Chaffee baseball team makes most of its opportunities in conference win over Kelly

The Chaffee baseball team stranded the bases loaded in each of the first two innings, but it didn't deflate the Red Devils or prevent them from finding their rhythm.

Chaffee found the surge it needed with five runs in the third inning and never fell behind again, defeating Kelly in a conference game Monday in Chaffee, Missouri.

"It's kind of a weird game sometimes," Chaffee coach Brian Horrell said. "We're sitting there down with them having one hit and us having two, but that's baseball for you. We gave them opportunities, and they took advantage of them with the walks. But later on in the game, they gave us a few opportunties with some walks, and we were able to cash in."

Facing a 3-0 deficit in the bottom of the third inning, Austin Copeland got things started for the Red Devils with a leadoff base hit to left field. Kade Sullivan and TJ Archer both followed with singles to load the bases, prompting Kelly coach Justin McAlister to replace Johnathan Tyler on the mound with Levi Alsup.

Chaffee's Brennan Miller scores on a passed ball as Kelly pitcher Levi Alsup tries to cover the plate during the third inning Monday, March 28, 2016 in Chaffee, Missouri. The batter, Andrew Brown, looks on.Fred Lynch

But the pitching change didn't slow down Chaffee (5-1, 1-0 Scott-Mississippi Conference).

AJ Owens singled to score Copeland before courtesy runner Brennan Miller reached home on a wild pitch, cutting the Hawks' lead to 3-2. No. 9 hitter Andrew Brown then scored Archer on a groundout to tie the game at 3-all. Alec Bogenpohl singled to score Owens and moved into scoring position on a steal before Breven Yarbro extended Chaffee's lead to 5-3 with an RBI single to center field. Kelly (1-3, 1-1) ended the inning when Yarbro got caught trying to steal second.

The Red Devils finished the inning with six hits.

"We had a lot of at-bats where we grinded it out, earned a few walks ourselves and were able to cash in and come back," Horrell said. "That's very good to see against a very good Kelly ball club. We knew they were a very good team coming in, and we were hoping our two pitchers would be good enough today to give us a chance to win. And they were."

The Hawks responded in the top of the fifth when Ty Householder laced a one-out double to left field before stealing third. Nathan Vicenzi reached on a walk and stole second, followed by Jacob McClain's single to right field, which plated Householder and trimmed Chaffee's lead to 5-4.

The hit also forced Horrell to make a change on the mound, replacing Bogenpohl with Yarbro. Horrell chose to intentionally load the bases, and the decision proved to be costly, as Wyatt Ledure drew an RBI walk with two outs that tied the game at 5-5.

Kelly's Nathan Vicenzi slides safely into third base against Chaffee during the sixth inning Monday, March 28, 2016 in Chaffee, Missouri.Fred Lynch

"It was nice to get those five runs, but it was a little frustrating how we went back out and kind of gave it back away," Horrell said. "Kelly kind of scratched back into it, and then an inning later, they scratched back and tied it."

The Red Devils regained the lead, 6-5, in the bottom of the frame when Archer drew a walk, advanced to second on an error at first and reached home on a pair of passed balls.

However, two errors and a wild pitch in the top of the sixth allowed Kelly's Mitchell Proctor to tie the game again at 6-all.

A walk and two singles allowed Chaffee to juice the bases in the home half of the sixth before Archer and Owens drew back-to-back walks with one out to give the Red Devils an 8-6 advantage. Yarbro got a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game.

"We were down early and could've dropped our heads with not cashing in the first and second innings with the bases loaded, but the kids kept fighting," Horrell said. "We got ahead, and every time they tied it up, we'd scratch out a lead. I guess it's resiliency. Early in the game, we gave them quite a few walks, but they gave us some walks there in that last inning. We took advantage of the opportunity, and we cashed it in."

Chaffee starter Alec Bogenpohl pitches to a Kelly batter during the fourth inning Monday, March 28, 2016 in Chaffee, Missouri.Fred Lynch

Yarbro threw 2 2/3 innings without a hit to pick up the win on the mound. He gave up one unearned run with two strikeouts and three walks. Bogenpohl got the start and went 4 1/3 innings. He scattered four hits, gave up five runs -- all earned -- and had two strikeouts and four walks.

Tyler went two innings to start for Kelly but gave up two walks, six hits and three earned runs. Alsup pitched four innings of relief and was tagged with the loss, allowing five hits and five runs (four earned). He struck out four, while all five of his walks came in the final two innings.

"They've got a gritty team, and they hung out over the plate," McAlister said. "They were making him come right down the middle. It kind of was what it was. You've got to find a way to work around that stuff sometimes, and we couldn't do it."

Alsup helped himself at the plate with a double that scored two runs in the top of the first, while Kyle Fitzgerald added an RBI single in the third.

The Hawks finished with four hits, and McAlister said he needs to see more from the bottom part of his lineup.

"The fact is, after our five-hole guy right now, we're just not doing anything offensively," McAlister said. "I told the boys, 'If we're going to be a championship-caliber team, we've got to put teams away.' Right now, the bottom of our order is just not getting it done. That's what we've got to fix ultimately."

Bogenpohl, Copeland and Sullivan each had a pair of hits to lead the Red Devils, who finished with 11 on the day.

Chaffee was forced to play without three-sport standout Landon Tenkhoff, a freshman who experienced some muscle soreness while working out in the weight room earlier this week.

"I don't know how long he'll be out," Horrell said. "We're just going to worry about the ones we've got ... Obviously he's a big part of our team, and we look forward to getting him back. That's just opportunities for other kids to step up and take advantage."

Horrell said the end result left plenty to be desired on defense, but he's happy with the strides his young team continues to make.

"They're going to strike out, and they're going to make errors. But we've got to eliminate the mental mistakes, and that's what we talk about each day," Horrell said. "If we can get them to grow up a little faster mentally and understand the game a little more and have faster instincts, we'll feel good about ourselves."

Kelly 201 021 0 -- 6 4 2

Chaffee 005 012 x -- 8 11 2

WP -- Breven Yarbro. LP -- Levi Alsup. 2B -- Ty Householder (K), Alsup (K). Multiple hitters -- Chaffee: Alec Bogenpohl 2-3, Austin Copeland 2-3, Kade Sullivan 2-4.