Technically, most of them should be on B-squad. Chatfield’s A-squad softball team is headed back to the “A” town of Austin. They may be in the first stages of a “D” word. Mark Eickhoff’s #3 in Class AA Gophers (1-seed, 19-0) swept through 1AA East yielding three runs. In the quarters, in the Battle of Eickhoff (dad/coach/Mark versus daughter/pitcher/Makaila), Chatfield downed FC/L (8-seed, 4-16) in five innings, 14-2. Belle Berg (2-3, 4 RBI, 3 R) hit her fifth home run. Carlie Berge (3 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, Win, 2-4, 2 RBI, R) got the win. Eryn Radcliffe (1-2, 2 RBI, R) and Haley Goetzinger (1-2, RBI, 3 R) helped. Anna Jorgenson (1-3, RBI, R) led FC/L, which finishes 4-17. Caledonia/SG (5-seed, 9-11) was next up. Berg (1-2, HR, 2 RBI, R) led off by blasting her sixth long ball. Lexi Chase pitched a two-hit, 16-K shut-out (fanned eight straight, recorded the final nine outs by “K”). Shelby Isensee (2-3, 2B, 2 RBI) and Berge (2-4, 2B, 2 R) also brought sticks in a 6-0 win. It moved Chatfield into its third straight East title game. They re-matched Cotter (2-seed, 18-4), who won last year’s 1AA final 5-4 in walk-off fashion. Chatfield scored by unearned run (error) in the first. Chase set down the first nine, eight by strikeout (ten-pitch, three-strikeout second). After four, the team’s combined were one batter over the minimum. Cotter scored by unearned run (error) in the fifth (1-1). In the bottom, Chatfield got its first two hits on bunts. They advanced on a wild pitch. An error allowed Britney Fretland to score (2-1). Chatfield had runners on second and third (one out), but got no more. In the sixth, Chase authored the game’s first strong hit, a lead-off gap triple. Berge followed with an RBI-single (3-1). In Cotter’s seventh, two reached with one out. The five spot came up. Rambler hitters five-thru-nine had authored nothing but K’s on the day. The whiffing continued. Two Chase K’s gave Chatfield a 3-1 win, the 1AA East title! The Gophers (22-0) then drenched Coach Eickhoff with Gatorade. Chase, who didn’t pitch in last year’s game, tossed a 17-K two-hitter (1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB). That’s 33 strikeouts over two play-off games. Chatfield moves to face Rochester-Lourdes (West 1-seed, 21-1), a battle of top five state ranked teams.