2

VM 300 25--10 14 0

Charger box score

AB R H RBI

JHoover 0 0 0 0

SiO'Brien 2 0 0 0

Kelsey 2 0 0 0

GHoover 2 0 0 0

TFuller 2 0 0 0

SFuller 2 0 0 0

SaO'Brien 1 0 0 0

Carrick 2 0 0 0

KyYoung 2 0 0 0

Coffman 0 0 0 0

Pitching: IP R H SO BB

SFuller 4.67 10 14 1 3