Chaffee calls all Dooleys in win

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- Brian Horrell hoped to keep Andrew Dooley off the mound Monday.

Chaffee's baseball coach went with Daniel Dooley, Andrew's little brother, to pitch the seventh inning in the Red Devils' Class 1 District 2 opener against Advance.

With pitching at a premium in the district tournament, Horrell wanted to save Andrew, his ace, for the semifinals.

But a walk and two hits by the Hornets to start the seventh changed everything.

Horrell brought in his ace, who quickly recorded the final three outs to preserve Chaffee's 10-7 victory.

Chaffee's Andrew Dooley singles against Advance during the second inning in the Class 1 District 2 tournament Monday in Chaffee, Mo. The Red Devils won the first-round game 10-7. (Fred Lynch)

"Once they got the first three guys on, we didn't want to let it get any more interesting because you never know this time of year," Horrell said. "Silly things can happen -- some bad hops, quirky play here or there."

Horrell told Andrew Dooley to start getting his arm ready in the fifth inning just in case. But Chaffee padded its lead with Joshua Hendrix's bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth, giving the Red Devils a 10-5 lead. That's when Horrell decided he'd use Daniel Dooley in the seventh.

"We said if we scored [in the sixth], we were going to go with Daniel Dooley, and if we didn't score, we were going to go with Andrew Dooley," Horrell said. "It's one of those situations at this time of the season, if you lose, you go home. We wanted to make sure we had our ace on the mound if we was going to be in trouble. We did score, so we went with Daniel. But they got the first three guys on, tightened it up to 10-7, so we thought it was time to bring our ace in, so we did."

The trouble came when Ryan Moses walked then Grant Gray singled. Darren VanGennip's two-run double to center field pulled Advance within 10-7 with no outs in the seventh. That's when Horrell went to Andrew Dooley.

Dooley wasted little time. Kyndal Page lifted a fly ball to shallow right field and VanGennip tried to score from third on the out. But he was gunned down at the plate for a double play.

"We were at the bottom part of our lineup," Advance coach Jim Below said about his decision to send VanGennip. "You're down and I was just taking a chance. I gamble too much."

The throw to the plate was in plenty of time for catcher Trevor Cannon to tag VanGennip.

"I was very surprised, but I'm glad we wasn't complacent, not thinking he wasn't going to go with the three-run lead," Horrell said of Below's decision to send VanGennip. "I'm glad to see our guys went ahead and played through it."

Dooley appreciated the defensive support.

"It was really nice," he said. "It was relieving."

Chaffee started to take control in the third inning after Advance took a 4-3 lead in the top of the inning. The Red Devils used three hits and two walks to push across five runs for an 8-4 lead.

Advance got one back in the fourth, but Chaffee's Alex Crowe knocked in a run with his third hit of the game in the fifth.

"I started off good and it raised my confidence," said Crowe, who finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs. "If I start off slow, you might as well take me out."

Chaffee starting pitcher Alex Davie, a sophomore left-hander, went the first six innings for the Red Devils. He struck out the first four batters he faced and finished with 11 punchouts.

"At this time of year, obviously we're comfortable with letting him go over 100 because he's really worked hard in the offseason," Horrell said about Davie. "He does a lot of weightlifting, works very hard on a throwing program. ... He was at 120 at the end of six, so he wasn't going out [for the seventh] no matter what."

That set the stage for Dooley to earn the save. He likely will start today's semifinal against Oran. He said the inning of work Monday won't affect him today.

The Red Devils defeated the Eagles 5-3 on May 7, and Dooley earned the win in that contest.

Advance 004 100 2 -- 7 6 0

Chaffee 035 011 x -- 10 11 2

WP -- Alex Davie. LP -- Ryan Moses. 2B -- Andrew Dooley (C), Daniel Dooley (C). Multiple hits -- Advance: Grant Gray 3-4; Chaffee: Alex Crowe 3-4, Davie 2-4, A. Dooley 2-3, Dustin Johnson 2-3. Records -- Advance 3-17, Chaffee 12-8.