CALL THEM RUDE OR ... CALL THEM CHAMPIONS; CHAFFEE JR. LEGION CAPTURES MID-STATES CROWN 5-1

CHAFFEE -- As host of the 1997 Mid-States Regional, Chaffee's Junior American Legion baseball team brought seven state championship teams to the area.

Then, one-by-one, the host squad sent them packing.

Minnetonka, Minn., proved to be the fourth and final team eliminated by Chaffee in the double-elimination tourney, when the local squad claimed a 5-1 championship victory Tuesday afternoon in front of a huge crowd at Harmon Field.

It was Chaffee's second win in a row over Minnetonka, which handed the host its only loss in the tournament during a second-round game Saturday. Chaffee beat Minnetonka 8-1 Monday to force the winner-take-all championship game.

Chaffee finished 6-1 in the tournament and completed their season with a 45-4 record. With no national championship for Junior American Legion teams, this is as far as Chaffee could have advanced in their season.

"Winning regionals, I guess, compares to any kind of state championship for high school baseball," said Chaffee slugger Josh Eftink, who won the tourney award for Outstanding Hitter.

Said Chaffee manager Jeff Graviett: "This helps put Chaffee on the map."

Trailing 1-0, a four-run fourth inning off Minnetonka reliever Jeff Tenney proved to be more than enough runs for Chaffee.

Although Chaffee did not play their way into the tournament with a state championship, they made believers out of the competition during the five-day tournament.

"I think we deserve it; we belonged here," said Chaffee shortstop Tommy Stidham, named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. "We should have won zone and gone all the way through. It just didn't happen that way."

The seven other teams had earned their way to the tournament with state championships, but Chaffee was upset in zone play and didn't even make it to the state tourney in Cape Girardeau.

"We caught some bad luck during zones so we wanted to come out here and show we were a team that should be in regionals," said Eftink. "We did that."

Tenney relieved starter Andy Davidson, who held Chaffee hitless in the first three innings, but left the game with a tired arm.

Earlier in the tournament, Davidson struck out 16 Chaffee batters and allowed only one hit in a 2-0 win.

"The kid that replaced (Davidson) threw hard," said Graviett. "We just got excited and got some big hits."

The first six batters to face Tenney reached safely, although John Wipfler -- who started the inning with a single -- was caught stealing for the first out.

After a walk to Dustin Dannenmueller and a single by Jason Glastetter, Jim Hulshof tied the score with an RBI-single to center field. A walk to Keith Hamm loaded the bases for Dusty Leggett, batting last in the batting order.

Leggett came through with a line-drive hit to left field to plate two runs and make the score 3-1.

"I like to bat last," Leggett said with grin. "(Tenney) was actually throwing harder than (Davidson), but we just got hot."

Hamm, who had walked before Leggett's hit, scored later in the inning on a wild pitch to make the score 4-1.

Leggett added another hit in the sixth inning and led the front end of a double steal that got Chaffee another insurance run. Leggett stole second base, and when the throw went through to second base, Jeremy Vandeven stole home to put Chaffee ahead 5-1.

"Dusty came through with the big hits that got us up," Graviett said. "He did that all tournament."

The run production was more than enough for Chaffee starter Dustin Glastetter, who pitched all seven innings. Glasstetter, usually used as a closer and making only his second start of the year, struck out nine, walked two and allowed five hits. Chaffee had six hits.

"I was a little nervous coming in," said Glastetter, who was making his first appearance in the tournament. "But after the innings progressed and we started picking up confidence and scoring runs, I picked up more confidence as well."

Minnetonka scored its only run in the first with a one-out hit to right field. They never threatened again until the first two batters reached in the fifth inning. Glastetter coolly struck out the next three batters to get out of the jam.

When Glastetter wasn't getting the batters out on his own, he had plenty of help behind him on defense. Chaffee committed only one error in the game and Stidham came up with the play of the game on a pop-up in the sixth inning.

Stidham, playing shortstop, made a twisting catch with his back to the infield as he fell down on a pop-up to the outfield.

"Defense and pitching has carried us all year," Graviett said. "We've got hitters up and down the lineup, but we came out and made all the routine plays.

"When you make the routine plays -- and a couple spectacular ones -- you're going to beat a lot of clubs."

Stidham, who had his hand spiked on a slide into first and was seriously spiked in the leg while turning a double play Monday, played through the pain to help lead his team to the title.

"Tommy had a heck of a tournament," said Graviett. "He got spiked Monday and it was still swollen today.

"He's competitive. There's no way we could get him off the field."

Davidson earned the Outstanding Pitcher honor of the tournament. In 10 innings, all against Chaffee, Davidson struck out 18 and allowed only one hit.