CHAFFEE JR. LEGION RALLIES 8-7

SEDALIA -- Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

The Chaffee Junior American Legion team isn't living by that adage as it waited until the last inning -- again -- to pull off a stunning victory.

Trailing 7-4 going into the bottom of the seventh, Chaffee scored four runs, knocking off Kirksville 8-7 in the first round of the state tournament Thursday night.

The game marked the fourth time this month that Chaffee pulled off a miracle in its last at-bat.

On Thursday, the rally started when Matt Stroup -- the winning pitcher -- led off the bottom of the seventh with a single.

Travis Hanback was then hit by a pitch, followed by an RBI double by Adam Rainey.

Later, with one out, Lance Dohogne walked. Adam Friga then hit a sacrifice fly to left to cut the score to 7-6.

Perry Rice proceeded with a game-tying single and John O'Rourke won the game on a single to center to score Dohogne.

"They just wouldn't quit," said Chaffee manager Joe Rice. "We had been in a position all day where we needed a base hit to get back in it."

In the bottom of the sixth, Chaffee had runners at second and third with no one out and failed to score.

Chaffee was down 7-1 in the fourth inning.

Chaffee had 14 hits and got RBIs from six different batters.

Rainey provided the most offensive punch, going 4-for-4 with three doubles and three RBIs.

O'Rourke, Todd Friend and Dohogne each had two hits.

Stroup went the distance to record the win. After struggling early, Stroup retired the last 10 batters he faced. He allowed six hits and walked six, while striking out three.

Chaffee (27-10) will play again at 8:30 tonight in the winner's bracket final.