"The Shawshank Redemption" is a classic movie from the 1990's about hope. One of the lead characters, Ellis "Red" Boyd, didn't buy into the notion of hope, especially for someone like himself who was imprisoned for life for homicide. Red, played by actor Morgan Freeman, went so far as to say, "Hope is a dangerous thing." He was referring to the notion that hope can create unrealistic expectations and then let us down when those expectations never happen. Red had experienced that letdown several times when he was refused parole on numerous occasions by the parole board. Prison is probably not a place where hope abounds, especially for someone serving a life sentence.

The ACGC baseball team experienced both emotions--hopeful expectations and then the big letdown-last night when it fell to Panorama,12-2, in five innings in the first round of the district playoffs. But the hope was legitimate. The Chargers had won five out of their last ten games after a dismal start to the season; hitting had improved; pitchers had turned in two recent good performances. So there was real pregame hope for ACGC players and fans.

That hope was enhanced when the Chargers opened the game with a two run first inning. Newell Rogers opened the game by getting on base via a fielding error that got him to second base. After Rogers advanced to third on a passed ball, Bryce Littler's infield hit scored him. Littler moved to second base on a wild pitch and was driven in by Reid Rumelhart's two out single to give the Chargers a 2-0 lead. Hope soared at that point. It looked like the Chargers had a legitimate shot at upsetting the Panthers. But it was not to be.

Panorama shut the door quickly in its first bat when it tallied nine runs on three hits, four bases on balls, a hit batter, and two errors. The Panthers added three runs in the second inning to account for the 12-2 score. It wasn't the way it was supposed to go. Those hopeful expectations were pretty much shattered in the first inning of play. The Chargers had only two base runners after the first frame--a single by Rogers to open the third inning, and an on by error for Miles Kading in the fourth inning. Hope just kind of slipped away into the night, looking for somewhere to rejuvenate itself. It will have to wait til next season to return. And reappear it will, because despite Red Boyd's disillusionment about it, "hope springs eternal."

Oh, by the way, Red got his parole. Hope is alive and well!

The Charger loss ended the season with a record of five wins and twenty three losses. The five wins equals the best ACGC record of two years ago. Five Charger seniors will move on. Will Byars, Ben Kingery, Noah Nelson, Mke Ure, and Avery Wheatley have all donned the Charger black and gold for the final time. Thanks to them from Charger fans for their efforts!

Go Chargers!

Game score by inning:

ACGC 200 00-- 2 3 3

Pan 930 0x--12 6 3

Charger box score

AB R H RBI

Rogers 3 1 1 0

Littler 3 1 1 1

Wheatley 2 0 0 0

Kingery 2 0 0 0

Rumelhart 2 0 1 1

Crawford 2 0 0 0

Kading 2 0 0 0

Byars 1 0 0 0

Ure 2 0 0 0

Nelsen 2 0 0 0

Pitching: IP R H SO BB

Byars 1.33 11 5 0 5

Ure 1.67 1 2 1 1

Wardyn 1.00 0 0 0 1