C2D3: Chaffee downs St. Vincent in semis

PERRYVILLE - An offensive outburst in the fifth inning led the Chaffee Red Devils to an 8-5 win over the St. Vincent Indians on Saturday in the Class 2 District 3 semifinals.

Chaffee’s offense went to work early as Levi McKinnie led the game off by reaching first on a dropped third strike.

The next batter, Eli Glueck, was hit in the head, giving Carson Spies runners on first and second with nobody out.

Spies grounded into a fielders choice, bringing Leyton Hanback to the plate with runners on the corners.

Hanback singled home a run and the next better, Easton Fowler plated another run with a sacrifice fly to give the Red Devils an early 2-0 lead.

“We kind of went against the grain early,” Red Devils coach Aaron Horrell said. “We wanted to take the chance and be visitors instead of the home team because we wanted to try and come out and set the tone early.”

Getting the start for Chaffee was Levi McKinnie, who made quick work of the Indians in the bottom of the first despite walking the leadoff batter.

“To go out there and get a lead and then let him go out there and throw strikes is huge,” Horrell said. “Not to take anything away from their hitters or anybody else but when you’re facing a really good pitcher you’re focused but you’re kind of nervous because he’s got the fastball and he’s got the hard slider so for the other team to be down and have a little bit of that pressure facing a horse like him really helps.”

In the bottom of the second, St. Vincent starter Jacob Seabaugh struggled with his command, walking three straight batters following a one-out single as Chaffee took a 3-0 lead.

With the bases still loaded, Spies stepped in with just one out and struck out, passing the baton to Leyton Hanback.

Seabaugh got Hanback to pop up, working his way out of danger and keeping it just a three-run game.

While the first inning saw McKinnie work around a leadoff walk, the second inning he was forced to work around a one-out walk as he struck out a pair of batters in the inning.

The Red Devils’ offense was stifled in the top of the third as Seabaugh used a pair of pop outs and a strike out to his advantage to put up his first zero of the afternoon.

A leadoff single by Andrew Hotop set the table for the top of the order.

After stealing second base, Simon Barber drove in Hotop to make it 3-1 after an error by Chaffee second basemen Kamden Little.

Barber came around to score on a two-out infield single by Nicholas Buchheit to make it 3-2 Chaffee after three innings of play.

“We’ll get it cleaned up,” Horrell said, “and we’ll be ready to go on Tuesday.”

The Red Devils got one of the runs back in the top of the fourth as Levi McKinnie ripped a one-out triple and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Eli Glueck.

“We’ve got guys one through nine that can play and defend,” Horrell said. “When somebody does have a bad day we have enough parts that somebody else can step up.”

McKinnie was relieved by Glueck after tossing three innings, allowing two runs, both unearned, while striking out three.

Glueck found himself in trouble after allowing a leadoff single to Tyler Hennemann and after Carson House reached on an error.

With two on and nobody out, the Indians gave Gavin Hotop the bunt sign.

Hotop tried to get the bunt down in an 0-2 count and after missing the bunt, McKinnie picked off House to quickly stifle the Indians’ rally.

“We had five misplays that inning in my opinion,” Horrell said. “That was the play that probably saved the game.”

The momentum created in the bottom of the fourth seemingly carried into the top of the fifth as Rolen Reischman drilled a two-run double to make it 6-2 Chaffee and Reischman advanced to third on a throwing error.

Just one batter later, Kolbey Estes grounded out to push across Kamden Little who pinch ran for Reischman.

Kade Atkins reached base with a two-out single and the next batter, Levi McKinnie, doubled him home to extend Chaffee’s lead to 8-2.

“He’s really good,” Horrell said. “He started the year of slow but he was getting on base. We put him in the leadoff spot and he’s been a spark plug.”

Leading off the bottom of the sixth, Buchheit singled and following a strikeout, Henneman walked to set the table for the Indians.

Buchheit was nearly thrown out advancing to third on a passed ball as Red Devils third basemen Leyton Hanback forgot to apply the tag.

Buchheit scored on a throwing error by Hanback with two-outs in the sixth as St. Vincent made it 8-3 Chaffee.

Credit to Glueck, he managed to minimize the damage and escape the long inning allowing just one run.

“We count on those things from Eli,” Horrell said. “Eli is a kid that has really come into his own this year as a senior on the mound.”

Batting with two-outs and the bases loaded, Hennemann was hit by a pitch to push a run across and make it 8-4.

House reached base on an infield single, scoring another run and bringing the winning run to the plate.

After pulling McKinnie after three innings, Horrell turned back to McKinnie searching for the game’s final out.

McKinnie delivered, striking out Gavin Hotop and sending the Red Devils to the district championship.

“It’s not typical,” Horrell said. “But, with pitch count rules it turns managing the game into a whole different strategy. The rules are there and we’ll exploit them until they change it. He’s kind of a cheat code in that sense.”

With the loss, St. Vincent finishes the regular season with a record of 8-13.

Chaffee (22-4) advances to the Class 2 District 3 championship game where the Red Devils will battle No. 4 Meadow Heights at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14, at Perryville City Park.

“We have to play well,” Horrell said. “They’re really good. We respect the program that Coach Kennedy runs and they have really good players.”