Henson's walk-off lifts Chaffee over East Prairie in defensive battle

sports@standard-democrat.com

CHAFFEE -- For a team that's seen more than their fair share of close games go south recently, Friday's meeting with East Prairie was a breath of fresh air for the Chaffee Red Devils.

Locked in a defensive battle where neither team left an inning with the lead, the Red Devils entered the top of the seventh with their leadoff hitter, senior Lane Henson, batting second.

Henson completed a perfect night at the plate with a walk-off double that sent the Red Devils storming out of the dugout in celebration of a 2-1 win.

"For us all year it's been such a fine line between winning and losing with this team," Chaffee head coach Brian Horrell said. "With our inexperience it just seems like we're on the outside looking in a lot of times and it's frustrating. It builds and builds and it's just finally good to see us get a win because our kids.

"You could see how excited they were to win a game, because we're used to seeing these games go against us in the last two weeks."

Chaffee's Alec Bogenpohl (4) tags out East Prairie's Dustin Bryars in a rundown Friday in Chaffee. Chaffee's Brandon Ivester (1) looks on. (Brent Shipman photo)

Hitting at the bottom of the order, Devohn Foulk set up Henson's game-winning opportunity by getting hit in the back by the first pitch he saw. Henson came up next with Foulk on first and sent a hard line drive in deep left field. A chasing left fielder wasn't able to collect the ball until it had rolled back to the fence, near the foul pole.

A strong throw in gave the Eagles a chance to make a play on Henson sliding into third base but by then Foulk had slid across home plate to give his team the win.

"In the fifth inning coach told me I was going to hit a walk-off single," Henson said. "I hit the ball and thought it was going to be a dinger and go over the fence, but instead it went just short, but I'll take it."

Henson finished the game 3 for 3 and also drew a walk to reach in all four appearances.

As big as Henson's hit was, Horrell was quick to give credit to Foulk for making the rally possible.

After striking out and grounding into a double play in his previous two at-bats, Foulk's ability to get on base and quick pace around the base paths was crucial in the comeback win.

"When a kid hits a ball like that people forget about how the kid got on to score," Horrell said. "He got up there and took one right in the back to start the inning. He took good angles on the base paths, was able to score from first and that's a 245-pound kid chugging around the bases. He wants to win and he wants it for his teammates."

Chaffee's memorable inning erased a disastrous finish to the sixth inning where East Prairie escaped a sticky situation.

Tied at 1-1, the Red Devils loaded the bases with one out. Eagles' starting pitcher Seth Johnson induced an infield grounder that resulted in a force out at home, followed by throwing out the runner at first base to escape the inning with a double play.

It was East Prairie's fourth double play of the contest and nearly their fifth if not for a dropped ball at first base earlier.

Thanks in part to timely double plays the Eagles' defense worked them out of jams several other times. They picked off a runner to end a potential threat in the bottom of the first inning and got a force out at third base on a throw from the outfield in the sixth inning to keep the game tied.

"The defense stepped up and played phenomenal," East Prairie head coach Jason Aycock said. "You couldn't ask for anything better to come from (our pitcher) Seth Johnson. He only gave up two runs and the defense did what they were suppose to do behind him.

"The only thing that lost us this game is our offensive display. Taking nothing away from their pitcher. It's been a struggle for us offensively and that's the only thing losing us games."

The Eagles were outhit 9-6 in the contest and were led by Mack Marcum and Kasten Campbell, who had two hits each. Both Campbell and Brett Ellis doubled for the Eagles with Dustin Bryars providing an RBI single.

Bryars' big hit came in the top of the fourth in a still scoreless game. Dylan Lingle bunted a runner over to second base for the second out of the frame and Lingle followed up with a line drive to left-centerfield to give his team a 1-0 lead.

Chaffee was quick to respond when Jake Perkins hit a grounder past the shortstop in the bottom of the sixth to bring in Alec Bogenpohl from third base to tie the game at 1-1.

Chaffee (11-10) had a chance to add more runs that inning, but with runners on first and second, East Prairie (7-8) got a double play to end the threat.

"I liked the way we swung the bat today," Horrell said. "It looked like we were trying to be aggressive and our defense played well all day it. As a fan it had to be a great baseball game to watch. It seems like every inning people had chances to score runs and the defenses were making plays."

Behind Henson's three-hit performance, Bogenpohl was 2 for 3 and reached in all three plate appearances. Bailey Owens, A.J. Owens, Jake Perkins and Lane Dunning each singled.

Austin Copeland picks up the win with a complete game effort. He allowed six hits without surrendering a walk and striking out four.

"That's a freshman on the mound for us," Horrell said. "He did a great job battling. We sent him out there in the seventh and he started the inning with 75 pitches so we felt real good with where he was at. He went out, did a great job and gave us a chance to win it."

East Prairie 000 100 0 - 1 6 3

Chaffee 000 100 1 - 2 9 2

WP -- Austin Copeland. LP -- Seth Johnson. Multiple hitters: (E) Mack Marcum 2-3, Kasten Campbell 2-3; (C) Lane Henson 3-3, Alec Bogenpohl 2-3. 2B -- (E) Brett Ellis, Campbell; (C) Henson.