Late inning outburst lifts Chaffee over Kelly 8-3

Red Devils rally for seven runs in final three innings

sports@standard-democrat.com

BENTON -- Holding a one-run lead late and looking to give their starting pitcher Andrew Dooley a little insurance late Monday afternoon against Kelly, the Chaffee Red Devils knocked out four runs in the final frame to secure a 8-3 win.

"That's one thing we try to preach is 21 tough outs," Chaffee coach Brian Horrell said. "You never know when that one out is going to be there that you need so I was glad to see we battled back, especially given us a little cushion going into the (bottom of the) seventh."

Down 2-1 after surrendering two runs in the fourth, it was a three-run rally in the fifth that allowed the Red Devils to reclaim the lead for good.

Stepping up to the plate with runners on first and second with two outs, Chaffee's Alex Davie hit a drive back to wall in center field, bringing in both runners to retake the lead and leaving Davie with a double.

"Davie got a hold of that," Horrell said. "He had been struggling a little bit, but working hard and when you have a kid that works that hard, eventually it's going to happen for him.

"So that was nice to see because he puts in a lot of time and work and hopefully that's going to get him going."

Taking advantage of a pair of passed balls, Davie worked his way to third before coming home to score to put the Red Devils up 4-2.

Back down to a one-run lead after a Hawks score in the sixth, Chaffee took advantage of two straight errors to start the seventh as their first four batters would reach before scoring to put the Red Devils up 8-3.

Needing only three outs to lock up the win, Dooley retired the side in order to push Chaffee's record to 3-1 on the season.

To pick up the victory, Dooley went the full seven innings, allowing three runs on two hits and four walks while striking out seven.

"There late in the game he gave up a couple of hits," Horrell said. "But he said he felt great and he showed it by coming out in the seventh inning there and getting ahead of the hitters.

"Actually had one of his better innings in the seventh by getting ahead early in the counts."

Taking the loss, Kelly's Ian Householder pitched six innings, allowing four runs on five hits and six walks while striking out 10.

"He was at around 110 pitches or so," Hawks' coach Josh Eftink said. "So it was about time, especially this early in the season you don't want to risk anything because he's a guy we're going to need a lot later on in the year."

The game's only player with multiple hits was the Red Devil's Alex Crowe, who went 2 for 3 with two singles.

Next up, Chaffee will host the Bernie Mules Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Meanwhile, Kelly, now at 0-3 on the year, will travel to Poplar Bluff to play the Mules today at 4 p.m.

Chaffee 100 030 4 - 8

Kelly 000 201 0 - 3

WP -- Andrew Dooley (2-0). LP -- Ian Householder (0-2). 2B -- (C) Cody Payne, Alex Davie; (K) Michael Kuykendall.