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
***Story and photo courtesy of CSC Athletics***
