Chaffee hands Bluff first loss

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Chaffee's bunts and a swirling wind bedeviled Poplar Bluff's defense Wednesday.

The Red Devils broke a tie in the sixth on a dropped fly ball and added an insurance run in the seventh without a hit to beat the host Mules 7-5.

"We figured we were going to have to come in here do some bunting, play some small ball," Chaffee coach Brian Horrell said. "Especially with the wind blowing in."

Chaffee (9-3) used four bunts and even moved up a runner on a missed attempt to go with seven hits.

Tied at 5, Layton Tenkhoff led off the sixth with a single down the right-field line. He stole second when nearly caught in a rundown after a missed bunt attempt, then moved to third on a wild pitch. After a strikeout, Cody Payne's shallow fly ball was dropped by the right fielder, allowing Tenkhoff to score easily.

A walk by Devon Yahn to start the seventh followed by a misplayed bunt and a groundout set up a sacrifice fly by Jimmy Golden to set the final score.

"They played that small ball pretty well and they were laying it down," Poplar Bluff coach Stan Bullington said.

Chaffee got its first run with consecutive bunts in the second.

Yahn led off with a double down the left-field line and moved to third on Storm Estes' bunt. Cody Johnson then laid down another bunt to score Yahn and break the scoreless tie.

A bunt hit by Estes helped score two runs in the fourth for a 3-2 lead.

Yahn drew a leadoff walk and Estes placed a bunt past the right side of the mound for a hit. With one out, Golden's fly ball bounced off the left fielder's glove, allowing both runners to score.

All but two of Chaffee's runs were unearned.

A throwing error in the fifth extended the inning for the Red Devils who got three straight two-out singles. Yahn drove in the first run with a bloop single to left and took second on the throw home. Estes followed with an RBI single down the left-field line for a 5-2 lead. Johnson's single put runners at the corners but the rally ended on a liner to right field.

"They had a couple of miscues we took advantage of, but overall, we kind of gutted it out," Horrell said.

Chaffee and starter Jared Walker escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third with a strikeout looking. Three straight hits to start the fifth ended Walker's day -- he struck out two, walked two and allowed five earned runs on six hits in his second start. With the bases loaded, Payne gave up an RBI groundout and a 2-run single by Logan Faith past a diving second baseman that tied the game at 5.

Payne retired the next five in order, earning the win.

"Hindsight being 20-20, I guess we're lucky to get out of there with a tie game," Horrell said. "At least that way our kids didn't come in feeling dejected.

"We just felt like it was a new ballgame."

Chaffee 010 221 1 -- 7 7 1

Poplar Bluff 020 030 0 -- 5 8 4

W: Cody Payne. L: Logan Misner. 2B: Devon Yahn (CH). Drew Dowd (PB). Multiple hits: Dowd 3-4. Josh King (PB) 2-4. Yahn 2-2. Storm Estes (CH) 2-3.