Chargers Bow Out of Postseason With Series Loss to Braves

MOLINE — Black Hawk jumped to early leads in both games as the Carl Sandburg College baseball team was eliminated from the postseason with a pair of losses to the Braves on Friday afternoon in a best-of-three Region IV Division II sectional series.

The Chargers, who won the Arrowhead Conference championship in the regular season, finished the 2022 campaign with a 26-23 overall record and 17-3 mark in league play.

GAME 1
Black Hawk 17, Sandburg 6 (5 innings)
Sandburg         000      24        —        6          7          3
Black Hawk     048      5x        —        17        10        0
L: Silas Israel 2 IP, 3 K, 3 BB

KEY MOMENT
The Braves opened the scoring with four runs in the second inning off of Chargers ace Silas Israel (Tremont, Ill./Tremont), then knocked him out in the third, ultimately scoring eight in the frame to open up a 12-0 lead.

SANDBURG STANDOUT
Shortstop Chase Mason (Washington, Ill./Washington) hit a pair of late homers to account for five of the Chargers' six runs. Mason hit a two-run shot in the fourth and added a three-run blast in the fifth, giving him 11 home runs on the season. 

OTHER TOP CHARGERS
• Caileb Johnson (Brimfield, Ill./Brimfield) — 2 for 3, two runs, RBI

GAME 2
Black Hawk 12, Sandburg 4 (7 innings)
Sandburg         021      001      0          —        4          9          2
Black Hawk     041      112      3          —        12        16        2
L: McKoy Allen 2.2 IP, 3 K, 0 BB

KEY MOMENT
Sandburg grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second as Jack Shields (Peoria Heights, Ill./Notre Dame) delivered an RBI single and later scored on an error, but Black Hawk put up four in the bottom of the inning, including a three-run home run with two outs for a 4-2 lead.

SANDBURG STANDOUT
Shields reached base three times, going 2 for 2 with a pair of singles, a walk, a run scored and an RBI.

OTHER TOP CHARGERS
• Mitch Ball (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) — 2 for 4, triple, run 

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