Chaffee down Lady Mules at home

The Poplar Bluff High School Lady Mules softball team attempted to stay red hot by capturing their third win in a row to start the season.

The Lady Mules came out in attack mode with a solid start but were stopped in their tracks by the Chaffee Lady Devils and fell 10-6 to end their win streak at two.

“Overall, we played really good in spurts, but there are some little things we need to clean up,” head coach Aaron Duncan said. “Our hitting wasn’t as consistent as I would’ve liked, but a big positive for us was having Addison step in at the mound for us late in the sixth. Unfortunately, we just weren’t able to connect on enough plays to get the win.”

Due to the unplayable field conditions at Chaffee High School, the game moved to Bobby Strenfel's ball field in Poplar Bluff, which gave the Lady Mules a spark with home-field advantage.

Both teams got off to a slow start as neither team struggled to land any runs in the first few innings. The Lady Mules would finally catch fire with a single bomb home run to left field from senior Kennedy Zgaynor, giving them a 1-0 lead at the top of the third.

The Lady Devils wouldn’t stay scoreless for too long as they responded with a few base hits to give them a little spark at the bottom of the third. With a single base hit from Reese Van Pelt and a double from freshman Paizleigh Graham, the Lady Devils would jump out front 3-1 to end the third inning.

For the next three innings, both teams battled for the lead, and whichever team eased off the gas first would find themselves trailing. With the score tied 5-5 at the top of the sixth, a single fly ball hit to left field from junior Addison Valenzuela would help the Lady Mules regain the lead 6-5 to close out the inning.

Though the Lady Mules carried much of the momentum heading into the last few innings, they would need to limit their mistakes if they wanted to take down the Lady Devils.

Despite their efforts to maintain the lead, Chaffee would have a strong sixth inning by connecting with a great number of base hits, which gave them the spark to rally back out front.

Paige Wilhite connected with a ground ball to left field to bring in a run for the Lady Devils, and sophomore Malinah Robertson landed with a fly ball double to center field to bring in two more runs. Chaffee ended the inning with five runs as the Lady Mules started to unravel due to miscommunication in the outfield.

With a chance to recapture the game at the top of the seventh, the Lady Mules failed to connect with any hits and would close out the game on the losing end of this matchup.

Though the Lady Mules didn’t leave with a victory, Duncan said he was happy with how they battled but would like more consistency at the plate.

Poplar Bluff�s Kennedy Zgaynor slings a pass to home plate during Tuesday�s softball matchup against the Chaffee High School Lady Devils.DAR/D'Courtland Christian

“The way we battled back at the plate felt really great because I know we're capable of landing some big hits,” he said. “We just got to get up there and swing because we got some kids who can hit the ball really well.”

Carlyanne Cossou earned the win for the Chaffee Lady Devils. The right-handed pitcher gave up five hits and six runs (three earned) over seven innings, striking out 12 and walking five. Molly Eason took the loss for the Lady Mules. The starting pitcher went six innings, surrendering 10 runs (eight earned) on 10 hits, striking out three and walking five.

Zgaynor led the Lady Mules with three runs batted in and went 2-for-2 on the day with one single homerun.

Chaffee Lady Devils collected 10 hits in the game. Cossou, Brown and Wilhite each collected two hits for the Lady Devils. Robertson, Graham and Brown each drove in two runs for Chaffee, which helped them regain the lead and take the game.