Charger Baseball Wins on Road Over Madrid, 9-2

The ACGC baseball team put together perhaps its most complete game last night in its 9-2 win over Madrid in a game hosted by the Tigers. Charger hitting, fielding, and pitching were all in sync as the team took the lead early and never trailed in winning its second consecutive game and third out of the last four.

After Brock Littler walked to open the game and Newell Rogers singled, a Miles Kading ground out drove Littler home and the Chargers were on their way. The team also scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to increase its lead to 3-0.

The Chargers left no doubt as to the outcome when they erupted for six runs in the sixth inning to put the game away. The team more than batted around, as eleven players went to the plate. Five Charger hits, two hit batters, and a fielder's choice enabled eight hitters to reach base safely.

Eli Kading, Reid Rumelhart, Lucas Marsh, Tegan Slaybaugh, and Miles Kading all hit safely in the big Charger inning. Marsh's triple was the big blow, as it drove in a pair of runs early in the inning. Madrid came up with two meaningless runs in its last at bat, and ACGC succeeded in avenging a 12-8 home loss to the Tigers back in May.

In this observer's view, this is a very different Charger team than the one that opened the season in May. It is a team that is playing with greater confidence, and is executing the fundamentals better than in the early season.

"We started off with taking the lead in the top half of the first inning, and after (pitcher) Brock Littler was able to wiggle out of a jam, were were able to control the game from that point on," Coach Taylor Morris commented after the win.

"That's back to back nights that our pitching and defense has gotten better and better. It was a great win that sets us up for Pleasantville on Thursday," Morris concluded. The Chargers will travel to Pleasantville for a doubleheader that is slated to start at 5 PM.

Littler threw six shutout innings against the Tigers, with the junior hurler surrendering seven hits while striking out five and walking three. Lucas Marsh and Miles Kading pitched in the final frame to complete the game.

The Chargers had eleven hits, with four players--the Kading brothers, Marsh, and Slaybaugh-- getting two hits each. In addition to his triple, Marsh also doubled in his last at bat.

The win improves the season record to six wins and ten losses that includes a five win and seven loss mark in the WCAC.

Score by inning:

ACGC 101 106 0--9 11 0

Madrid 000 000 2--2 8 1

ACGC hitting: (AB-R-H-RBI) Littler(3-2-1-1) Rogers(4-1-1-0) MKading(4-0-2-2) Jensen(3-0-0-0) EKading(4-2-2-0) Rumelhart(3-1-1-0) Marsh(3-1-2-2) Wardyn(4-1-0-0) Slaybaugh(3-1-2-2)

ACGC pitching: (IP-H-R-ER-SO-BB) Littler(6.00-7-0-0-5-3) Marsh(0.33-0-2-2-0-3) MKading(0.67-1-0-0-0-0)