The ACGC baseball team held the lead early on in their first round District matchup with Missouri Valley Saturday night. Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough stamina to hold off the Big Reds, as Mo Valley punched their ticket to Carroll with a 17-5 victory.

After giving up a run early, the Chargers scored four runs in the top of the 2nd to take their first postseason lead in program history. Big Reds left fielder Gavin Bartalini dropped a bomb sent towards the fence by junior Ben Kingery, allowing senior Quenton Spack to even the game at one. Eighth grader Charlie Crawford, Kingery, and senior Nate Schiller also came across home plate to give the Chargers a 4-1 lead. Spack would score again off another Mo Valley error forced by Kingery to increase the lead to four.

But the Big Reds opened the floodgates with eight runs in the bottom of the 3rd. ACGC still held the lead at 5-4 in the frame, when leading hitter Connor Lange launched a three-RBI triple to the right field fence, bringing home senior Skeeter Bostwick, Bartalini, and senior Trevor Whited. They would score ten more unanswered runs, capped off by a Lange grand slam, ending the game in six innings.

Senior Caden Wardyn ends his career at ACGC, taking the loss for the Chargers. Missouri Valley will meet Maple Valley-Anthon Oto in the District Semi Finals on Tuesday in Carroll. The Chargers end their second season with a record of 4-20. Along with Wardyn, Spack, Schiller, Logan Brincks, Owen Hansen, and Garrett Walhovd all played their final game as outgoing seniors.

To hear a wrap-up interview from Head Coach Dana Fink, listen to tonight’s Guthrie County PM Sports Page.