Central takes advantage of Chaffee errors

~ The Tigers took advantage of four errors by the Red Devils in the first inning for seven unearned runs.

Any chance the Chaffee baseball team had of upsetting Central on Monday was wiped out by one bad inning.

The first inning.

Four Chaffee errors in the bottom of the first led to seven unearned runs for the host Tigers, who romped 9-0.

"The wheels fell off the bus," said Chaffee coach Brian Horrell, whose team is 9-7.

Andrew Williams steals second as Chaffee second baseman Alex Crowe applies the late tag Monday at Central. (Kit Doyle)

Central improved to 13-9 by winning for the fifth time in its last six games.

"We haven't played in a week because of the weather, so we were a little rusty," Central coach Steve Williams said. "It was good to win and it was good to be back in game situations.

"We were fortunate to get three pitchers in the game and everybody got at least one at-bat."

The three Central hurlers combined on a two-hitter.

Junior Josh Meyer went the first four innings for the win. He allowed one hit while striking out four and walking three.

"It was a good game. We played well," Meyer said. "We hadn't played in a while, so it was good to get back out there."

Senior Zach Wilson gave up one hit in two innings, with two strikeouts and one walk.

Junior left-hander Jamie Pickel finished the shutout by striking out the side in a perfect seventh inning.

Sophomore Andrew Dooley suffered the loss. He allowed three hits and the seven unearned runs in two innings. He walked four and struck out one.

"He wasn't given much help," Horrell said.

Senior Hunter Thomason worked the final four innings, allowing just two runs and five hits. He struck out two and walked two.

Thomason also had both Chaffee hits, singles in the fourth and sixth innings.

"He pitched well," said Horrell, whose young squad started three freshmen. "It was good to see us settle down and compete after the bad start."

Senior Blake Smith had two of Central's eight hits, all of which were singles.

Smith also drove in two runs with a first-inning single that highlighted Central's big frame that also included an RBI single by sophomore Andrew Williams and a single by senior Hide Tanaka.

Kitchen honored

Central assistant coach Terry Kitchen was honored before the game as he is retiring after 31 years with the Cape Girardeau School District.

Kitchen has held a variety of positions in the Central athletic department, including baseball coach from 1978 through 1991.

Kitchen's family and several of his former players gathered on the field as Williams presented Kitchen with a plaque.

"I was totally shocked and surprised by this," said Kitchen, who also has served as Central's athletic director. "But I'm honored because Central has always been special to me."

Kitchen, a former standout athlete at Central who graduated in 1970 and later played baseball at Southeast Missouri State, led the Tigers to four final four appearances, including a second-place finish in 1980 when Williams starred for Central.

"He's been such an asset for our baseball program and our school district," Williams said. "You couldn't find a better baseball guy or a better person."

Chaffee 000 000 0 -- 0 2 5

Central 700 200 x -- 9 8 1

WP -- Josh Meyer. LP -- Andrew Dooley. Multiple hits -- Chaffee: Hunter Thomason 2-3; Central: Blake Smith 2-3. Records -- Chaffee 9-7, Central 13-9.