Chatfield Falls to Rochester Lourdes in Match-up of State Powerhouses

The Champions of Section 1AA East and West came to battle at Todd Park in Austin Tuesday evening. It was the Chatfield Gophers out of the east and the Rochester Lourdes Eagles out of the West. We knew we were in for a show down, as the teams came into play with a combined record of 43-1.

The Gophers were the younger team, and have put together a fantastic season so far, but the Eagles scored five runs in the second inning, and that would be all they needed to do to secure the 5-2 victory over Chatfield to move on to the Section 1AA Championship game.

The Eagles got the Gophers' starter Lexi Chase early. It started with a walk to Ashley Krom, and then a single by Katie Virgin set the table for McKenna Chestolowski. She ripped a double to score Krom.

Linda O'Connell came in to run for Virgin, and her and Chestolowski came in to score on a bunt from Margret Rogers, making the score 3-0. Rogers scored on a bunt by Alyssa Ustby, and a couple of bad throws by the Gophers allowed Ustby to circle the bases and score, giving the Eagles a 5-0 lead.

Chase dominated the game throughout, but a couple of tough plays made it tough for the Gophers to come back.The momentum was with Lourdes early, as Rogers robbed Belle Berg of a home run to left field.

The Gophers were able to battle back, and score a run in the third. Kim Greiner got things started with a double, and came around to score on a ground out by Berg. Berg earned another RBI on a single in fifth that scored Haley Goetzinger to make the score 5-2.

Chatfield got their lead runner on in the seventh, but a tough double play ended the game with a score of 5-2.

The loss sent the Gophers to the loser out game on Tuesday.

KVGO Player of the Game (Chatfield) - Belle Berg

KVGO Player of the Game (Rochester Lourdes) - Alyssa Ustby