ACGC Baseball Falls to Top Ranked St. Albert's, 14-4

It wasn't the way Charger baseball fans had hoped the season opener would go, but when one considers the opponent, it isn't all that surprising that St. Albert of Council Bluffs took a 14-4 decision over the Chargers. The Falcons qualified for the state tournament last summer, and are currently the top ranked school in class 1A for the state of Iowa.

The Falcons wasted little time in showing why they are so highly regarded, as they opened the game with a four run first inning and increased the lead to 10-0 after three innings. Seven hits including three doubles, four Charger errors, and five walks surrendered by ACGC pitching all contributed to the big St. Albert's lead. The Chargers were able to muster only one hit and one run over the opening three frames.

The Chargers' third inning run was unearned when Charlie Crawford coaxed a walk with one out, advanced to second on a ground out, and came around to score on a Falcon fielding error. ACGC added a deuce in the fourth inning when Eli Kading came up with his second base hit, Clayton Wardyn singled, and both came home when Brock Littler got on by error. Miles Kading scored the final Charger run in the fifth inning when he doubled, stole third, and scored on Cayden Jensen's ground out.

Eli Kading came up with two of the four Charger hits, with brother Miles and Wardyn each having one hit.

Three Chargers shared duties on the mound. Freshman Andrew Mahaffey went the first two innings, with Eli Kading going for the next two innings, and Tegan Slaybough throwing the final frame. The threesome gave up eleven hits, walked seven, and struck out three. Eleven of the fourteen Falcon runs were earned.

"We were able to put the ball in play, which was good to see," ACGC mentor Taylor Morris commented, referring to the fact that the Chargers struck out just three times. "We need some defensive work, but we hit the ball pretty well. St. Albert is a team that plays at a different level and has a great baseball tradition."

Score by inning:

St.Albert 434 21--14 11 2

ACGC 001 21-- 4 4 3

Charger statistics: Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI) Crawford (2-1-0-0) Rogers (3-0-0-0) MKading (3-1-1-0) Jensen (3-0-0-1) Marsh (2-0-0-0) EKading (2-0-2-0) Spack (0-1-0-0) Wardyn (2-1-1-0) Littler (2-0-0-0) Slaybaugh (2-0-0-0)

Pitching (IP-H-R-ER-BB-SO) Mahaffey (2-5-7-6-4-1) EKading (2-5-6-4-3-1) Slaybaugh (1-1-1-1-0-1)