What is the most beautiful part of a baseball game? Is it a home run deep to left? A strikeout? A Stolen base? Well for the Chargers it’s a perfect bunt right down the line. That’s how they roll small balls with an emphasis on dropping a well-timed bunt and plenty of hits and runs along with superb pitching, that is the Charger way which very well could lead them back down the path to victory field.
The Chargers currently sit at 16-8 with four games to play, Belmont on Wednesday, 2 vs Norwell on Thursday, and Concordia on Friday. The Chargers look to join the Indiana elite class that wins 20+ games every year, which they have 5 out of the last 6 years not including the Covid season.
At the start of the season there was serious concern about the team’s ability to hit the ball after last year the team fell into 8 game slump to end the season batting a mere .210 which isn’t good enough to win playoff games in Indiana. The season ended with a 1-0 loss to Dekalb in the first round of sectionals. This season’s squad is ready to avenge that loss and has played hard since April. The first couple of games in the season were rough as they lost to Jeffersonville and New Albany a combined 14-0 while having to take Columbia City to extra’s to get the W. Some early season struggles were to be expected as 9 new varsity players were tossed into everyday spots such as Freshmen Asher Wagoner, Freshmen Eli Neuhouser, Junior Braden Christlieb, Junior Logan Inman, Junior Zavier Edgar, and Junior Eric Tratnyek. The Chargers have started to turn it around as of late April and May, with 5 straight wins before losing 3 in a row before starting the Homestead series.
Homestead Series: Homestead is the most likely opponent for the Chargers in regionals should they get there so here is a detailed breakdown of the 3 game set between the Chargers and Spartans
Game 1 at Carroll- Brady Long spun a gem with 9 strikeouts for the Chargers as Alex Graber was on the mound for the Spartans and started strong but when the Chargers showed bunt 4 straight batters and reached on all four he was visibly rattled which led to 6 runs in the inning which essentially sealed the fate of game one. Carroll wins 6-1.
Game 2 at Homestead- This game was very sloppy for the Chargers as Mason Weaver another D1 commit was on the hill for the Spartans. Weaver shut down the Chargers for 6 innings until the Chargers showed bunt again in the top of the 7th which led to 3 runs off a couple of singles and a few walks. The Chargers led 3-2 heading into the final frame when trouble struck for Junior Aaron Behnfeldt when he walked the first runner of the inning which prompted Head Coach Dave Ginder to walk out to the mound and talk with Behnfeldt, Jaxon Craker was up in the pen and Coach Ginder was buying time for him to get loose. The Plan was to let him throw one more batter and then bring in Craker, but that didn’t happen as the next pitch was smoked over the left field wall for a walk-off win for the Spartans which evened the series 1-1 with a 4-3 win.
Game 3 at Parkview field- This was a true pitcher’s duel from start to finish with Grant Peters tossing a career game with 10 strikeouts and 7 innings complete game shutout over the Spartans. Carroll was helped by some truly terrible baserunner from the Spartans when they blundered a runner on third with 1 out was killed by a sac bunt that failed miserably and the runner was gunned down trying to steal home. Freshman Asher Wagoner who has swung a hot bat lately hit a double which scored the only run of the game to give the Chargers a 1-0 lead which was able to be enough to secure a win for the Chargers winning the series for the second straight season. Those games should be a good indicator of how the Chargers may fair in the postseason which starts next week.
The Chargers get the winner of Dekalb and Snider in the sectional semis next weekend and hope to play deep into June this season.
