Chaffee pulls away with homer from Thomason

JACKSON -- Brent Thomason opened the floodgates for Chaffee with a three run homer in the seventh inning Tuesday as the Red Devils pulled out an 8-4 SEMO Conference win over Jackson.

Chaffee (2-2) held a shaky 5-3 lead heading into the final frame. Thomason finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs.

"That was real big," said Chaffee head coach Brian Horrell. "At the time we were only leading by two runs, and (Jackson) was going to get last at-bats. It gave us some breathing room and gave (our pitcher) the ability to go out and attack the hitters. It was a big lift for us."

Zac Horman pitched the complete game for Chaffee, allowing two earned runs on five hits and three walks. He recorded just one strikeout, leaving Chaffee's defense to make the other 20 outs.

The Red Devils pulled through, committing just three errors. "I can't be more proud of the kids," said Horrell. "They've really been responding. We worked hard on trying to improve our defense, and I thought today we played a perfect defensive game."

At the plate, James Reischman was 3-for-4. Other hits came from Andrew Horrell, Horman, Chase Eskew and Sam Burnett. Jackson's Dustin Roberts was charged with the loss, allowing the eight runs on 10 hits.

Seth McDowell paced the Indians at the plate, batting 2-for-3. Matt Burk had a home run in the fifth inning. Chaffee will host Delta today at 4 p.m.

BELL CITY -- Jason Rampley blasted a three run homer in the sixth inning, leading Bell City to an 8-1 win over Leopold on Tuesday.

The Cubs (1-1) also saw Darrel Bailey go deep in the game with a solo shot in the second.

"We finally got some batting practice this week," said Bell City coach Matt Asher. "Our hitting was really good today. Rampley got the three-run shot in the sixth, then Bailey also had a home run."

Ben Duncan pitched the first six innings for the Cubs, allowing one earned run on five hits and one walk. He took 13 down via strikeout, and was 2-for-2 at the plate.

"Ben came out and threw the ball well," said Asher. "He was throwing strikes, making (Leopold) swing at the ball. He got the job done today and really did everything."

Bailey came in to pitch the final inning, striking out two of three batters faced.

Behind Duncan, Kenyon Wright and Bailey were both 2-for-4. Bell City also saw hits from Dominitrix Johnson, Ty Brown, Rampley, and Luke Phillips.

Leopold's Josh Van de Ven was charged with the loss. In four innings, he allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks. A.J. Seiler threw the final two frames for the Wildcats, giving up three earned runs.

At the plate, Seiler and Kevin Holzum were both 2-for-3. Bell City will be back in action on Saturday, competing in the East Prairie Tournament.

MERIDIAN, Ill. -- Charleston won its first game of the season Monday, beating Meridian, Ill., 14-13 in a game suspended for darkness after five innings.

The Bluejays jumped out to a 4-0 lead, only to see Meridian answer with five runs. It was a seesaw matchup the rest of the way. In the top of the sixth inning, Dustin Smoot scored to give Charleston a 14-13 lead.

The Bluejays had the bases loaded with one out when the game was called in the top of the sixth.

"It was a wild game," said Charleston coach Brent Anderson. "We didn't play very well, but it's always nice to win. We're going to take the positives -- we swung the bats decent and ran the bases okay. We've got a lot to improve on."

Charleston walked nine batters in the victory, and the defense committed seven errors.

Ryan Ford paced the offense, batting 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Justin Mercer was 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Nathan Pullen was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and one run. Andrew DeField was 1-for-3 with an RBI, and Rett Thompson was 1-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.

A.H. Marshall scored four runs and was walked four times. Dustin Smoot scored three runs with an RBI. Travis McCann scored two runs with an RBI. Tyler Collier also contributed an RBI.

Smoot pitched the first inning for Charleston, allowing five earned runs on four hits and five walks. He recorded two strikeouts. Marcus Dixon threw the final four frames, giving up one earned run on three hits and four walks. He struck out two.

Charleston (1-0) will travel to Kelly on Thursday for a 4 p.m. game.

"Year in, year out, Kelly is one of the top 2A teams in the area," said Anderson. "They've got good hitters and they're going to mix a good pitcher or two in there with that."